Glenn Close weighs in on failed marriages

Glenn Close shared strong opinions about marriage

By The News Digital
December 11, 2025
Glenn Close weighs in on failed marriages
Photo: Glenn Close explains why she regrets marrying at all

Glenn Close is taking a candid look back at her personal life, and the three marriages she now wishes she would never walked into.

The acclaimed actress, who first wed Cabot Wade in 1969 at age 22 before their split two years later, went on to marry James Marlas in 1984, a union that ended in 1987. 

Her longest marriage came in 2006 to entrepreneur David Shaw, though the pair ultimately parted ways in 2015.

During her appearance on Lemonada Media’s Wiser Than Me podcast, Close admitted she regrets all three relationships, pointing to her strict upbringing in the Moral Re-Armament Movement as a major factor in her emotional development, or lack thereof.

"I've been married three times and I shouldn't have married any of them,” she confessed.

"But I had an empty tool box, so I've had to try to fill that tool box — as far as human relations and certainly relationships in a marriage — with nothing as a model. So I've made a lot of mistakes. It was sad that I was so unknowing. I always chose the wrong man."

Despite her complicated past, the Fatal Attraction star shared she is grateful her daughter Annie, whom she shares with film producer John Starke, has not repeated the same patterns in her own life.

"In my generation, in my family, we have a lot of divorces,” she explained.

“My kids, I think — knock on wood — have found literally life partners," Close concluded.