Glenn Close reveals heartbreak of lacking her probability thus far Robert Redford – and will get candid about regretting all three of her marriages

Glenn Close has revealed her heartbreak over missing her chance to date Robert Redford when they were young – describing it as one of the greatest romantic missteps of her life as she admits she now regrets every one of her three marriages.

The Hollywood legend, 78, who has been single since her last divorce ten years ago, starred opposite Robert in the 1984 classic The Natural – the baseball drama in which she played Iris, the luminous childhood sweetheart of Robert’s character Roy Hobbs.

Speaking this week, she said she realised too late that the movie star, who died in September aged 89, was trying to initiate a romantic relationship after they wrapped filming.

‘After we did The Natural, Robert Redford invited me to a very romantic restaurant where we had dinner together,’ she said on Wiser Than Me With Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast.

‘And I was too clueless and unknowing and unsure to even consider that I might have dated him. But he found Billy [Sibylle Szaggars, his widow]. But, yeah… It’s just because I didn’t know. I didn’t get it.’

Earlier this year, Glenn confessed Robert was her best ever on-screen kiss, even though ‘I only got to kiss him once.’

Glenn Close has revealed her heartbreak over missing her chance to date Robert Redford when they were young

While they were filming The Natural, Robert had been negotiating his divorce settlement from the American historian and activist Lola Van Wagene, 87, whom he married in 1958.

She was the mother of his four children: Scott – who tragically died of sudden infant death syndrome aged two and a half months – artist Shauna, David – who died five years ago from cancer – and Amy, an actress, director and producer.

After his uneventful dinner with Glenn, Robert struck up a romance with German artist Sibylle ‘Billy’ Szaggars, 68, to whom he was married from 2009 until his death.

Reflecting on her missed opportunity with the Hollywood heartthrob, Glenn blamed confusion, insecurity and a lack of emotional foundations that she traces back to her childhood.

The eight-time Oscar nominee spent her formative years inside the Moral Re-Armament movement, which she has described as a ‘cult’. She said the environment discouraged normal emotional development and conditioned her to suppress feelings and instincts.

That, Glenn believes, directly impacted the partners she chose – and the marriages she entered.

‘I’ve been married three times and I shouldn’t have married any of them,’ she added on the podcast on Wednesday. ‘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.’

Close and Redford are pictured filming The Natural in 1984 as the latter was negotiating a divorce with American historian and activist Lola Van Wagene

Speaking this week, she said she realised too late that the movie star was trying to initiate a romantic relationship after they wrapped filming

Her first marriage, to singer-songwriter Cabot Wade, began in 1969 when she was just 22 and ended two years later.

In 1984 she married businessman James Marlas, with the couple divorcing in 1987.

Her third and longest marriage, to biotech entrepreneur David Shaw, lasted from 2006 until 2015. 

Glenn has a daughter, actress Annie Starke, 37, with producer John Starke, with whom she had a brief relationship in the late 1980s, though the pair did not marry.

Annie starred in the Netflix series, Ratched, opposite Sarah Paulson and Sharon Stone, and also played a younger version of her mother’s character in the Owen Wilson and Ed Helms comedy, Father Figures.

She married US tech businessman Marc Albu in 2018 and they welcomed their first child – a son, Rory – in February this year.

Glenn added: ‘In my generation, in my family, we have a lot of divorces. My kids, I think – knock on wood – have found literally life partners.

‘And I think that maybe what we went through, they’ve seen it and they know they can do something else. So that makes me happy.’

Her first marriage, to singer-songwriter Cabot Wade, began in 1969 when she was just 22 and ended two years later (pictured September 1984)

In 1984 she married businessman James Marlas, with the couple divorcing in 1987 (pictured May 1984) 

Her third and longest marriage, to biotech entrepreneur David Shaw, lasted from 2006 until 2015 (pictured February 2002)

Despite her own painful experiences, Glenn remains a believer in long-term commitment: ‘I do think that one of the greatest possible gifts in life is to have a life partner. It’s tricky, of course.’

Earlier this year, she spoke candidly about her decision not to date since her divorce from David a decade ago.

‘I’m always up for anything, but I’m very happy right now,’ she explained, adding that dating apps were out of the question – calling them ‘crazy’ – and described herself as ‘too shy’ to meet partners socially.

‘I’m not searching,’ she added. ‘I’m not a hugely comfortably social person, so I don’t leap to go to a party at all. So yeah, I’m okay.’