Bettine Moore Close

Bettine Moore Close (March 28, 1924 – February 23, 2015) was an American socialite, philanthropist, wife of Dr. William Close, and the mother of actress Glenn Close.

She was born Elizabeth Mary Hester Moore in New York City and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut, daughter of Elizabeth (née Hyde; 1897-1983) and Charles Arthur Moore, Jr. (1880–1949). Charles's sister was Mary Elsie Moore, great-grandmother of actress Brooke Shields. Her aunt Mary had married into Italian nobility.

The Moore family had started the supply company Manning, Maxwell and Moore. she attended Rosemary Hall, now Choate Rosemary Hall, starting in 1938 and married Dr. William Taliaferro Close in 1943. In the 1950s, Close and her husband moved to Africa after joining the Moral Re-Armament group, where William also found work as a doctor. For a time William was the personal doctor of the president of the Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko.

Bettine and her husband had three daughters, Glenn Close, a six-time Academy Award-nominated and Tony Award-winning actress, Tina Close, and Jessie Close; and two sons, Duncan and Alexander Close. Duncan Close died in 1949, the week he was born, from a heart defect. They adopted two sons from Africa, Tambu and Edward.

Her husband William Close died on January 15, 2009, aged 84, in Big Piney, Wyoming. Bettine and William had moved to Wyoming to provide medical care to a remote area there that was in need of doctors. They supported numerous Wyoming community organizations. In 1988, her daughter Glenn Close produced a documentary that aired on PBS titled Do You Mean There Are Still Real Cowboys. Encouraged by her parents' love of Wyoming, she documented the lives of several families in the Big Piney area.

On February 23, 2015, Bettine Moore Close died in her sleep in Big Piney, Wyoming, aged 90.