Actress Glenn Close, in Washington to receive the National
Association of Broadcasters Leadership Award for her fight against
discrimination and stigmatization of mental illness, told broadcasters she
thought TV was in a new golden age and was definitely the place to be.
She thanked broadcasters, TV and radio, for running her organization's,
Bring Change 2 Mind, PSAs, which feature her sister and nephew, both suffering
from mental illness, and called on them to help her foster empathy for the
mentally ill.
Close got a glowing intro from NAB President Gordon
Smith, whose own son suffered from depression.
"Glenn is a humanitarian in every sense of the
word," said Smith. Close had a compliment of her own for Smith, saying he
could be "George Clooney's brother."
Close began her acceptance speech with praise for TV. She
said that after she had done her first movie -- The World According to Garp -- she was offered a well-written TV
movie, but her agent told her it would ruin her film career if she did
television. She said her answer was: "Has it ruined the careers of Dame
Maggie Smith, Dame Helen Mirren, Dame Judi Dench?" Years later, she said,
when she did The Shield, she said she
heard that people thought she was washed up because she was doing a series.
"All I can say now, is my, how times have changed."
She said they were in the midst of a golden age in
television, and it was a place "where everyone wants to be." She
thanked the affiliates that "put on our shows," calling them "the engine and
inspiration behind the TV industry. "
