Close made an early film appearance in "Beware the Blob" (1972) and was a bit player in "American Graffiti" (1973). He also played small and supporting roles in about a dozen films: After a turn as a hippie farmer in "Son of Blob" (1974), a lead in the erotic thriller "The Last Affair" (1976) and another bit in Michael Mann's "Thief" (1981), Close stayed offscreen for several years. He re-appeared as an English teacher in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986), then kept busy with small roles in the rock film "Light of Day" (1987), "Next of Kin" (1989), the atom bomb drama "Fat Man and Little Boy" (1989), the Dana Carvey comedy "Opportunity Knocks" (1990) and the Weegee biopic "The Public Eye" (1992). Close played priests or aldermen in "The Untouchables" (1987), "The Big Town" (1987) and "The Blob" (1988).
In the 1960s, co-worker Avery Schreiber helped get Close parts on such TV shows as "My Mother the Car", "Get Smart" and "The Double Life of Henry Fife". Knowing of his avuncular relationships with many "SNL" cast members, NBC producer Jean Doumanian hired Close to run improv and acting sessions with the cast from 1980-82. In front of the camera, Close played small roles in the CBS dramas "First Step" (1985, as a zoologist) and "Dream Breakers" (1989, as a doctor). He also keeps very active in the Chicago theater scene, playing The Ghost of Christmas Past in the Goodman Theater's annual "A Christmas Carol" from 1978-85, and appearing in productions of "The Time of Your Life" (1984), "Hamlet" (as Polonius), "Baal" and "Hotline". With his off-screen companion Charna Halpern, he oversaw the ImprovOlympic in Chicago until his death in March 1999.