Editing Del Close (section)

===Personal life===
An obituary published in the ''Manhattan Mercury'' said that Close’s father died in Manhattan, Kansas, on December 16, 1954, after being found unconscious in his jewelry store and that the cause of death was “self-inflicted.”<ref name=":0" /> Close would have been 20 years old and, according to [[Kim "Howard" Johnson]], a biographer in the documentary ''For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close'', said that Close was in New York at the time, over a thousand miles away from where his father died.<ref>Ross, H. (Director). (2020). ''For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close'' [Documentary]. 1:19:59 - 1:20:19 [H:M:S].</ref>{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Close had told many varied and dramatic accounts of his father’s suicide, with the general story being that his father did it right in front of him when he was a child (accounts vary in age between 6–17 years old) by drinking a caustic liquid (various accounts on which type of caustic liquid).<ref name=":0" />

Regardless of when or how the suicide of Close’s father occurred, many of his friends believed it had a profound effect on him. Close would frequently bring it up in conversation with friends and even on stage. In the 2020 documentary ''For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close'', he is filmed on stage saying to the improv actors and audience, “My father was a spectacular suicide. He drank a quart of sulphuric acid, slashed his wrists. And they kept him alive for two days longer than Jesus hung on the cross, and I used to use that death to get sympathy and to get laid with.”<ref name=":1">Ross, H. (Director). (2020). ''For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close'' [Documentary]. 0:47:46 - 0:49:07 [H:M:S]</ref>{{cn|date=November 2022}} Then Close wanted to do an improv scene where he would play himself and another actor, [[Dave Thomas (actor)|Dave Thomas]], would play the doctor who would tell Close that his father had just died from the suicide that Close had described. Thomas refused, saying in the documentary that he didn’t think it would be a good joke and that there was an obligation to the audience to create laughs—not just to make them gasp. Close replied, “Now perhaps you’re not used to this particular kind of horrifying honesty, but I expect the same thing from you and nothing less.”<ref name=":1" />{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Close was addicted to [[heroin]] and [[cocaine]] but decided to change his lifestyle when his student [[John Belushi]] died of a drug overdose in 1982. Although, he continued to smoke weed. Close had recently read the book ''A Witch's Guide to Psychic Healing'' by [[Yvonne Frost]], which argues that the [[Modern Paganism|modern Pagan]] religion [[Wicca]] can provide spiritual healing. He joined a Wiccan [[coven]] in Toronto and fought his drug habit together with Wiccan priests who performed a banishing ritual. He stopped using drugs and remained an active Pagan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Griggs |first=Jeff |year=2005 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Xg2AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA197 |title=Guru: My Days with Del Close |location=Chicago |publisher=Ivan R. Dee |pages=197–198 |isbn=1-56663-614-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Kim "Howard" |author-link=Kim "Howard" Johnson |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GuZDmY8al98C&pg=PT243 |title=The Funniest One in the Room: The Lives and Legends of Del Close |location=Chicago |publisher=Chicago Review Press |pages=233–234 |isbn=978-1-55652-712-8 }}</ref>