Crispin Glover

Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, musician and author.

For the song, see Crispin Glover (song).

Crispin Glover
Glover at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Freaky Deaky
Born	(1964-04-20) April 20, 1964 New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, filmmaker, musician, author
Years active	1977–present
Relatives	Bruce Glover (father) Marion Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey (mother)
Website	crispinglover.com

Glover is known for portraying eccentric characters on screen, such as George McFly in Back to the Future (1985), Layne in River's Edge (1986), Bobby McBurney in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), the Thin Man in Charlie's Angels (2000) and its sequel (2003), Willard Stiles in Willard (2003), Grendel in Beowulf (2007), Phil Wedmaier in Hot Tub Time Machine (2010), The Knave of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (2010) and Mr. World in the Starz television series American Gods (2017–2020).

In the late 1980s, Glover started his company, Volcanic Eruptions, which publishes his books and also serves as the production company for Glover's films, such as What Is It? (2005) and It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007).[1]

Early life

Glover is an only child, born in New York City, and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of five.[2] He is the son of actor Bruce Glover and actress and dancer Marion Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey,[3] who retired upon his birth. He was named after the Saint Crispin's Day speech from William Shakespeare's play Henry V, which his parents enjoyed.[4] "Hellion", his real middle name, had earlier been used as a false middle name by his father, who did not like his own real Germanic middle name, Herbert.[4]

Glover's father is of English, Czech,[5] and Swedish descent, while his mother has Czech (area surrounding Milevsko)[6] and German ancestry.[7][8] As a child, Glover attended the Mirman School from first grade through ninth grade. He then attended both Venice High for tenth and eleventh grade, and Beverly Hills High School for twelfth grade; he graduated in 1982.

Career

Acting

Crispin Glover in September 2008

Glover began acting professionally at the age of 13.[9] He appeared in several sitcoms as a teenager, including Happy Days and Family Ties. His first film role was in 1983's My Tutor. That led to roles in Teachers (1984) and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984).[10] He then worked with director Trent Harris on the third chapter of the Beaver Trilogy, entitled The Orkly Kid. In this short film, he portrayed a small-town man who organizes a local talent show to showcase his obsession with Olivia Newton-John, much to the embarrassment of the local community. At the climax of the film, Glover does his rendition, in full drag, of Newton-John's "Please Don't Keep Me Waiting" from her 1979 album Totally Hot.

His breakout role was as George McFly in Robert Zemeckis's Back to the Future, an international box office success in 1985; his character was the father of Marty McFly, despite being three years younger than Michael J. Fox in real life. Glover and the producers could not agree on suitable terms for him to appear in the sequels, so the role was greatly reduced and recast. In Back to the Future Part II, Zemeckis reused brief footage of Glover which had been filmed for the first film. Glover was billed as "George McFly in footage from Back to the Future" in the closing credits. The older footage was combined with new footage of actor Jeffrey Weissman wearing a false chin, nose and cheekbones, and various obfuscating methods – in the background, wearing sunglasses, rear shot, upside down – to play George McFly. Because these methods suggested that Glover himself had performed for the film, he sued the producers on the grounds that they had used his likeness without permission, as well as not having paid him for the reuse of the footage from the original film. As a result of this suit, there are now clauses in the Screen Actors Guild collective bargaining agreements which state that producers and actors are not allowed to use such methods to reproduce the likeness of other actors.[11]

Glover in March 2010

He has continued to play exceedingly eccentric types, including playing Andy Warhol in Oliver Stone's The Doors in 1991, as well as the title characters in Bartleby (2001) and Willard (2003). He received mainstream attention as the "Thin Man" in the Charlie's Angels films;[12] the character had initially been cast as a speaking role, but Glover, noting that the lines as written were exposition, convinced the producers to eliminate the lines to create a precise image for the character.

Glover was a co-interlocutor with Norm Hill and Werner Herzog for the special feature commentary for the DVD of Werner Herzog's Even Dwarfs Started Small[13] and Fata Morgana.[14]

Glover appeared in the 2007 film Beowulf as the monster Grendel, playing the part through performance capture technology. The film was Glover's first collaboration with director Robert Zemeckis since the original Back to the Future film. He voiced the character "6" in the film 9. Glover played Ilosovic Stayne / The Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. He played the one-armed bellman in Hot Tub Time Machine, and the unwitting employee of Robert De Niro's character in The Bag Man.

Music

In 1989, during a hiatus from films, Glover released an album titled The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be through Restless Records, produced by Barnes & Barnes (of "Fish Heads" fame). The album features original songs such as "Clowny Clown Clown", odd versions of Lee Hazlewood's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", and Charles Manson's "I'll Never Say Never to Always" (sung in falsetto), and readings from his art books Rat Catching and Oak Mot. Sample pages from these books are featured in the album's liner notes.

Glover recorded a version of the Michael Jackson song "Ben" to coincide with the release of his 2003 film Willard; the song had been written for the sequel to the original 1971 version of the film. In the music video for the song, he sings to a rat named Ben.

A number of songs using Glover's name as the title have been recorded by various artists, including shoegaze/gothic rock band Scarling., Chicago outsider musician Wesley Willis and a New Jersey-based band called Children in Adult Jails.

Books

Glover has written between 15 and 20 books.[15] Oak-Mot and Rat Catching are featured prominently during his Big Slide Show presentation, and are presented as visual art as much as written art. He constructs the books by reusing old novels and other publications which have fallen into the public domain due to their age (for example, Rat Catching was constructed from an 1896 book Studies in the Art of Rat Catching, and Oak-Mot was constructed from an 1868 novel of the same title). He rearranges text, blacks out certain standing passages, and adds his own prose (and sometimes images) into the margins and elsewhere, thus creating an entirely new story. Four of his books have been published so far, through his publishing company, Volcanic Eruptions. Other known titles include The Backward Swing, A New World, and Round My House.

• Billow and the Rock (1983)[15]
• Rat Catching (1988)
• Oak-Mot (1989)
• Concrete Inspection (1990)
• What it is, and How it is Done (1992)
• Round My House (2016)

* The publishing years listed above may not represent first-edition publication dates, but subsequent available editions.

Directing

Glover made his directorial debut with 2005's What Is It?, a surreal film featuring a cast of actors with Down syndrome. It premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. With a budget of only $150,000, it took almost a decade to complete, and was originally intended to be a short film. Most of the primary footage was shot in 12 days, stretched over a two-and-a-half-year period. Production was mostly funded by Glover's roles in Willard and the Charlie's Angels films.

Glover's second film, It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine., was written by Utah writer and actor Steven C. Stewart. Stewart was born with severe cerebral palsy and had been confined to a nursing home for about 10 years. The film is a fantastical psychosexual retelling of life from Stewart's point of view. It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.[16][17]

Glover has completed shooting his third feature film as a director, which he developed as a vehicle for his father Bruce Glover and himself to act together. This film is not part three of the It? trilogy.

Glover was recognized for his directorial work in 2013 when the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City staged the series It Is Crispin Hellion Glover. The program consisted of screenings of all of his directorial work, live performances, and speaking engagements.[18][19][20]

Personal life

Glover has residences in Los Angeles and the Czech Republic. His residence Zámek Konárovice, 45 minutes east of Prague by train, is a 17th-century 20-acre (8.1 ha) chateau that is recognized as historically significant by the Czech government. The property requires constant upkeep and restoration; according to Glover, "[The property] is a lifetime project that will be in continuous flux and repair for hundreds of years from now, as it has been the hundreds of years before I 'owned' it."[21]

From 2001 to 2003, Glover was dating Alexa Lauren, a Penthouse magazine Pet of the Month for September 1999.[22][23]

Late Night appearance

Glover appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on July 28, 1987 to promote River's Edge.[24] Unknown to Letterman and the audience, Glover appeared in character as Rubin from the then-unreleased film Rubin and Ed, wearing platform shoes and a wig. Rather than a conventional interview, Glover staged an Andy Kaufman-like prank. After being goaded by a woman in the audience (who some argue had been planted),[25] Glover stated he "knew that this was gonna happen" and "the press, they can do things, they can twist things around." After challenging Letterman to an arm-wrestling match, Glover delivered an impromptu karate kick a few feet from Letterman while stating "I'm strong...I can kick!"[26] Letterman then abruptly ended the segment by walking off stage, saying "I'm going to check on the Top 10," as the program cut to commercial.

The subsequent confusion and controversy surrounding his appearance was compounded by the fact that Rubin and Ed was not released until 1991. However, the film had been in development since before Back to the Future, and Glover already had devised Rubin's "look" by 1985.[15] Glover has refused to go into detail about the reasons for his behavior on the show, other than to mention that he was flattered that fans are still speculating on the performance decades later.[27] He also stated that he prefers there to be an "air of mystery" about the appearance. In an interview in 2011, Back to the Future co-star Michael J. Fox talked about the incident with Letterman, saying "Crispin isn't crazy, just excitable."

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	My Tutor	Jack
1984	Racing with the Moon	Gatsby Boy
	Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter	Jimmy Mortimer
	Teachers	Danny Reese
1985	The Orkly Kid	Groovin' Larry Hoff	Short film
	Back to the Future	George McFly
1986	At Close Range	Lucas
	River's Edge	Layne
1989	Twister	Howdy Cleveland
1990	Where the Heart Is	Lionel
	Wild at Heart	Cousin Dell
1991	Rubin and Ed	Rubin Farr
	Little Noises	Joey Kremple
	Ferdydurke	Mientus
	The Doors	Andy Warhol
1993	Even Cowgirls Get the Blues	Howard Barth
	What's Eating Gilbert Grape	Bobby McBurney
1994	Chasers	Howard Finster
1995	Dead Man	Train Fireman
1996	The People vs. Larry Flynt	Arlo
2000	Nurse Betty	Roy Ostery
	Charlie's Angels	Thin Man
2001	Bartleby	Bartleby
	Fast Sofa	Jules Langdon
2002	Crime and Punishment	Rodion Raskolnikov
	Like Mike	Stan Bittleman
2003	Willard	Willard Stiles
	Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle	Thin Man / Anthony	[28]
2004	Incident at Loch Ness	Party guest	Cameo
2005	What Is It?	Dueling Demi-God Auteur / The Young Man's Inner Psyche and Id	Also director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer and music supvervisor
	Drop Dead Sexy	Eddie
2006	Simon Says	Simon / Stanley
2007	Epic Movie	Willy
	The Wizard of Gore	Montag the Magnificent
	It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine.	N/A	Co-director with David Brothers, producer, editor and music supervisor
	Beowulf	Grendel	Motion capture
2008	Open Season 2	Fifi	Voice
	Freezer Burn: The Invasion of Laxdale	Viergacht
2009	The Donner Party	William Foster
	9	6	Voice
2010	Alice in Wonderland	Ilosovic Stayne / The Knave of Hearts
	Hot Tub Time Machine	Phil Wedmaier
	Mr. Nice	Ernie Combs
	Open Season 3	Fifi	Voice
2012	Freaky Deaky	Woody Ricks
2014	The Bag Man	Ned
2015	Influence	Dr. Abuse
	Aimy in a Cage	Claude Bohringer
2018	The Con is On	Gabriel Anderson
	We Have Always Lived in the Castle	Uncle Julian Blackwood
2019	Lucky Day	Luc
TBA	Smiley Face Killers		Post-production[29]
TBA	By the Rivers of Babylon	William	Post-production
TBA	Untitled Crispin Hellion Glover Project	Brutus	Post-production Also director, writer, producer and editor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	The Best of Times	Crispin	Episode: "Pilot"
1982	The Facts of Life	Cadet No. 1	Episode: "The Big Fight"
1983	The Kid with the 200 I.Q.	New Student	Television film
	High School U.S.A.	Archie Feld	Television film
	Happy Days	Roach	Episode: "Vocational Education"
	Hill Street Blues	Space Cadet	Episode: "Honk If You're a Goose"
1984	Family Ties	Doug	Episode: "Birthday Boy"
1993	Hotel Room	Danny	Episode: "Blackout"
2010	Funny or Die Presents	Thomas Edison	Episode: "105"
2015	Texas Rising	Moseley Baker	5 episodes
2017–present	American Gods	Mr. World	9 episodes
2018	Seed of Terror	James Logan Davis	Television film

Music video

Year	Song	Role	Notes
1989	"Clowny Clown Clown"	Man / Rubin Farr	Also director
2003	"Ben"	Man	Also director

References

1. "Masterclash Takes on Male Friendships With 'Old Friends' and Crispin Glover". Asylum.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
2. "Crispin Glover Interview". Index Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
3. "Spin-Uncut". Angelfire.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
4. Interview Archived May 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
5. Masek (1893). "Minnesota, County Marriages, 1860-1949". FamilySearch.
6. "DigiArchiv of SRA Trebon - ver. 20.03.13". digi.ceskearchivy.cz. Retrieved March 20, 2020.
7. "What is it? Good question".
8. My hols: Crispin Glover Times Online
9. "Actor/Filmmaker Crispin Glover". Reddit.
10. "The History of Crispin Glover's Bizarre Debut Album | Nerdist". Nerdist. September 20, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
11. Glover, Crispin (February 2011). "Crispin Glover on Back to the Future 2". Kermode & Mayo (Interview). Interviewed by Simon Mayo, Mark Kermode. London: BBC Radio 5 Live. Retrieved April 11, 2011 – via YouTube.
12. Ate Isti (June 27, 2003). "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
13. Review of Even Dwarves Started Small.. Retrieved September 23, 2007 Archived May 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
14. Reflection on Fata Morgana & Lessons of Darkness.. Retrieved September 23, 2007 Archived September 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
15. "CrispinGloverInfo.com Bizarre Interview". Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
16. "Not a jaunt down the Yellow Brick Road". The Daily Utah Chronicle. February 28, 2005. Archived from the original on June 2, 2014. Retrieved August 31, 2006.
17. "An Update on Crispin Hellion Glover's Eagerly Anticipated It Is Mine". MovieWeb. February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
18. "It Is Crispin Hellion Glover". Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
19. Meier, Allison. "Crispin Glover hates the ending of "Back to the Future"". Salon.com. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
20. Meier, Allison. "Crispin Glover Tackles Hollywood Taboos". Hyperallergic.com. Retrieved August 5, 2015.
21. La Carmina (February 15, 2011). "Crispin Glover Talks Prague, Castles, Absinthe And Film". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 24, 2016.
22. Campion, Chris (December 31, 2001). "Outside chancer". The Telegraph. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
23. Erik Hedegaard (2003). "Crispin Glover: Not Of This World". August 21, 2003. Accessed July 17, 2017.
24. "Crispin Glover Goes Back to the Crazy – Top 10 Disastrous Letterman Interviews". Time. February 13, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
25. Mooney, Chris. "Letters to the Editor: The Glover's off". Salon.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
26. Andy Baio (July 10, 2009). "Transcript of Crispin Glover on Letterman". Waxy.org. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
27. "Crispin Glover on David Letterman," interviewed by Frank Hyoguchi.. Retrieved December 24, 2009.
28. "Crispin Glover: Not Of This World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
29. McNary, Dave. "Film News Roundup: Crispin Glover, Ronen Rubinstein to Star in Horror Movie 'Smiley Face Killers'". Variety.com. Retrieved October 7, 2017.

External links

• Official website
• Crispin Glover at Curlie
• Crispin Glover on IMDb
• TV.com bio and filmography