Danny Glover
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Biography
A talented actor who effortlessly projected gravitas, warmth and menace in equal amounts, depending on the role, Danny Glover enjoyed stardom in the 1980s and 1990s with the "Lethal Weapon" (1987) series and other mainstream titles before settling into steady work as a character player in numerous independent films and television series while also honing an award-winning second career as a documentary and feature producer. Born Danny Lebern Glover on July 22, 1946 in San Francisco, California, he was the son of postal workers who were also active in civil rights through the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. His involvement in acting began as a student at San Francisco State University, where he appeared in a play by Amiri Baraka; after leaving the school in the late 1960s, Glover worked for the City of San Francisco as a evaluations specialist before returning to acting in the 1970s. He received his dramatic training through the Black Actors' Workshop at the American Conservatory and with Jean Shelton's Shelton Actors Lab before making his screen debut as an inmate in Don Siegel's "Escape from Alcatraz" (1979). He worked steadily on stage - most notably in the Drama Desk-winning Broadway run of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold. and the Boys" in 1982 - and in character roles on television and in features before earning critical praise as a sympathetic handyman in Robert Benton's "Places in the Heart" (1984). He followed this with a menacing turn as a corrupt police detective in Peter Weir's "Witness" (1985), which underscored his versatility and command of the screen, and he soon settled into a string of substantive character parts in major features like the abusive Mr. Johnsonn in Stephen Spielberg's "The Color Purple" (1985) and a heroic cowboy in Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado" (1985). In 1987, Glover settled comfortably into leading man and action hero status as Detective Roger Murtagh, the reluctant partner of loose cannon cop Mel Gibson in Richard Donner's "Lethal Weapon" (1987), a colossal box office hit, it was followed by three successful sequels between 1989 and 1998, but more importantly, granted Glover the clout to not only carry pictures like the HBO biopic "Mandela" (1987), which earned him an Emmy nomination, and the action-dramas "Bat*21" (1988) and Kasdan's "Grand Canyon" (1991), but produce them. His first effort in this regard was Charles Burnett's "To Sleep With Anger" (1991), a critically praised drama about family conflict that earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. As the '90s drew to a close, Glover remained a consistent presence in features, though many of these projects - the Disney comedy "Operation Dumbo Drop" (1995), "Gone Fishin'" (1997) with his "Lethal Weapon" co-star Joe Pesci - paled in comparison to his work as a producer for television features like the historical Western "Buffalo Soldiers" (TNT, 1997) and the civil rights drama "Freedom Song" (TNT, 2000), both of which earned multiple Emmy nominations. Glover also devoted considerable energy to civil rights and international causes, including support for Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards and work as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. But his acting career continued its busy pace in the new millennium, and he moved effortlessly between independent projects like the horror film "Saw" (2005), guest roles on "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009) and "Brothers and Sisters" (ABC, 2006-2011) and studio projects like "Dreamgirls" (2006). Though his screen time soon trickled down to guest turns in direct-to-video features like "Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses" (2014), part of a curiously popular franchise of action films built around star Danny Trejo as a vengeful senior citizen, his work as producer continued to embrace timely and politically charged subjects, like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in "Trouble the Water" (2008) and the Thai-made drama "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (2010), which captured the Palm d'Or at Cannes. In 2018, he made a welcome return to prominence as Robert Redford's bank-robbing partner in "The Old Man and the Gun" and as a telemarketing vet who teaches Lakeith Stanfield how to sell to white people in the critically acclaimed "Sorry to Bother You." The films were just two of nine film appearances he made in that year alone, with at least a dozen more soon to follow.
Filmography
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Cast (Feature Film)
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Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
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Life Events
1979
Made film-acting debut in "Escape From Alcatraz"
1980
Made off-Broadway debut in Athol Fugard's play "The Blood Knot"
1982
Made Broadway debut in Fugard's "Master Harold...and the Boys"
1983
TV-movie acting debut, "The Face of Rage" (ABC)
1983
Made miniseries debut in "Chiefs" (CBS)
1984
First lead role in a feature, straight-to-video comedy "The Stand-In"
1984
Landed his breakthrough role as Moze in Robert Benton's "Places in the Heart"
1985
Played a cowboy in Lawrence Kasdan's "Silverado"
1985
Had his first feature lead in a theatrical release in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple"
1986
First screen collaboration with co-star Alfre Woodard, PBS semi-documentary "Mandela"
1987
Reteamed with Woodard in HBO biopic "Mandela"
1987
Had his first collaboration with co-star Mel Gibson and director Richard Donner, "Lethal Weapon"; played LAPD officer Roger Murtaugh opposite Gibson's Martin Riggs
1989
Co-starred in made-for-TV blockbuster Western "Lonesome Dove" (CBS)
1989
Starred in PBS adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," directed by Bill Duke for "American Playhouse"
1989
Reteamed with Gibson and Donner for second outing "Lethal Weapon 2"
1990
Made his feature debut as an executive producer, "To Sleep With Anger"
1991
Appeared opposite Alfre Woodard in Lawrence Kasdan's "Grand Canyon"
1992
Returned to play Murtagh in "Lethal Weapon 3"
1993
Played Alec Haley in CBS miniseries "Queen"
1993
Narrated "Civil War Journal" (A&E)
1994
Helmed "Override" for Showtime series "Directed By"
1995
Played detective Philip Marlowe in the "Red Wind" episode of Showtime series "Fallen Angels"
1996
Executive produced HBO movies "The Deadly Voyage" and "America's Dream"; acted in one segment of the latter
1997
Co-starred in lackluster comedy "Gone Fishin'"; re-teamed with "Lethal Weapon 2" co-star Joe Pesci
1997
Starred in superior made-for-cable period drama "Buffalo Soldiers" (TNT)
1998
Voiced character of Barbatus in animated feature "Antz"
1998
Reprised his signature role in "Lethal Weapon 4"
1998
Co-starred with Oprah Winfrey in film adaptation of Toni Morrison's Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel "Beloved"
1999
Starred in world premiere of Philip Kan Gotanda's "Yohen" with L.A.'s East West Players
2000
Played a corrupt African president in Cheick Oumar Sissoko's film "Battu" (shown at the Toronto International Film Festival)
2000
Starred in film adaptation of Fugard's play "Boesman & Lena," about two homeless people surviving the harsh terrain of the Cape Flats in South Africa; filmed 1999 and premiered at 2000 Cannes Film Festival
2000
Earned Emmy nomination for his performance in the TNT original production "Freedom Song"
2001
Starred in and executive produced "3 AM" (Showtime), a crime drama produced by Spike Lee
2001
Starred opposite Anjelica Huston and Gene Hackman in Wes Anderson's "The Royal Tenenbaums"
2002
Helmed Showtime original movie "Just a Dream"
2003
Reunited with "Color Purple" co-star Whoopi Goldberg in "Good Fences" (Showtime)
2006
Produced "Bamako," a film about the African debt
2006
Co-starred as James 'Thunder' Early's (Eddie Murphy) manager in Bill Condon's adaptation of 1981 Broadway musical "Dreamgirls"
2007
Acted opposite Mark Wahlberg in political thriller "Shooter"
2008
Co-starred with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo in Fernando Meirelles' "Blindness"
2009
Played the U.S. President in Roland Emmerich's disaster film "2012"
2010
Co-starred in Chris Rock-produced black comedy "Death at a Funeral," a remake of 2007 British film of the same name
2010
Voiced character of Winston in animated feature "Alpha and Omega"
2012
Appeared on short-lived mystery drama series "Touch"
2013
Co-starred with Common in drama feature "LUV"
2013
Co-starred with Parker Posey in highschool-set dramedy "Highland Park"
2014
Appeared in romantic drama "Beyond the Lights"
2015
Headlined the cast of action flick "Gridlocked"
2016
Appeared in Robert De Niro/Zac Efron vehicle "Dirty Grandpa"
2016
Played the mayor of New York City on Amazon's "Mozart in the Jungle"
2016
Co-starred in holiday comedy "Almost Christmas"
2017
Narrated "Cold Case Files"
2018
Returned with supporting turns in "The Old Man and the Gun" and "Sorry to Bother You"
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