Crispin Glover

For the Scarling. song, see Crispin Glover (song).
Crispin Glover

Glover at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Born (1964-04-20) April 20, 1964
New York City, New York, United States
Occupation Actor, director, screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, author
Years active 1977–present
Parent(s) Bruce Glover

Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, and author.

Glover is known for portraying eccentric people on screen such as George McFly in Back to the Future, Layne in River's Edge, unfriendly recluse Rubin Farr in Rubin and Ed, Andy Warhol in The Doors, the "Thin Man" in the film adaptation of Charlie's Angels and its sequel, Willard Stiles in the Willard remake, The Knave of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, Phil in Hot Tub Time Machine, and a Willy Wonka parody in Epic Movie.

He is also the voice of Fifi in the Open Season franchise and appeared in the screen adaption of the Elmore Leonard novel Freaky Deaky. He played a German-speaking clairvoyant during World War I in the Polish-language film Hiszpanka and an unwitting employee in service of Robert De Niro's character in The Bag Man.

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, What Is It? and It is Fine. Everything is Fine! Glover tours with his movies and is currently supervising the building of sets for his next productions at property he owns in the Czech Republic.[1]

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.[2][3][4]

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.[5] His father is actor Bruce Glover and his mother, Mary Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey (née) Bloom Koerber,[6] was an actress and dancer 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.[7] "Hellion," his real middle name, had earlier been used as a false middle name by his father, who did not like his own real middle name, Herbert.[7]

His father is of English, Czech, and Swedish descent, and his mother is of German and Czech ancestry.[8][9] As a child, Glover attended The Mirman School from grade one through nine. He then attended both Venice High for grade ten and eleven, and Beverly Hills High School only for grade twelve; he graduated in 1982.

Career

Acting career

Crispin Glover at the E! Post Oscars Party at club Drai's in the W Hotel, Hollywood, CA, March 7, 2010.

Glover began acting professionally at the age of 13. To date, he has acted in over 50 feature films.[10] 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). 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. Glover and the producers could not agree on suitable terms for him to appear in the sequels, so the role of the character 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 movie. 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 the role of 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 movie. Subsequently, there are now clauses in the Screen Actors Guild collective bargaining agreements to the effect that this is no longer permitted.

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;[11] 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[12] and Fata Morgana.[13]

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. He played the unwitting employee of Robert DeNiro's character in The Bag Man.

Late Night appearance

Glover appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on July 28, 1987, to promote the movie River's Edge, in which he starred.[14] Unbeknownst to Letterman and the audience, Glover appeared in character as "Rubin," from the then-unreleased movie 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),[15] Glover stated that he "knew that this was gonna happen" and that "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!"[16] 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 actually released until 1991; however, the movie had been in development since before Back to the Future—Glover had actually already devised Rubin's "look" by 1985.[17] Almost nobody, apparently including Letterman, understood what Glover was doing and the interview became the hallmark of the "weird" TV guest.

Glover returned to the Letterman show three times after that. The first appearance was about a month later. The second was almost three years later, wherein he participated in a more standard interview, but made it questionable whether he had ever been on the show before. Glover used a variety of delay tactics explaining the incident, and referring to it as being "an interesting thing." Glover then appeared the third time two years later, promoting a record album. When again asked about his first appearance, Glover launched into a long story, mentioning having met a fellow resembling himself named Rubin, and needing to appear on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson simultaneous to his appearance with Letterman. Here, Letterman cut him off to talk about the album Glover was promoting, as the time allotted for the interview was more than halfway over. Glover has subsequently refused to go into detail about the reasons for his behavior on the show, other than to mention that he's flattered that fans are still speculating on the performance more than twenty years later.[18] Glover has also mentioned 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."

Crispin Glover in September 2008.

Music career

In 1989, during a hiatus from films, Glover released an album called 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 like "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 (see Books section below). Sample pages from these books are featured in the album's liner notes.

The back cover of the album is a collage of figures relating to each track on the album, with an inscription: "All words and lyrics point to THE BIG PROBLEM. The solution lay within the title; LET IT BE. Crispin Hellion Glover wants to know what you think these nine things all have in common." He included a telephone number on the back of the album, encouraging listeners to phone when they had figured out the element that all pieces had in common.

He has said the telephone number was a pre-internet way of letting people know about the books. As for the "Nine things in common" Glover has said "It is really just the theme of the album." Glover later commented that he was surprised how many people realized what it was.

He recorded a version of the Michael Jackson song "Ben" to coincide with the release of the 2003 film Willard; the song had been written for the sequel to the original 1971 version of this 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. In the early 2000s, a Kansas City band named itself Onward Crispin Glover.

Books

Glover has written between 15 and 20 books.[17] 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 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.

Year * Title
1983 Billow and the Rock ** [17]
1988 Rat Catching
1989 Oak-Mot
1990 Concrete Inspection †
1992 What it is, and How it is Done ‡

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

** Not published.

† Re-issued.

‡ Out of Print.

Directorial work

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 the actor'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-actor Steven C. Stewart. Stewart was born with a severe case of cerebral palsy and had been confined to a nursing home for about ten years. The second film is a fantastical psycho-sexual re-telling of life from Stewart's point of view. It premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Glover is currently developing other feature films that are outside of the trilogy and planning a third film, called It Is Mine, which will end the It? Trilogy.[19][20]

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

Personal life

Glover has residences in Los Angeles and Prague. His Prague residence, Zámek Konárovice, 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]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1983 My Tutor Jack
1984 Racing with the Moon Gatsby Boy
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Jimmy
Teachers Danny
1985 The Orkly Kid Larry Short
Back to the Future George McFly Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1986 At Close Range Lucas
River's Edge Layne
1989 Twister Howdy
1989 Back to the Future Part II George McFly (archive footage)
1990 Where the Heart Is Lionel
Wild at Heart Dell
1991 Rubin and Ed Rubin Farr
Little Noises Joey
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 3rd – Chainsaw Award for Best Actor
Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actor
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Thin Man
2004 Incident at Loch Ness Party Guest
2005 What Is It? Dueling Demi-God Auteur / The Young Man's Inner Psyche and Id Director
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! Director
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 The Knave of Hearts
Hot Tub Time Machine Phil
Mr. Nice Ernie Combs
Open Season 3 Fifi Voice
2012 Freaky Deaky Woody Ricks
2013 Hiszpanka Dr. Abuse
2014 The Bag Man Ned
2014 Aimy in a Cage Claude Bohringer Post-production
2016 The Brits Are Coming Gabriel Anderson Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1981 Best of Times Crispin Pilot
1982 The Facts of Life Cadet No. 1 Episode: "The Big Fight"
1983 The Kid with the 200 I.Q. TV Movie
High School U.S.A. Archie Feld TV Movie
Happy Days Roach Episode: "Vocational Education"
Hill Street Blues Space Cadet Episode: "Honk If You're a Goose"
1984–1986 Family Ties Doug 2 episodes
1993 Hotel Room Danny Episode: "Blackout"
2010 Funny or Die Presents Thomas Edison Episode: "105"
2015 Texas Rising Moseley Baker Miniseries
2017 American Gods Mr. World Upcoming series; main cast

References

  1. ↑ "Masterclash Takes on Male Friendships With 'Old Friends' and Crispin Glover". Asylum.com. Retrieved September 25, 2010.
  2. ↑ "It Is Crispin Hellion Glover". Museum of Arts and Design. Museum of Arts and Design. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Meier, Allison. "Crispin Glover hates the ending of “Back to the Future”". Salon.com. Salon Media Group, Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Meier, Allison. "Crispin Glover Tackles Hollywood Taboos". Hyperallergic. Hyperallergic Media, Inc. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "index magazine interview". Indexmagazine.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Spin-Uncut". Angelfire.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  7. 1 2 Interview Archived May 30, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. ↑ "What is it? Good question".
  9. ↑ My hols: Crispin Glover -Times Online
  10. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3zqmhg/i_am_actor_filmmaker_crispin_hellion_glover_npw/
  11. ↑ Ate Isti (June 27, 2003). "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)". IMDb. Retrieved March 10, 2016.
  12. ↑ Review of Even Dwarves Started Small.. Retrieved 2007-09-23 Archived May 12, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. ↑ Reflection on Fata Morgana & Lessons of Darkness.. Retrieved 2007-09-23 Archived September 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  14. ↑ TIME Staff (February 13, 2009). "Crispin Glover Goes Back to the Crazy – Top 10 Disastrous Letterman Interviews". TIME. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  15. ↑ Mooney, Chris. "Salon.com – Letters to the Editor: The Glover's off". Letters.salon.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  16. ↑ Andy Baio (July 10, 2009). "Transcript of Crispin Glover on Letterman". Waxy.org. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  17. 1 2 3 "CrispinGloverInfo.com Bizarre Interview". Archived from the original on October 11, 2007.
  18. ↑ "Crispin Glover on David Letterman," interviewed by Frank Hyoguchi.. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  19. ↑ "Not a jaunt down the Yellow Brick Road". The Daily Utah Chronicle. February 28, 2005. Retrieved August 31, 2006.
  20. ↑ "An Update on Crispin Hellion Glover's Eagerly Anticipated It Is Mine". Movieweb. February 18, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2010.
  21. ↑ Carmina, La (February 15, 2011). "Crispin Glover Talks Prague, Castles, Absinthe And Film". Huffington Post. Retrieved March 24, 2016.

External links

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Interviews

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