- Crispin Glover
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For the Scarling. song, see Crispin Glover (song).
Crispin Glover 
Crispin Glover at the E! Post Oscars Party at club Drai's in the W Hotel, Hollywood, CA, March 7, 2010.Born Crispin Hellion Glover
April 20, 1964
New York City, New York, U.S.Occupation Actor/Author Years active 1977–present Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American film actor, director and 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, the "Thin Man" in the big screen adaptation of Charlie's Angels and its sequel, Willard Stiles in the Willard remake, The Knave of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, and as Phil in Hot Tub Time Machine (and effectively as a self-parody in Epic Movie). He is also the voice of Fifi in the Open Season franchise.
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 plans to create more films at the property he owns in the Czech Republic.[1]
Contents
Early life
Glover was raised as an only child born in New York City, and moved to Los Angeles with his family at the age of five.[2] His father is actor Bruce Glover and his mother, Mary Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey (née) Bloom Koerber ,[3] was an actress and dancer who retired upon his birth. He is of English, Czech, German and Swedish descent. 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 middle name, Herbert.[4] 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 the senior year of grade twelve and graduated in 1982.
Career
Acting career
Crispin Glover in September 2008.
Glover began acting professionally at the age of 13. 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 following its release in 1985. Glover did not, however, come to an agreement with the producers to appear in the sequels. Zemeckis used some previously filmed footage of Glover from the first movie in Back to the Future Part II (Glover being billed as 'George McFly in footage from Back to the Future' in the closing credits) and inter-spliced new footage of Jeffrey Weissman, who was introduced using prosthetics (including a false chin, nose and cheekbones) and various obfuscating methods – background, sunglasses, rear shot, even upside down – to play the role of George McFly in the sequels. Displeased that the producers had not only put another actor in make-up to make that actor look like him, but also had used footage of him from the first film without his permission and without paying him, Glover then sued the producers (including Steven Spielberg) on the grounds that the producers did not own Glover's likeness. Because of Glover's lawsuit, there are now clauses in The Screen Actors Guild (TV/Film performer labor union) collective bargaining agreements to the effect that producers and actors are not able to do such things. The case was settled out of court and became one of the most important factors in SAG rule history.
He has continued to play exceedingly eccentric types, e.g., 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;[5] 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 darker 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 and Fata Morgana.
Glover starred in the 2007 film Beowulf as the monster Grendel, playing the part via performance capture technology. The film was Glover's first collaboration with director Robert Zemeckis since the original Back to the Future film.
Late Night appearance
Glover controversially appeared on Late Night with David Letterman on July 28, 1987, to promote the movie River's Edge, in which he starred.[6] Unbeknownst to Letterman and the audience, Glover appeared in character as "Rubin", from a 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),[7] Glover became incensed and stated that he "knew that this was gonna happen" and that "the press, they can do things, they can twist things around". After a failed attempt to challenge Letterman to an arm-wrestling match Glover delivered an impromptu karate kick a few feet from Letterman's face while stating, "I'm strong... I can kick!"[8] Letterman then abruptly ended the segment by walking off stage, saying "I'm going to check on the Top 10", and 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 — Crispin had actually already devised Rubin's "look" by 1985.[9] Almost no-one, 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 twice after that, the first nearly a month later, and then again almost 3 years after where he participated in a more nearly standard interview, but made it questionable whether he was ever on the show before and used a variety of delay tactics explaining the incident; he did say something about it being "an interesting thing." Glover then appeared two years later promoting a record album. When again asked about his first appearance, Glover launched into a long story, mentioning meeting a fellow resembling himself named Rubin, and needing to appear on The Tonight Show with 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 20 years later.[10] Glover has also mentioned that he prefers there to be an "air of mystery" about the appearance.
Music
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.
In 2003, he recorded a version of the Michael Jackson song "Ben" to coincide with the release of the film Willard. In the eccentric music video for the song, which is included on the Willard DVD, 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. and Chicago outsider musician Wesley Willis. In the early 2000s a Kansas City band named itself Onward Crispin Glover after receiving the blessing of Glover.
Books
Glover has written between 15 and 20 books.[9] 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 1982 Billow and the Rock‡[9] 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. The movie, with a budget of only $150,000, 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 planning a third film called It Is Mine which will end the It? Trilogy.[11][12]
Filmography
Year Film Character 1981 Best of Times Crispin 1982 The Facts of Life Cadet #1 1983 The Kid with the 200 I.Q. My Tutor Jack High School U.S.A. Archie Feld Happy Days Roach Hill Street Blues Space Cadet 1984 Family Ties Doug Racing with the Moon Gatsby Boy Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Jimbo Anderson Teachers Danny 1985 The Orkly Kid Larry Back to the Future George McFly 1986 At Close Range Lucas River's Edge Layne 1989 Twister Howdy 1990 Where the Heart Is Lionel Wild at Heart Dell 1991 Rubin and Ed Rubin Farr Little Noises Joey Ferdydurke Mintus The Doors Andy Warhol 1993 Hotel Room Danny 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 The Thin Man 2001 Bartleby Bartleby Fast Sofa Jules Langdon 2002 Crime and Punishment Raskolnikov Like Mike Stan Bittleman 2003 Willard Willard Stiles Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle The Thin Man 2004 Incident at Loch Ness Party Guest 2005 What Is It? Dueling Demi-God Auteur / The young man's inner psyche 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 2008 Open Season 2 Fifi (voice only) Freezer Burn:The Invasion of Laxdale Viergacht 2009 The Donner Party William Foster 9 6 (voice only) 2010 Alice in Wonderland The Knave of Hearts Hot Tub Time Machine Phil Open Season 3 Fifi (voice only) Television work
References
- ^ "Masterclash Takes On Male Friendships With 'Old Friends' and Crispin Glover". Asylum.com. http://www.asylum.com/2010/03/25/masterclash-male-friendships-with-old-friends-tim-curcio-nick-ross-plus-crispin-glover/. Retrieved 2010-09-25.
- ^ "index magazine interview". Indexmagazine.com. http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/crispin_glover.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "Spin-Uncut". Angelfire.com. http://www.angelfire.com/celeb/crispinglover/spin2.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ a b Interview[dead link]
- ^ Crispin Glover
- ^ "Crispin Glover Goes Back to the Crazy – Top 10 Disastrous Letterman Interviews". TIME. 2009-02-13. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1879231_1879160_1879235,00.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ Mooney, Chris. "Salon.com — Letters to the Editor: The Glover's off". Letters.salon.com. http://letters.salon.com/ent/video_dog/classic/2006/11/15/glover/view/index.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ Crispin Glover on Letterman (2009-07-10). "Transcript of Crispin Glover on Dave Letterman". Waxy.org. http://www.waxy.org/archive/2003/03/13/crispin_.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ a b c "CrispinGloverInfo.com Bizarre Interview". Archived from the original on 11 Oct 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071011192730/http://crispingloverinfo.com/bizzareinter.html.
- ^ "Crispin Glover on David Letterman", interviewed by Frank Hyoguchi.. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
- ^ "Not a jaunt down the Yellow Brick Road". The Daily Utah Chronicle. 2005-02-28. http://www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/paper244/news/2005/02/28/AE/Not-A.Jaunt.Down.The.Yellow.Brick.Road-879842.shtml. Retrieved 2006-08-31.
- ^ "An Update on Crispin Hellion Glover's Eagerly Anticipated It Is Mine". Movieweb. 2010-2-18. http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEi2wrljJfZnln. Retrieved 2010-12-11.
External links
Interviews
- 2007 Crispin Glover Video Interview with InterviewingHollywood.com
- Willard-era interview, film stills
- 1992 Crispin Glover in Interview Magazine
- Crispin Glover interview with Aintitcool.com's Capone, re: What Is It and Beowulf, published November 2006
- Transcript of Glover's first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
- SuicideGirls Video Interview with Crispin Glover
- The Onion A.V. Club Interview with Crispin Glover
- Maxim.com Interview with Crispin Glover November 2007 Maxim.com Interview with Crispin Glover
- December 2007 SuicideGirls interview with actor Crispin Glover
- TomGreen.com Tom Green Live! with Crispin Glover, September 2006
Categories:- 1964 births
- Living people
- American film actors
- American film directors
- American screenwriters
- American musicians
- American male singers
- American film producers
- American poets
- American artists
- American writers
- Outsider artists
- Outsider music
- People from Los Angeles, California
- People from New York City
- People from Prague
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