Daniel Leburn Glover ( GLUV-ər; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor and producer. He has received numerous accolades including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the NAACP's President's Award, as well as nominations for five Emmy Awards and four Grammy Awards.
Glover made his film acting debut in Escape from Alcatraz in 1979. He rose to fame in the late 1980s for playing Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film series. Glover's other notable films include Places in the Heart (1984), The Color Purple (1985), Witness (1985), To Sleep with Anger (1990), Predator 2 (1990), Grand Canyon (1991), Bopha! (1993), Angels in the Outfield (1994), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Saw (2004), Dreamgirls (2006), Shooter (2007), Be Kind Rewind (2008), 2012 (2009), Death at a Funeral (2010), Beyond the Lights (2014), Sorry to Bother You (2018), and The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019).
He is known for his work in television, receiving four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his roles as Nelson Mandela in the HBO television film Mandela (1987), Joshua Deets in CBS western miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989), Philip Marlowe in the Showtime neo-noir series Fallen Angels (1995), and Will Walker in TNT biographical film Freedom Song (2000). He had recurring roles in Hill Street Blues, ER, and Brothers & Sisters.
Glover is also an active supporter of various political causes. He is a member of the TransAfrica Forum and the Center for Economic and Policy Research. For his political work, he was awarded the Cuban National Medal of Friendship by the Cuban Council of State.
Glover was born on July 22, 1946, in San Francisco, California, the son of Carrie Mae (née Hunley; 1919–1983) and James Henry Glover Jr. (1919–2001). Both of his parents were postal workers, and were active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working to advance equal rights. Glover's mother, daughter of a midwife, was born in Louisville, Georgia, and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. His father was a World War II veteran. He graduated from George Washington High School in San Francisco.
As an adolescent and a young adult, Glover had epilepsy but has not had a seizure since age 35. He attended San Francisco State University (SFSU) in the late 1960s but did not graduate. SFSU later awarded him the Presidential Medal of San Francisco State University for his service to education. Glover trained at the Black Actors' Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater.
Glover originally worked in city administration working on community development before transitioning to theater. He has said:
I didn't think it was a difficult transition. Acting is a platform that can become a conveyer for ideas. Art is a way of understanding, of confronting issues and confronting your own feelings—all within that realm of the capacity it represents. It may have been a leap of faith for me, given not only my learning disability (dyslexia) but also the fact that I felt awkward. I felt all the things that someone that's 6'3" or 6'4" feels and with my own diminished expectations of who I could be [and] would feel. Whether it's art, acting or theater that I've devoted myself to I put more passion and more energy into it.
His first theater involvement was with the American Conservatory Theater, a regional training program in San Francisco in 1976. Glover also trained with Jean Shelton at the Shelton Actors Lab in San Francisco. In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Glover credited Jean Shelton for much of his development as an actor. Deciding that he wanted to be an actor, Glover resigned from his city administration job and soon began his career as a stage actor. Glover then moved to Los Angeles for more opportunities in acting.
Glover made his film acting debut in Escape from Alcatraz (1979). He has since had a variety of film, stage and television roles. His earlier work included a recurring role on Hill Street Blues, and the role of Moses Hadner in the 1984 drama film Places in the Heart.
1985–2000: Breakthrough and acclaim
Glover gained acclaim in 1985 starring as the husband to Whoopi Goldberg's character Celie in the celebrated literary adaptation The Color Purple. The same year he played Lieutenant James McFee in the crime thriller film Witness, and Mal in the western film Silverado.
Glover is best known for playing Los Angeles police Sergeant Roger Murtaugh in the action film Lethal Weapon (1987), and in the 1989, 1992 and 1998 sequels of the film series, starring alongside Mel Gibson. He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for his roles as Nelson Mandela in the HBO television film Mandela (1987) and Joshua Deets in CBS western miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989). In 1990, he earned top billing for the first time in the blockbuster Predator 2 with Gary Busey, the sequel to the science-fiction action film Predator. That same year, he starred in Charles Burnett's To Sleep with Anger, for which he won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead. He also appeared in films such as Grand Canyon (1991) and Bopha! (1993).
During his career, Glover has also made several cameos, appearing, for example, in the Michael Jackson video "Liberian Girl" of 1987. In 1994, Glover and actor Ben Guillory founded the Robey Theatre Company in Los Angeles in honor of the actor and concert singer Paul Robeson. Its purpose was to focus on theatre by and about Black people.
Also in 1994, Glover made his directorial debut with the Showtime channel short film Override. That same year, he played the role of baseball manager George Knox in Angels in the Outfield for Walt Disney Pictures.
In common with Humphrey Bogart, Elliott Gould and Robert Mitchum, who have played Raymond Chandler's private eye detective Philip Marlowe, Glover played the role in the episode "Red Wind" of the Showtime network's 1995 series Fallen Angels, earning him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Also that year, Glover played Captain Sam Cahill in the war film Operation Dumbo Drop.
In 1997, under his former production company banner Carrie Films, Glover executive produced numerous films of first time directors including Pamm Malveaux's neo-noir short film Final Act starring Joe Morton, which aired on the Independent Film Channel. In 1998, he starred as Paul D. in the drama film Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's novel. In addition, Glover has been a voice actor in many children's movies including The Prince of Egypt (1998), Antz (1998) and Our Friend, Martin (1999). In 2000, he played Will Walker in TNT biographical film Freedom Song, which earned him another Primetime Emmy Award nomination.
2001–present: Established actor