Crispin Glover
Crispin Hellion Glover (born April 20, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, author, and musician. 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), Andy Warhol in "The Doors" (1991), Bobby McBurney in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), the Thin Man in "Charlie's Angels" (2000) and "" (2003), Roy Ostrey in "Nurse Betty" (2000), Willard Stiles in "Willard" (2003), Grendel in "Beowulf" (2007), The Knave of Hearts in "Alice in Wonderland" (2010), Phil in "Hot Tub Time Machine" (2010), and Mr.  World in the Starz television series "American Gods" (2017–2021). In the late 1980s, Glover started his company, Volcanic Eruptions, which publishes his books and also serves as the production company for his films, such as "What Is It?" (2005) and "It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine." (2007). 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. He is the son of actor Bruce Glover and actress and dancer Marion Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey, 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. "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. Glover's father is of English, Czech, and Swedish descent, while his mother has Czech (area surrounding Milevsko) and German ancestry. As a child, Glover attended the Mirman School from first through ninth grades. He then attended both Venice High for 10th and 11th grades, and Beverly Hills High School for 12th grade; he graduated in 1982 . Career. Acting. 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 "" (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; 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. 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; 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" and  Fata Morgana. 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". Fake Shemp Lawsuit. In "Back to the Future Part II", Zemeckis reused  brief footage of Glover that 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 successfully 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. He was awarded a reported $760,000, and as a result of this suit, clauses in the Screen Actors Guild collective bargaining agreements now state that producers and actors are not allowed to use such methods to reproduce the likeness of other actors, what is known as a Fake Shemp. 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. 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. Several 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, himself, reports to have written between 15 and 20 books. "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 that 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. Five of his books have been published so far, through his publishing company, Volcanic Eruptions. Other known titles include "The Backward Swing" and "A New World". <nowiki>*</nowiki> 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. 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. He lists Luis Buñuel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Stanley Kubrick and Werner Herzog as influences on his film-making. 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 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." Glover is not married, nor does he have children, citing his busy career as one of the reasons for which he feels unfit to be a father, as he feels that a father should be there for his children. From 2001 to 2003, Glover dated Alexa Lauren, a "Penthouse" magazine 'Pet of the Month' for September 1999. Section::::"Late Night" appearance. Glover appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman  on July 28, 1987, to promote River's Edge". To the surprise of Letterman and the audience, Glover appeared wearing platform shoes and a wig. During the interview, Glover behaved erratically and nearly kicked Letterman in the face, causing Letterman to walk off the set. Four years later, the film "Rubin & Ed" premiered, in which Glover has a starring role as titular character Rubin Farr. After the release of "Rubin & Ed", some speculated that Glover was acting in-character as Rubin Farr during his appearance on "Late Night". 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. 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."