Crispin Glover Biography

CRISPIN GLOVER

Date of Birth: April 20, 1964

Born in New York City to an actor father and dancer mother, Crispin Glover has earned the reputation as one of the most infamous oddballs in Hollywood, both on-screen and off. But he has also earned critical acclaim for his bizarre character turns and intense performances. Glover's family relocated to Los Angeles when he was four, where he began acting while still in elementary school. By the age of 13, he had already secured professional representation. After winning a lead role in an L.A. production of The Sound of Music starring Florence Henderson, Glover went to high school for two years and then began working regularly in television, appearing in guest roles on series like Happy Days, Hill Street Blues and Family Ties.

He made his feature debut in 1981 in Private Lessons, and in 1983, appeared in My Tutor as well as a pair of TV movies, High School U.S.A. and The Kid with the 200 I.Q.. Supporting roles in projects like 1984's Teachers, Racing With the Moon and the American Film Institute-produced The Orkly Kid followed, but an extremely eccentric performance as Michael J. Fox's father in the 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future was Glover's ticket to stardom. Hot on its heels was a brilliant performance in the disturbing teen drama River's Edge in 1986, but a the same time, his reputation for eccentric behavior was coming to fruition: a July 1987 appearance on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman, in which Glover tried to kick Letterman in the head, was gobbled up by the press, and the simultaneous publication of Rat Catching, an antique Victorian children's book updated with gruesome cut-up text and new drawings distributed through his mother's Volcanic Eruptions press imprint, did little to dispelquestions about his sanity.

In 1989, Glover released an LP, The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution. The Solution Equals Let It Be, containing a bizarre cover of the Nancy Sinatra hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" His follow-up, The Big Love Album, remains unreleased. That same year he shocked onlookers by deciding not to return for the inevitable Back to the Future sequel. When another actor was outfitted with prosthetics as a substitute, Glover successfully sued 20th Century Fox. This legal victory forced the Screen Actor's Guild to create new rules on the issue of performance "sampling". He then turned his back on the Hollywood mainstream, accepting supporting roles in off-kilter films like David Lynch's Wild at Heart and Lasse Hallstrom's What's Eating Gilbert Grape. In 1991, he even appeared as Andy Warhol in Oliver Stone's The Doors.

By the mid-1990s Glover had settled rather comfortably into his role as Hollywood's eccentric-at-large, appearing with some of the American independent community's most notable filmmakers. In 1993, he appeared in Gus Van Sant's Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, and in 1996 he delivered a memorable cameo in the opening scenes of Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man.

In 1995, Glover began directing his own short film, What Is It?, starring a cast made up entirely of victims of Down's Syndrome. He also toured as The Big Slide Show, a one-man performance-art piece incorporating footage from What Is It?, music from his records, and images from his books, which additionally included 1990's Oak Mot and 1992's Concrete Inspection. In 1996, he appeared in Milos Forman's The People Vs. Larry Flynt as a staff member of Hustler magazine.

Of his decision to turn down most blockbuster roles, Glover's father has said, "His decisions are right, even if it does kill the agents."

Filmography:

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
The Forlorn (2009)
9 (2009) (voice)
Beowulf (2007)
The Wizard of Gore (2007)
Epic Movie (2007)
It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! (2007)
Simon Says (2006)
Drop Dead Sexy (2005)
What Is It? (2005)
Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
Willard (2003)
Like Mike (2002)
Fast Sofa (2001)
Bartleby (2001)
The Beaver Trilogy (2000)
Crime and Punishment (2000)
What Is It? (2000)
Charlie's Angels (2000)
Nurse Betty (2000)
The People Vs. Larry Flynt (1996)
Dead Man (1995)
Chasers (1994)
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993)
Ferdydurke (1992)
The Doors(1991)
Little Noises (1991)
Rubin and Ed (1991)
Where the Heart Is (1990)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Back to the Future Part II (1989) (uncredited) (archive footage)
Crime and Punishment (1988)
Twister (1988)
River's Edge (1987)
At Close Range (1986)
Back to the Future (1985)
The Orkly Kid (1985)
Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984)
Racing with the Moon (1984)
Teachers (1984)
My Tutor (1983)