John Glover (actor)

Not to be confused with English actor Jon Glover.

John Glover (/ˈɡlʌvər/ born August 7, 1944^[1]) is an American actor, known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2: The New Batch and Lionel Luthor in Smallville. He is also the voice of Riddler in the DC Animated Universe.

John Glover
Glover in 2024
Born	(1944-08-07) August 7, 1944 (age 80) Kingston, New York, U.S.
Alma mater	Towson University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–present
Spouse	Adam Kurtzman ​ (m. 2016)​

Early life

Glover was born in Kingston, New York,^[2] and raised in Salisbury, Maryland. His father was a television salesman.^[3][4] Glover attended Wicomico High School and acted at Towson University.^[5][6]

Glover began his career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and later studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas.^[7]

Career

Glover began his career in television, playing a mentally disturbed kidnapper who kidnapped Joanne, the lead character in Search for Tomorrow. One of his early film performances was a role as a U.S. diplomat in White Nights. His other roles include Alan Raimy in 52 Pick-Up, Bryce Cummings in Scrooged, Tony Gateworth in Masquerade, Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, a mobster in Payback, an advertising spokesman in RoboCop 2, Derek Mills in Night of the Running Man, the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series, Doctor Jason Woodrue in Batman & Robin, Verad in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Invasive Procedures", the Devil in the series Brimstone, and a recurring role in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Cousin Jerry, from Bal'mer, a relative whom no one actually seemed to know.

In 1987, he appeared in the Miami Vice episode "Lend Me an Ear" as Steve Duddy. He also appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, "One White Rose for Death" and "When Thieves Fall Out". He appeared in the television film An Early Frost in 1985, the first TV film to confront the issue of AIDS, and received an Emmy nomination for his performance as a gay AIDS patient.^[8] In 1986, he appeared in the TV film Apology with Lesley Ann Warren.

Glover at the 1991 Emmy Awards

He appeared in the role of Max Brodsky, an inmate in concentration camps and later a fighter for Israel's independence, in Ian Sharp's 1989 TV miniseries Twist of Fate (also known as Pursuit). That same year, he played a hard-driving, low-on-morals district sales manager in HBO's Traveling Man. He also received a 1994 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance in Frasier.^[8]

Glover is perhaps best known for his role as Lionel Luthor on Smallville from 2001 to 2008 where he first appeared as a guest actor in the show's first season and then appeared as a full cast member from seasons two to seven. He later returned in 2010 and 2011 for the tenth and final season as a parallel universe version of the character.^[9]

He had a small appearance in the Woody Allen film Annie Hall (1977) in a flashback in which he tells the title character, "Touch my heart. With your foot." He had a recurring role in Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Declan Gage, an old friend and mentor to Detective Robert Goren. On ABC's Brothers & Sisters he played Henry (the boyfriend of Saul Holden) in 2009. In Heroes he had a brief appearance as Samson Gray, the father of Sylar.

He had made notable appearances on stage, winning a Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play for his dual roles in the Broadway play Love! Valour! Compassion!, which he reprised in the film version. In 2004, he performed with the Philadelphia Theatre Company staging of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

He also appeared as "man in the chair/narrator" in The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway during the summer of 2007. He played the role of Lucky in a Broadway production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. In 2014, he appeared as Leonato in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing.^[10]

He played Telemachus in Yuri Rasovsky's Peabody Award-winning radio dramatization of The Odyssey of Homer and has played in several radio plays of the LA Theatre Works. Glover is receiving increasing recognition for narrating audiobooks. In 2011, he performed the audiobook version of Ghost Story, the thirteenth novel in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series. In October/November 2011, he performed in David Bar Katz's drama The Atmosphere of Memory at the Bank Street Theatre in New York City, co-starring with Ellen Burstyn in a LAByrinth production. He played the role of Uncle Ben in the 2012 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols. He is seen rehearsing the role of John Kreese in behind-the-scenes pre-production footage from The Karate Kid, indicating he may have been considered for that role.^[11] In 2013, Glover starred in the horror anthology Sanitarium. He also guest-starred in an episode of Agent Carter.^[12] Glover has done various voice-over work for several projects related to Tron: Legacy: the villain Abraxas in Tron: Evolution, and Dyson in Tron: Uprising. In 2014, he guest-starred on The Blacklist in the episode titled "Berlin".

Personal life

Glover is gay. He married sculptor Adam Kurtzman in 2016,^[13] whom he had been dating since 1993.^[14] According to Glover, he slept with Freddie Mercury in the 1970s.^[13]

Glover is involved with the Alzheimer's Association. His father had Alzheimer's disease, leading Glover to become more active in charity and activism surrounding the disorder.^[14]

Glover returns to Towson annually to work with theater students.^[15][16] The theater department awards a scholarship in his name.^[17]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1973	Shamus	Johnnie
1977	Annie Hall	Actor Boy Friend
1977	Julia	Sammy
1978	Somebody Killed Her Husband	Herbert Little
1979	Last Embrace	Richard Peabody
1980	The American Success Company	Ernst
1980	The Mountain Men	Nathan Wyeth
1980	Melvin and Howard	Freese – Attorney #2
1981	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	Tom Keller
1982	A Little Sex	Walter
1984	The Evil That Men Do	Briggs
1985	White Nights	Wynn Scott
1986	A Killing Affair	Sheb Sheppard
1986	52 Pick-Up	Alan Raimy
1986	Willy/Milly	Fred Niceman
1988	David	Charles Rothenberg
1988	Masquerade	Tony Gateworth
1988	Rocket Gibraltar	Rolo Rockwell
1988	Scrooged	Brice Cummings
1988	The Chocolate War	Brother Leon
1989	Meet the Hollowheads	Henry Hollowhead
1990	Gremlins 2: The New Batch	Daniel Clamp
1990	RoboCop 2	Magnavolt salesman
1993	Ed and His Dead Mother	A. J. Pattle
1994	In the Mouth of Madness	Saperstein
1995	Night of the Running Man	Derek Mills
1995	Automatic	Goddard Marx
1997	Love! Valour! Compassion!	John Jeckyll, James Jeckyll
1997	Batman & Robin	Dr. Jason Woodrue
1997	Medusa's Child	Rogers Henry
1998	Dead Broke	Sam
1997	The Broken Giant	Bennett Hale
1999	Payback	Phil
1999	Macbeth in Manhattan	Richard, Director
2001	The Body	Jesus Christ Street Actor
2001	On Edge	Yuri Moskvin
2002	Mid-Century	Bill Gates
2004	Tricks	Ralph
2004	A Kiss at Kerouac's Grave	Will
2005	The Civilization of Maxwell Bright	Ogden
2013	Sanitarium	Gustav	Segment: "Figuratively Speaking"
2013	Sweet Talk	Professor, Count
2014	Reality	Zog
2015	You Bury Your Own	Detective Gillespie
2016	We Go On	Dr. Ellison
2019	Shazam!	Mr. Sivana	[18]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Kojak	Billy Jo	Episode: "Elegy In An Asphalt Graveyard"
1984	George Washington	Charles Lee	Episode: "Charles Lee"
1985	ABC Afterschool Specials	Mr. Stewart	Episode: "Don't Touch"
1985	An Early Frost	Victor DiMato	Television film
1986	The Twilight Zone	The Alien Ambassador	Episode: "A Small Talent for War"
1986	Apology	Philip	Cable television film
1986	Murder, She Wrote	Franz Mueller	Episode: "One White Rose for Death"
1987	Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder	Richard Behrens	Episode: 1-3 (entire miniseries)
1987	Miami Vice	Steve Duddy	Episode: "Lend Me an Ear"
1987	Murder, She Wrote	Andrew Durbin	Episode: "When Thieves Fall Out"
1989	Breaking Point	Dr. Gerber	Television film
1989	Twist of Fate	Max Brodsky	TV miniseries
1989	The Hitchhiker	Miles Duchet	Episode: "Striptease"
1991	What Ever Happened to...	Billy Korn	Television film
	Tales from the Crypt	Sebastian Esbrook	Episode: "Undertaking Palor"
1992	Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel	Loco Garrison	Television film
	The Ray Bradbury Theater	Walter Grip	Episode: "Silent Towns"
1993	Frasier	Ned Miller	Episode: "Oops"
	Crime & Punishment	Dennis Atwood	Episode: "Best Laid Plans"; nominated for Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
	The Legend of Prince Valiant	King Edward	Voice, episode: "The Blackest Poison"
	Animaniacs	Rasputin	Voice, episode: "Nothing but the Tooth"[19]
	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Verad	Episode: "Invasive Procedures"
1992–1994	Dinosaurs	Babysitter, Prosecutor, Lucius	Voice, 3 episodes
	Batman: The Animated Series	Edward Nygma / The Riddler	Voice, 3 episodes[19]
1998	Superman: The Animated Series		Voice, episode: "Knight Time"[19]
	The New Batman Adventures		Voice, episode: "Judgement Day"[19]
	The Tempest	Anthony Prosper
	Pinky and the Brain	Tycoon	Voice, episode: "Pinky's Turn"[19]
1998–1999	Brimstone	The Devil, Angel	13 episodes
1999–2001	Haunted History	Narrator	Voice, 25 episodes
2001–2011	Smallville	Lionel Luthor	145 episodes
2006	Numb3rs	Samuel Craft (The Psychic)	Episode: "Mind Games"
2006–2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Declan Gage	2 episodes
2009	Heroes	Samson Gray	Episode: "Shades of Gray"
2011–2015	The Good Wife	Jared Andrews	4 episodes
2012–2013	Tron: Uprising	Dyson	Voice, 4 episodes[19]
2014	The Blacklist	Dr. Bruce Sanders	Episode: "Berlin"
2014	Perception	The Devil	Episode: "Possession"
2015	Agent Carter	SSR Informant	Episode: "The Iron Ceiling"
2019	The Good Fight	Jared Andrews	Episode: "The One where a Nazi Gets Punched"
	Tales of the City	Bill Schwartz	Episode: "Next Level Sh*t"
	Evil	Byron Duke	Episode: "3 Stars"
2021	Fear the Walking Dead	Theodore "Teddy" Maddox	5 episodes
	Lucifer	Peter Peterson	Episode: "Family Dinner"
2022	Dead in the Water: A Fear the Walking Dead Story	Theodore "Teddy" Maddox	Web series; episode: "This Ain't It"
2023	And Just Like That...	Elliot	Episode: "A Hundred Years Ago"
2024	Gremlins	TBA	Voice[20]

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
1994	The Adventures of Batman & Robin	The Riddler
2003	Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo	Help Points	[19]
2010	Tron: Evolution	Abraxas, Jalen	[19]

Audiobooks

Year	Title	Author
1992	The Thief of Always (abridged)	Clive Barker
1999	Night Shift	Stephen King
	The Lawnmower Man	Stephen King
	Gray Matter	Stephen King
	Thank You for Smoking	Christopher Buckley
2009	Level 26: Dark Origins	Anthony E. Zuiker
2010	Worst Case	James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
	The Bride Collector	Ted Dekker
	The Tempest	William Shakespeare
	Red Harvest	Joe Schreiber
2011	Gideon's Sword	Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child
	Dracula (Dramatized)	Bram Stoker and Charles Morey

References

1. • "Almanac: Today's Birthdays". Standard-Speaker. Hazleton, Pennsylvania. August 7, 2023. ProQuest 2847079779. Actor John Glover is 79. Actor David Rasche is 79. Former diplomat, talk show host and activist Alan Keyes is 73.
   • "Almanac: Today's Birthdays". Newsday. August 7, 1998. p. A2. ProQuest 279144225. John Glover, 54, David Rasche, 54
2. Buck, Jerry (February 23, 1992). "To Smile—and Still Be Glover: Actor's Villainy in 'Grass Roots' Makes Room For Shakespeare". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
3. "Who's who from Salisbury". Daily Times. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
4. Cox, Jeremy (September 22, 2014). "Actor John Glover returns to Salisbury for a cause". Delmarva Now. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
5. "John Glover Biography". Yahoo. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
6. "Phedre Sold Out Six Nights In World Premiere". Tower Light. March 25, 1966. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
7. "John Glover on The Beverly Hills Playhouse Acting School". Retrieved July 29, 2014.
8. "JOHN GLOVER - Emmy Awards, Nominations and Wins". Emmys.com. March 3, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
9. "Lionel Luthor Returning to Smallville". TVGuide.com. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
10. Brantley, Ben (June 17, 2014). "Lily Rabe in 'Much Ado About Nothing' in Central Park". New York Times. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
11. "THE KARATE KID 1983 READ THRU PART 1". YouTube.com. May 17, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
12. Jose Molina (writers) & Peter Leto (director) (February 3, 2015). "The Iron Ceiling". Agent Carter. Season 1. Episode 5. ABC.
13. Rosenbaum, Michael (June 18, 2019). "John Glover". Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum (Podcast). Unqualified Productions. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
14. Green, Bill (June 22, 2005). "Out in Smallville: Smallville's John Glover". WC Times. Archived from the original on June 15, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
15. "Cofac Today" (PDF). Towson University. 2013. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2021. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
16. Waldsachs, Wendy S. (October 12, 1995). "Tony Award-winning alumnus John Glover visits TSU theatre department". The Towerlight. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
17. "Scholarships for Current Majors". Towson University. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
18. "Shazam! Movie Reportedly Casts Smallville's John Glover". Screen Rant. January 10, 2019.
19. "John Glover (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved September 30, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
20. Taylor, Drew (July 26, 2024). "'Gremlins: The Wild Batch' Adds Simu Liu as Series Regular, Sets Season 2 Premiere Date". TheWrap. Archived from the original on July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 26, 2024.

External links

• John Glover on Twitter
• John Glover at IMDb 
• John Glover at the Internet Broadway Database
• John Glover at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• John Glover at the TCM Movie Database
• John Glover at AllMovie
• Interview with John Glover