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Crispin Glover

Highest Rated: 93% Back to the Future (1985)

Lowest Rated: 0% The Con Is On (2018)

Birthday: Apr 20, 1964

Birthplace: New York, New York, USA

An intense, often unbridled presence in features and on television for more than three decades, actor Crispin Glover essayed fringe characters - some benign, others with darker intents - in such films as "Back to the Future" (1985), "The River's Edge" (1986), "Charlie's Angels" (2000) and "Willard" - while also maintaining a side career as an impishly surreal musician, artist and filmmaker. Born Crispin Hellion Glover on April 20, 1964 in New York City, he was the son of character actor Bruce Glover and his wife, dancer Betty Glover. The family relocated to Los Angeles when Glover was five years of age, and he soon began appearing in plays as an elementary student at the Mirman School. At 13, he made his professional stage debut in a production of "The Sound of Music" with Florence Henderson, and gave his first performance on television opposite Nicolas Cage in the pilot for "The Best of Times" (ABC, 1981), a variety series about kids on the cusp of adulthood. Guest appearances on "Happy Days" (ABC, 1974-1984) and "Hill Street Blues" (NBC, 1981-87) as eccentric pre-teens presaged his future screen persona, which was given its first full showcase in the teen sex comedy "My Tutor" (1983) as star Matt Lattanzi's sex-crazed sidekick. He would continue in this vein for the next year, playing socially awkward or confused young men in "Teachers" (1985), among other films, before earning widespread exposure as the hapless George McFly, an Eisenhower-era nebbish who must be introduced to schoolmate Lea Thompson by their time-traveling son (Michael J. Fox) in Robert Zemeckis' "Back to the Future" (1985). The global success of that film led to more substantive roles for Glover, and he drew critical praise as edgy, offbeat young men in "The River's Edge" (1986), "At Close Range" (1986) and "Twister" (1989). But his tenure as a mainstream performer would be short-lived; Glover turned down a reprisal of George McFly for "Back to the Future Part II" (1989), prompting the producers to construct the role from unused footage from the first film and actor Jeffrey Weissman, who donned prosthetic makeup to resemble Glover. The move prompted a suit from Glover, who claimed that they had used his likeness without his permission; the Screen Actors Guild would later insert a clause into collective bargaining agreements that would prevent producers and actors to take similar steps to reproduce actors' likenesses. With the "Future" fiasco behind him, Glove wholeheartedly launched a second career as a multimedia artist by issuing a surreal album of music titled The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be, which included Glover's unique versions of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" and the Charles Manson-penned "Never Say 'Never' to Always." He also began reconstructing public domain books from the late 19th and early 20th century as stream-of-consciousness art projects, and presented them as slide shows at art and music venues. None of these efforts, however, outdid his a 1987 appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman" (NBC, 1982-1993), where a bewigged Glover appeared to suffer a nervous breakdown during his interview and come close to kicking Letterman in the head. Glover never revealed whether the appearance was a stunt or a legitimate on-screen freakout, but it did preserve his status as a go-to performer for malcontents and bizarre figures. He was Laura Dern's high-strung, bug-loving Cousin Dell in David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" (1990), a trembling Andy Warhol in Oliver Stone's "The Doors" (1991), and eccentrics of varying stripes in Lasse Hallstrom's "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" (1993), Gus Van Sant's "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues" (1993, Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man" and Milos Forman's "The People vs. Larry Flynt" (1996). After nearly a decade as a staple of independent film, Glover surprised many by displaying considerable physical skills as the silent assassin The Thin Man in "Charlie's Angels" (2000). The popularity of the film led to a renaissance of sorts for Glover, who again appeared to flirt with mainstream stardom, most notably as the star of "Willard" (2003), a remake of the '70s horror favorite, and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" (2003), but the stint again proved short. With the funds earned from "Angels" and "Willard," Glover completed a decade-long film project titled "What Is It?" (2005). The experimental film, which starred a cast of actors with Down's Syndrome, drew a mix of baffled and appreciative responses from critics and audiences, and was followed in 2007 by "It is Fine! Everything Is Fine," starring and co-written by actor Steven C. Stewart, who had cerebral palsy. To fund these efforts and his traveling slide show exhibit, Glover took roles in numerous low-budget horror films like "The Wizard of Gore" (2007), though he also maintained a steady profile as a voice-over actor in the "Open Season" franchise, a surprise reunion with Zemeckis to provide the voice and motion for the monster Grendel in the animated "Beowulf" (2007), and character turns in "Hot Tub Time Machine" (2010) and "The Bag Man" (2010). Television provided him with more substantive and consistent work, most notably in the offbeat "Texas Rising" (History Channel, 2010) miniseries and in the Starz series "American Gods" (2017- ) as the malevolent god of globalization.

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Highest rated movies

93% 95% Back to the Future Watchlist 90% 89% What's Eating Gilbert Grape Watchlist
88% 75% River's Edge
Watchlist
88% 80% The People vs. Larry Flynt
Watchlist
87% 79% At Close Range
Watchlist
84% 71% We Have Always Lived in the Castle Watchlist
83% 45% Nurse Betty
Watchlist
80% 75% It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine!
Watchlist
28% The Wizard of Gore
Watchlist
71% 50% Beowulf Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Mr. K Unknown (Character) - 2024
44% 58% Smiley Face Killers Hooded Figure (Character) - 2020
9% 41% Lucky Day Luc (Character) - 2019
84% 71% We Have Always Lived in the Castle Uncle Julian (Character) - 2018
0% 38% The Con Is On Gabriel Anderson (Character) - 2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet La truffa è servita Unknown (Character) - 2018
60% 75% Aimy in a Cage Claude Bohringer (Character) - 2016
11% 22% The Bag Man Ned (Character) $48.8K 2014
No Score Yet 86% Freaky Deaky Woody Ricks (Character) - 2012
53% 44% Mr. Nice Ernie Combs (Character) - 2010
64% 56% Hot Tub Time Machine Phil (Character) $50.2M 2010
50% 55% Alice in Wonderland Stayne - The Knave of Hearts (Character) $334.2M 2010
No Score Yet 26% The Donner Party William Foster (Character) - 2009
57% 56% 9 6 (Voice) $31.7M 2009
No Score Yet 35% Open Season 2 Fifi (Voice) - 2008
No Score Yet 22% Freezer Burn Viergacht (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet 28% The Wizard of Gore Montag the Magnificent (Character) - 2007
71% 50% Beowulf Grendel (Voice) $82.2M 2007
2% 29% Epic Movie Willy (Character) $39.7M 2007
80% 75% It Is Fine. Everything Is Fine! Director - 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet It's Fine. Everything is Fine! Director,
Producer,
Film Editing
- 2007
No Score Yet 20% Simon Says Simon/Stanley (Character) - 2006
50% 54% What Is It? Unknown (Character),
Director,
Writer
- 2005
No Score Yet 23% Drop Dead Sexy Eddie (Character) - 2004
64% 66% Incident at Loch Ness Party Guest (Character) $36.8K 2004
41% 40% Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle Thin Man (Character) $100.8M 2003
65% 51% Willard Willard Stiles (Character) $6.9M 2003
No Score Yet 30% Crime and Punishment Rodion Raskolnikov (Character) - 2002
57% 51% Like Mike Stan Bittleman (Character) $51.4M 2002
36% 69% Bartleby Bartleby (Character) $141.4K 2001
No Score Yet 38% Fast Sofa Jules Langdon (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet 84% The Beaver Trilogy Groovin' Larry (segment The Orkly Kid) (Character) - 2001
68% 45% Charlie's Angels Thin Man (Character) $125.3M 2000
83% 45% Nurse Betty Roy (Character) $25.2M 2000
88% 80% The People vs. Larry Flynt Arlo (Character) $20.2M 1996
69% 88% Dead Man Train Fireman (Character) $1.1M 1995
33% 21% Chasers Howard Finster (Character) $1.3M 1994
17% 28% Even Cowgirls Get the Blues Howard Barth (Character) $1.7M 1993
90% 89% What's Eating Gilbert Grape Bobby McBurney (Character) $7.8M 1993
No Score Yet 33% Hotel Room Danny (Character) - 1993
56% 79% The Doors Andy Warhol (Character) $32.7M 1991
No Score Yet 81% Little Noises Joey (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 87% Rubin and Ed Rubin Farr (Character) $4.1K 1991
9% 57% Where the Heart Is Lionel (Character) $1.0M 1990
65% 81% Wild at Heart Dell (Character) $14.5M 1990
63% 86% Back to the Future Part II George McFly (archive footage) (Character) $116.4M 1989
No Score Yet 44% Twister Howdy (Character) - 1989
88% 75% River's Edge Layne (Character) $1.2M 1987
87% 79% At Close Range Lucas (Character) $560.7K 1986
93% 95% Back to the Future George McFly (Character) $247.0K 1985
61% 45% Teachers Danny (Character) - 1984
22% 52% Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter Jimmy (Character) - 1984
60% 62% Racing With the Moon Gatsby Boy (Character) - 1984
No Score Yet 39% High School U.S.A. Archie Feld (Character) - 1983
No Score Yet 38% My Tutor Jack (Character) - 1983

TV

Credit
93% 72% Cabinet of Curiosities Richard Upton Pickman (Character) 2022
76% 70% American Gods Mr. World (Character) 2017 2019 2021
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Bonnie Hunt Show Guest 2010
100% No Score Yet Funny or Die Presents Thomas Edison (Character) 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet Happy Days Roach (Guest Star) 1983
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Facts of Life Cadet 1 (Guest Star) 1982