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Danny Glover 31 Danny Glover is not just an actor; he is also a human rights activist. Though not always, he was a collage dropout when one of his friends told him about San Francisco University. The baby boomers, kids that were born between World War II and 1964, were fighting for what they believed in. He found out he could speak his mind about any thing. For once in his life he could be black and proud.

Danny Glover has been in many movies such as __The Lethal Weapon__ series of movies. In 1976, Danny caught the acting bug; the day his daughter was born, he tried out for his first play. Soon after his first tryout he found out about a job driving a cab, which paid one hundred dollars a day. In taking this job he brought in more money than he ever had in his previous job. Danny was in numerous plays, however he did not make it to Broadway until 1984.

In 1984 a movie director saw Danny’s first Broadway performance, and he hired him to be in his next movie. The movie was to be called __Paces in the Heart__. He did not start making money in acting, until the movie __Places in the Heart__. His mother did not live to see him in the movie though; she died in a tragic car accident a couple of days earlier. In the scene where he had to give the handkerchief that belonged to his mother to Sally Field, he said he felt that his mother was with him.

When Danny stared in the movie __The Color Purple__ many groups such as the N.A.A.C.P. protested. They thought that Danny Glover playing the mean spirited “Mister” portrayed a reflection of every black man. But Danny took the criticism in stride saying that “Mister” was a deep and intricate character to play. His daughter said that this was her favorite movie of his.

Probably some of Danny’s most famous movies were the __Lethal Weapon__ series. He stared with Mel Gibson in these four movies. When Mel and Danny met they instantly clicked with each other. Even though they had nothing in common, they still hung out together. Even now, during brakes in their movies, they still hang out together to have lunch.

Danny Glover has been much more than just an actor. He has been a social activist interested in the working poor. He has fought for Racial Equality, in the best way he can, through the characters he portrays in his movies. Danny has been an influence to many people through out the world through the heart warming and sometimes hardhearted people he plays.

Bibliography

Black Americans of Achievement Danny Glover By: Gloria Blakely







Danny Glover Interview
http://www.progressive.org/mag_barsglover Danny Glover Interview by David Barsamian From the December 2002 Issue For most people, Danny Glover's name conjures up the Lethal Weapon series of movies. But when he was on C-SPAN recently, he was identified as "actor and human rights activist." Glover is board chair of the TransAfrica Forum, founded by Randall Robinson, that deals with issues relating to Africa and the Caribbean. He has traveled widely, promoting reparations and debt relief for African nations. In response to the AIDS crisis in Africa, he has extended his tenure as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program. He is an active board member of the Algebra Project, a math empowerment program developed by civil rights veteran Bob Moses. Glover attended San Francisco State University and trained at the Black Actors' Workshop of the American Conservatory. He appeared in numerous stage productions, but it was his performance in New York in "Master Harold and the Boys" by the South African playwright Athol Fugard that first brought Glover national recognition. "The only reason I'm an actor," Glover told one interviewer, "is because of Fugard." Beyond the hijinks of the Lethal Weapon series, Glover gave solid performances in such films as Places in the Heart, The Color Purple, and Beloved. And his role of a homeless man in the independent movie The Saint of Fort Washington was memorable. Glover is a hybrid of progressive politics and artistic sensibility in an industry that commodifies everything and reduces social commitment to late night TV jokes. He knows what the Lethal movies are about: big paydays. But he takes the money and does things with it that are meaningful. I called Danny Glover in late August in Toronto, where he was working on a film. His marvelous grainy voice and infectious vitality made me want more time with him, but the set was beckoning. Question: At an event in New York City late last year called "Imagining Peace," you read from Martin Luther King's historic 1967 Riverside Church speech, "Beyond Vietnam." You quoted this passage, "Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war." Why did you pick that King speech? Danny Glover: At the time I spoke, it was just a matter of three months after September 11. We were in the midst of an undeclared war of indefinite length. A war that most people, even today, have difficulty understanding. I wanted to draw out the connections of that war to past events. Today, as the drums of war again beat louder and louder, the voices of those who oppose the war are drowned out by those voices that support the expedient way. As King noted, it's always dangerous to speak out. His speech marked his transformation from civil rights leader to human rights leader. It made him vulnerable, perhaps even more vulnerable than during the darkest days of the civil rights movement. And his assassination occurred a year to the date of that speech. In the speech, he talked about creating a new way for African Americans and people of color to look at Vietnam, to see how that war had eviscerated the social programs that were supposed to help the poor. Yet the war not only drained valuable resources but took the lives of thousands of Americans already scarred by poverty. King's speech reverberates today. It should be as clear to us as it was to him that beyond the rhetoric of war and terrorism lies a different reality. Look at the world around us and see what is happening. Wealth has increased. The disparity between poor and rich nations has widened. Two billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day. The gap inside of countries has also widened. People go hungry here in the United States. Q: Your opposition to the death penalty and the war on terrorism embroiled you in some controversy. There was a call to boycott your film The Royal Tenenbaums. What was that all about? Glover: I gave a speech at Princeton about the death penalty at the invitation of the local Amnesty International chapter. I reminded the audience that the United States is one of the few countries that still imposes the death penalty while it considers itself civilized. The European Union does not allow the death penalty and supports its abolition around the world. I was asked if my views on the death penalty applied to Osama bin Laden. I said they did. And I added that I was opposed to military tribunals, and to detentions that are still happening. After that I was tagged by elements of the right as unpatriotic.

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Actor and Activist, Danny Glover http://www.abilitymagazine.com/glover_interview.html Moviegoers know him for his work in countless films from //The Color Purple// to the //Lethal Weapon// series. The world knows him for his passion and activism. A native Californian, Danny Glover was born July 22, 1947 in San Francisco, the son of James and Carrie Glover. He lived in a government housing project until age 10. He attended San Francisco State University where he originally wanted to be an economics major. After catching the acting bug at age 28, he began taking classes with the Black Actors Workshop of the American Conservatory. He began appearing on the stage and honing his acting skills until his performance in the New York production of Athol Fugard's //Master Harold// and the //Boys// first brought him national recognition. While he made his film debut (though uncredited) in //Escape from Alcatraz//, his first notable performance came in //Places in the Heart//, with Sally Field and John Malkovich. It wasn't until Steven Spielberg's Oscar nominated production of //The Color Purple//, a film based on the novel by Alice Walker and starring then-unknown Whoopi Goldberg, that he truly walked into the spotlight. Following that, perhaps his biggest success in film came in 1987, when he was paired with Mel Gibson for the immensely popular //Lethal Weapon// film series. Mr. Glover received an NAACP Image Award, as well as an ACE Award for his performance in HBO's production of //Mandel//a. He also received Emmy nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in the television mini-series //Lonesome Dove// and for Turner Network Television's //Freedom Song//. In 1990, he made his debut as executive producer in Charles Burnett's award-winning and critically acclaimed //To Sleep With Anger//, in which he also starred. He then went on to executive produce HBO's America's Dream series, //Deadly Voyage, Buffalo Soldier// and //Freedom Song//. Since that time he has appeared in numerous film and TV productions, in which he is noted for his warm and affable presence. Celebrating real people who have shown courage and bravery in moments of crisis, he hosted and executive produced //Courage//, which was selected by TV Guide as one of the Top Ten Inspirational Shows on Television in 2000. Also a full-time activist, Mr. Glover's causes span from anemia awareness, AIDS crisis in Africa to mathematics education in the U.S. His involvement goes far beyond the typical charitable write-offs. In March 1988, the United Nations Development Program appointed him a goodwill ambassador. He is a major supporter of the TransAfrica Forum, the African-American lobbying organization on Africa and the Caribbean, and the Algebra Project—a math empowerment program developed by civil rights veteran Bob Moses. In 1999, Glover launched a high-profile criticism of New York City taxicabs after numerous instances of being passed due to the color of his skin. He filed a bias complaint with the New York City Taxi Commission, which resulted in Mayor Giuliani's initiation of 'Operation Refusal,' an anti-bias investigation of New York City cabdrivers. Not long ago, the award-winning actor and activist watched in agony as his father battled chronic kidney disease. His father was sapped of energy, constantly cold, tired, and weak; even a short trip to the market had become an insurmountable undertaking. Doctors soon discovered that his father also suffered from anemia. Soon after beginning treatment, his father regained much of his energy and his previous zest for life. As a tribute to his father, Mr. Glover is currently serving as the National Spokesperson for Anemia LifeLine. //—forward by Romney Snyder// //**ABILITY Magazine's Chet Cooper had the opportunity to interview Mr. Glover while he was on location shooting his upcoming film.**// CC: Can you tell us a little about the film you are currently working on? DG: I'm shooting a movie with Whoopi Goldberg that Ernest Dickerson is directing called, //Good Senses//. Basically, it's about a family in a quest to move forward. In the process, they are reminded there are sacrifices that you make and particularly that those sacrifices are different by the mere fact you are black or a person of color. They are forced to ask themselves how much of their own sensibility, or collective sensibilities, do you give up? So this is a story about how you see yourself in that struggle for success. How that struggle is framed. That's what the story is about. CC: You mentioned collective sensibility. Do you believe there is a difference between the individual and the minority group? DG: Yes, in a sense. You question how much of your collective sensibilities you have to relinquish. Essentially, how much of somebody else do you have to be? There is this notion of what is allowable, or a presumed prescription of how you must behave, and you have to decide to what degree you will embrace it. A person comes into the world, I guess we all do, with various cultural safeguards. We all are born within some sort of cultural, social, sociological as well as historical context and they will dominate or dictate what is happening around us. Then, when societal changes begin to happen, we are confronted with what we must embrace, and who we have to be, to take advantage of the opportunity of the change. Much of this is connected to the context in how you see yourself in relationship to power. If you see yourself marginalized or diminished by it, then certainly the leap that you have to make in order to take advantage of those opportunities is often greater. For example, the leap that women have had to make to assume some sort of position in the corporate world has been tremendous and they've often had to relinquish some of their own sensibilities in order to pick the mustard, so to speak. CC: How do you feel the contexts of gender differ from racial contexts? DG: Racial is very different because you begin with a feeling of 'less than' and there is a kind of bravado that comes with that feeling. I believe there is an element of overindulgence, or an enhanced capacity to embrace other cultural manifestations, and have those be the focal point of the definition of yourself. All that is connected into a deeply seeded social, cultural and political disenfranchisement. CC: It's interesting that you mentioned the term 'leap.' I recently attended a L.E.A.P. event. The acronym stands for, 'Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics.' The event focused on how Asian Pacifics are dealing with their own struggles in context with becoming part of our culture in the United States. I see many similarities between what you've been addressing and their diminished view of oneself because of the way the culture is set. Similarly, I've been working with people with disabilities for over 10 years and have seen the issues that a person with a disability who is also a minority is confronted with. I am amazed at the stereotypes and the great degree to which discrimination still exists. DG: Well, the whole quest of validation begins with the sense that fear is a diminished expectation and that we live in the shadow of the larger social cultural context. I'm referring to what I call power relationships, or empowered relationships. For as long as anyone remembered, probably from as far back as vaudeville, African Americans had been at the apex of any kind of cultural transformation this society has gone through. Music has been a kind of lightening rod for whatever transformations have occurred historically. Writers and cultural philosophers have talked about this from the beginning, at least the whole twentieth century, which any kind of mad movement in cultural reinterpretation has been led to some extent through the music and rhythm of African Americans. So how does that define people in terms of their relationships to power? In terms of the sports world, every kind of sport that has been elevated in some way to be a part of the twentieth century lexicon has been led by African Americans. Wherever we go, whether it's boxing, tennis, golf, football, basketball or baseball'. CC: What about badminton? DG: (laughs) Really though, all those things have fallen in the preview of which people have conquered, excelled or created a heightened sense of their own selves. To some extent, they've created a relationship, or a validation. Now it becomes especially important when you are in the shadows of a much larger social dynamic and social fabric, i.e. the examples of people embracing the images of Jesse Owens after the 1936 Olympics or the images of Joe Lewis after every fight he had, Archie Moore or Sugar Ray Robertson... all these people have become enormous icons because of their determination to succeed. Michael Jordan, Mohammed Ali—you can go on and on and on... but what is significant? What does that mean in a relationship to exercising fundamental powers to change peoples circumstances? Absolutely nothing. Because the forces that demand or define the whole area operate outside of that context. Let me explain. We will imitate sports heroes and pay them handsomely, but they have no real power. The sports heroes don't determine the federal budget and how the federal budget is appropriated. When people actually reach past that struggle of diminished expectations to achieve a heightened level, they feel like they are components of fundamentally changing something. They realize they can fundamentally change how they are accepted and how people respond to them. Whether they're disabled, women, or minorities, there is some sort of commonplace. CC: Sure... DG: So, there are some similarities. First of all, in terms of minorities, it's acceptance of who they are, and in changing the whole framework that exists in that acceptance. In terms of people that are disabled, it's that same framework of acceptance. The issue is about providing access and acknowledgment from the standpoint of who they are. CC: Since you brought up living within the framework of a disability, can you describe your experiences going through school with dyslexia? DG: I come to the table with many issues. One is certainly dyslexia. I also dealt with the images I had of myself [in relation to] what is considered acceptable, physically looking. The whole thing about dyslexia, in a sense, is that it made me feel as if I was in some sort unworthy to learn. I always felt that because I didn't have an appropriate way of dealing with that, I could not get beyond my feeling of being diminished, I didn't have an appropriate way of creating some kind of space for myself which was very important. CC: How did you ultimately deal with that diminished feeling? DG: One of the strengths I was fortunate to have was a capacity for numbers. That in a sense helped me in the short term... and I guess in the long term as well. It helped me focus on something that I could do well. I won't claim that I didn't suffer any less with reading or writing, it's just that I knew I did something well and sometimes you just need just a little inch to feel good about yourself. Honestly, no one probably ever noticed that I did a little better on math than my other subjects. At the time, there was no real process of diagnosing dyslexia. My seventh-grade counselor even told my mother that in her opinion—whatever that means—that I was retarded. Those kinds of things can have some sort of effect on you in the long run. Perhaps education begins with feeling that people really care about you and maybe that's not part of what I felt. CC: Do you believe those childhood experiences ultimately played a role in drawing you to deal with social issues as an adult? DG: Well, not directly and yet maybe indirectly they did. If you can find value in yourself in doing something, then perhaps it will allow you to increase awareness about what is happening around you socially. When I saw people—who looked like me—stand up to the most brutal situations and circumstances that was something to marvel at. They became people I was proud of, people I wanted to emulate... they were fascinating. You can imagine as an eight-year-old kid watching the Montgomery Bus Boycott unfold or watching young students take a stand against segregation and being humiliated. It made me angry and proud at the same time. So in that sense, social and political involvement came about from first seeing those images as a child. I wanted to seek out those people that reinforced me, or articulated something for me through their actions. CC: You witnessed some amazing events that changed not only the future for African Americans but really for all Americans. Can you sum up how these experiences have contributed to who you are today? DG: What did I know at 12, 13 or 14 years old when all this stuff was unfolding in front of me? What did I know about the South? I'd visited several times but I knew precious little about the intricacies of the working. I didn't understand the deep-seeded historically brutal racism. I had grandparents who were in their 60s by the time the civil rights movement went on, and to some extent they flourished—by flourished, I meant that they survived. I knew they lived through it, but I didn't know what all that entailed, what all that meant, you know? My mother, through her own sensibilities, left there after graduating from college. She knew there were greater possibilities that existed for her and like so many people of color and she said, 'I'm leaving.' So how was I able, given my whole diminished sense of self, to translate these images into being a better student? I don't know, but I certainly embraced them. Perhaps I embraced them long enough to understand one of the most important things about standing for something is that you are passionate about it. Maybe the passion is a bit stronger or a bit more uplifting than often your ability to decisively articulate it. CC: You were drawn early on to tackling social issues and working within the community... DG: Well, my early involvement was [with a] community development project. It's common that those who are going to be involved in community development would be those people that were the victims of this adverse affect themselves. Yet, at one point they were the ones who found an increased sense of themselves and pride because they were struggling to get something. On the other hand, I'm sure the people who took advantage of, and benefited most from, the Enron scandal and the other similar world business scandals do not look at themselves from the same standpoint. I am sure their first inclination is not to embrace people who are in unjust situations (laughs). CC: (laughs) No, probably not! DG: That's not a part of [who they are] because their inflated sense of themselves doesn't allow for it. Their inflated sense of their own power and their ability to wield it doesn't allow for them to have that kind of sense. I want to look at the world from the eyes of Martin Luther King or Fannie Lou Hamer. I want to look at the world from the eyes of people like Malcolm X or Paul Robertson, from the people whom I embrace. I still wish for my eyes be trained as keenly as theirs to look at the world. I assume that my survival is figuratively dependent upon my understanding of the world from their vantage point. CC: How did you feel about transitioning from working in community development to theater? Did you find it difficult? DG: 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 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. CC: That's a good way to put it. Once your acting career took off, how did you become involved with the United Nations? DG: The United Nations is something that I've applauded for much longer than I can remember. Maybe because in the long run, it's been there for children with UNISEF, or they've supported women with UNIFEM, and it's created what I believe to be an atmosphere of possibilities. All the grass is level. Some of the most innovative projects helping eradicate poverty or programs geared to changing a person's perception of themselves in relationship to poverty and self-sufficiency have been projects sponsored by the United Nations. All those have been things that inspired a greater transparency on some levels but a greater involvement by people around the world. If all the people in the world could see all the people of the world, we would have a greater understanding that we are just a very insignificant part of it all. While we are insignificant in terms of six-billion people, we are significant in that all our voices can be magnified and heard. I felt there was great possibility and wanted to know how I could be a part of it. I had done some work with the United Nations and I was obviously attracted to their programs so when they asked me to be the first Goodwill Ambassador I readily accepted the invitation.
 * http://spot.pcc.edu/~mdembrow/glover.htm**

DANNY GLOVER - BIOGRAPHY AND FILMOGRAPHY Danny Glover was born on July 22, 1947, and raised in San Francisco. He attended San Francisco State University and studied at the Black Actors Workshop of the American Conservatory. During the 1970s he appeared in numerous stage productions, including Athol Fugard’s //The Island// and Shakespeare’s //Macbeth// at the Los Angeles Actors’ Theater and //Sizwe Bansi Is Dead// at the Eureka Theatre. He first achieved national notice with his New York performances in Fugard's //Blood Knot// (1980) and //Master Harold. . . and the Boys// (1982). He also began working in film during this time. By the mid-1980s, Glover was making a name for himself through his supporting roles in the films //Witness//, //Places in the Heart//, and //Silverado//, and also through his television work, with two television films (one for PBS and one for HBO) about Nelson Mandela (in which he was paired with the wonderful Alfre Woodard, with whom he would work in a number of films in the Eighties and Nineties, including //Bopha!//). He received an NAACP Image Award as well as an ACE Award for his performance in the HBO production of //Mandela//. His first leading role on film was in Steven Spielberg's //The Color Purple//. However, most Americans came to know him through his work in the //Lethal Weapon// series, and in his outstanding performance in the TV mini-series //Lonesome Dove (1989)//, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. With success came the ability to choose projects that supported African and African-American filmmakers. He starred in and was executive producer for the critically-acclaimed //To Sleep With Anger// (1990), by noted Black independent director Charles Burnett. Here he played the complex figure--alternately mysterious, affable, seductive, and terrifying--of a Southern relative who comes North to disrupt the placid surface of a middle-class African-American family in L.A. He played Easy Money in Bill Duke's //A Rage in Harlem// (1991), Micah Mangena in Morgan Freeman's //Bopha!// (1993), and was in //Battu// (2000), by Idrissa Ouedraogo of Burkina Faso. He was instrumental in getting these and many other projects off the ground, including the recent film version of Fugard's //Boesman & Lena// (2001), films that tell African and African-American stories through the eyes of their Black protagonists. Other films executive produced by Glover include HBO’s //America’s Dream// series for Black History Month; the HBO-BBC movie //Deadly Voyage//, based on a true story of eight African stowaways who were slaughtered on the high seas by a Ukrainian freighter crew; and TNT’s //Freedom Song//, a story about the civil rights movement. Along with his commitment to being part of film projects that cause people to question the status quo, Danny Glover has also used his success as an actor to further the cause of progressive social activism. As he has stated, "If my visibility as an actor creates a kind of space where these kinds of discussions can be out on the table and other people can be part of that dialogue, so be it. That’s what I’ll lend my name to." In the foreground of this "commitment space" has been Africa and issues related to the continent. In 1989 he, Alfre Woodard, and other actors helped form Artists for a Free South Africa, committed to the struggle against apartheid. The organization continues as Artists for a New South Africa, which "works to help eradicate the inequities that are apartheid's legacy, while strengthening the bonds between our two nations and addressing related issues of social justice here in the U.S." (from the ANSA web site). In March 1998 Danny Glover was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, in which capacity he traveled all over the African continent as part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In response to the AIDS crisis in Africa, and to raise awareness about the impact of the disease on underserved communities in the United States, Glover recently agreed to extend his tenure as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program. He has testified before Congress about our need to be more involved in international anti-AIDS programs. He is also a major supporter of the TransAfrican Forum, the African-American lobbying organization on Africa and the Caribbean, and the Algebra Project, a math/science empowerment program developed by civil rights veteran and MacArthur Fellow Bob Moses, which works with young people in the U.S. and in Africa. Danny Glover has also continued his support of filmmaking in Africa through his ongoing work with FESPACO, the biennial Festival of African Film in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. He has recently come under attack from conservatives for his criticism of the U.S. government's decision to withdraw from the International Conference on Racism and his criticism of President Bush's plans for military tribunals as a violation of civil liberty and human rights. These have been seen as inappropriate interventions by an actor pushing a personal agenda. However, anyone who has followed Danny Glover's career both as an actor and as an activist can see that these critiques are part of a larger social vision that sees film as more than escapist entertainment, that refuses to compartmentalize the different domains of one's life, that sees all humanity as inter-connected, and that works for social justice everywhere. He is an inspiration to us all, and the Cascade Festival of African Films is proud to honor his work in all its many spheres.

Selected Filmography:

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

Oscar Micheaux, Film Pioneer (1981)

Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981)

Places in the Heart (1984)

The Color Purple (1985)

Silverado (1985)

Mandela (1987) (TV)

Lethal Weapon (1987)

BAT-21 (1988)

A Raisin in the Sun (1989) (TV)

Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)

Lonesome Dove (1989) (TV)

Predator 2 (1990)

To Sleep with Anger (1990)

Grand Canyon (1991)

A Rage in Harlem (1991)

Lethal Weapon 3 (//1992)// The Saint of Fort Washington (1993)

Bopha! (1993)

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Switchback (1997)

Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (TV)

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

Beloved (1998)

Boesman & Lena (2000) Battu (2000) The Royal Tennenbaums (2001) --Notes by Michael Dembrow