American actor known as one of the most infamous oddballs in Hollywood, a Dada renaissance man, iconoclast auteur, absurdist entrepreneur and eccentric actor.
An only child, the son of an actor and a dancer, Crispin moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1968 As a kid, up to grade 8 he attended a school for mentally gifted children and knew at 11 that he wanted to be an actor. At 18, Crispin made his film debut as a young marauder in a sexploitation saga called “My Tutor.” After he finished high school he began to get steady guest roles in various TV series such as “Happy Days,” “Hill Street Blues” and “Family Ties.” He made his feature debut in “Private Lessons,” 1981. It was in the 1985 huge hit, “Back to the Future” that Glover had his best shot, playing Michael J. Fox’s dad. The following year, he delivered a brilliant performance in “River’s Edge.”
It was offstage where Glover began to make his mark for eccentricity. In July 1987 he appeared on David Letterman’s show clad in a ratty wig and platform shoes with which he tried to kick Letterman. About the same time he updated “Rat Catching,” a Victorian children’s book with gruesome text and drawings distributed through his mom’s printing press. Since doctoring his first book, he has done 20 more. In 1989, Glover issued an LP, “The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution: The Solution Equals Let It Be,” which did little to dispel questions about his sanity. The same year he turned down an offer to appear in the sequel to “Back to the Future” and when another actor was put in his role, he sued 20th Century Fox.
Glover began to appear in off-beat roles in films such as “Wild at Heart” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. In 1991, he appeared as Andy Warhol in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors.” He cultivated his reputation as a Hollywood eccentric, appearing in independent productions. He began directing his own films in 1995 with “What Is It,” featuring a cast made up entirely of those with Down’s Syndrome. Glover maintained that the film is really about fascism, a pipe, salt, and a guy in search of a replacement for a smashed, talking snail. The film is so surrealistically strange that the most avant guard audience is confused.
Glover celebrates his birthday twice a year, on April 20 and September 20. As a kid he was sugar addicted up to age 19, when he consciously stopped eating quantities of candy. He lives alone in a mansion in picturesque Silverlake partially concealed by a huge bloom of bougainvillea.
Link to Wikipedia biography