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IMDbPro

Scott Glenn(I)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Stunts
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000508
Scott Glenn at an event for Freedom Writers (2007)
A family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster.
Play trailer1:32
Greenland (2020)
78 Videos
99+ Photos
Scott Glenn was born January 26, 1939, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Hope Elizabeth and Theodore Glenn, a salesman. As he grew up in Appalachia, his health was poor; he was bedridden for a year and doctors predicted he would limp for the rest of his life. During long periods of illness, Glenn was reading a lot and "dreaming of becoming Lord Byron". He challenged his illness by intense training programs and eventually got rid of his limp.

After graduating high school, Glenn entered William and Mary College where he majored in English. He spent three years in the Marines and then tried to combine his passion for storytelling with his passion for adventures by working for five months as a criminal reporter at the Kenosha Evening News. Glenn planned to become an author but found out he had "problems with dialogues", so he decided to overcome it by studying acting. In 1966, he headed to New York where he joined George Morrison acting class. He helped in directing student plays to pay for his studies and appeared onstage in La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club productions. Soon after arriving in New York, Glenn became a fan of martial arts. In 1968, he joined The Actors Studio and began working in professional theater and TV. In 1970, James Bridges offered him his first movie work in The Baby Maker (1970).

Glenn left for L.A., where he spent seven of the "most miserable years of [his] life". He couldn't find interesting film roles and, doing brief TV stints, he felt "like a person who had to paint the Sistine Chapel with a house-painter's brush". On a brighter side, he worked episodically with Jonathan Demme (Angels Hard as They Come (1971), Fighting Mad (1976)), Robert Altman (Nashville (1975)) and Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now (1979)). In 1978, Glenn got tired of Hollywood and moved his family to Ketchum, Idaho, where he worked as a barman, huntsman and mountain ranger for two years (occasionally acting in Seattle stage productions). James Bridges once more changed the course of Glenn's life in 1980 when he offered him the role of John Travolta's rival in Urban Cowboy (1980) and made him a star. Glenn's acting abilities and physical presence helped him to excel both in action (Silverado (1985), The Challenge (1982)) and drama (The Right Stuff (1983), Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), The River (1984)) as he alternately played good guys and bad guys.

In the beginning of the '90s, his career was at its peak - he appeared in such indisputable masterpieces as The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and The Hunt for Red October (1990). Established as one of Hollywood's most solid and respected character actors he has appeared in a wide variety of films, such as the black Freudian farce Reckless (1995), the tragicomedy Edie & Pen (1996) and Ken Loach's socio-political declaration Carla's Song (1996), alternating mainstream (Courage Under Fire (1996), Absolute Power (1997)) with independent projects (Lesser Prophets (1997) and Larga distancia (1997)), written by his daughter Dakota Glenn), and TV (Naked City: A Killer Christmas (1998)). Continuing into the 21st century, Glenn has also appeared in Training Day (2001), W. (2008) (as Donald Rumsfeld), Secretariat (2010), Sucker Punch (2011), The Paperboy (2012), and two of the Bourne films: The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Legacy (2012).
BornJanuary 26, 1939
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJanuary 26, 1939
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000508
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Awards
    • 1 nomination

Photos189

Scott Glenn and Redmond Gleeson in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Scott Glenn, William Russ, and Buck Taylor in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Scott Glenn in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Scott Glenn and Amanda Plummer in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Scott Glenn in Cattle Annie and Little Britches (1980)
Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott Glenn in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Scott Glenn in Training Day (2001)
Scott Glenn in Castle Rock (2018)
Scott Glenn and William Xifaras in Castle Rock (2018)
Scott Glenn in Castle Rock (2018)
Scott Glenn in Castle Rock (2018)
Scott Glenn in Castle Rock (2018)

Known for

Sean Connery in The Hunt for Red October (1990)
The Hunt for Red October
7.5
  • Bart Mancuso
  • 1990
Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The Silence of the Lambs
8.6
  • Jack Crawford
  • 1991
Backdraft (1991)
Backdraft
6.7
  • John Adcox
  • 1991
Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Daniel Bristol in Sucker Punch (2011)
Sucker Punch
6.0
  • Wise Man
  • 2011

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Hill
    • Red Murff
    • Post-production
    • 2023
  • Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin, and Roger Dale Floyd in Greenland (2020)
    Greenland
    • Dale
    • 2020
  • Castle Rock (2018)
    Castle Rock
    • Alan Pangborn
    • TV Series
    • 2018
  • Charlie Cox, Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter, and Finn Jones in The Defenders (2017)
    The Defenders
    • Stick
    • TV Mini Series
    • 2017
  • Justin Theroux in The Leftovers (2014)
    The Leftovers
    • Kevin Garvey, Sr.
    • TV Series
    • 2014–2017
  • Charlie Cox in Daredevil (2015)
    Daredevil
    • Stick
    • TV Series
    • 2015–2016
  • Juliette Binoche in Mara (2015)
    Mara
    • Henry
    • Short
    • 2015
  • Billy Bob Thornton, Thomas Jane, James Marsden, Piper Perabo, and Bart the Bear in Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)
    Into the Grizzly Maze
    • Sully
    • 2015
  • The Barber (2014)
    The Barber
    • Eugene Van Wingerdt
    • 2014
  • Jeremy Renner in The Bourne Legacy (2012)
    The Bourne Legacy
    • Ezra Kramer
    • 2012
  • John Cusack, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, and Zac Efron in The Paperboy (2012)
    The Paperboy
    • W.W. Jansen
    • 2012
  • Magic Valley (2011)
    Magic Valley
    • Ed Halfner
    • 2011
  • Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Daniel Bristol in Sucker Punch (2011)
    Sucker Punch
    • Wise Man
    • 2011
  • Diane Lane, James Cromwell, John Malkovich, and Scott Glenn in Secretariat (2010)
    Secretariat
    • Chris Chenery
    • 2010
  • Josh Brolin in W. (2008)
    W.
    • Donald Rumsfeld
    • 2008
  • Richard Gere and Diane Lane in Nights in Rodanthe (2008)
    Nights in Rodanthe
    • Robert Torrelson
    • 2008

Producer

  • Atlantic Crossing: A Robot's Daring Mission (2010)
    Atlantic Crossing: A Robot's Daring Mission
    • executive producer
    • 2010

Stunts

  • Backdraft (1991)
    Backdraft
    • stunts
    • 1991
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos78

"Don't Ever Write a Check ..."
Clip 0:34
"Don't Ever Write a Check ..."
Webisode: Living
Clip 2:45
Webisode: Living
Webisode: Teasing
Clip 1:41
Webisode: Teasing
Dude Moment: Be Cool
Clip 0:25
Dude Moment: Be Cool
Dude Moment: Pants
Clip 0:22
Dude Moment: Pants
Dude Moment: Fish
Clip 0:20
Dude Moment: Fish
Secretariat
Clip 1:01
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 1:11
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 1:17
Secretariat
Secretariat
Clip 0:49
Secretariat
Freedom Writers
Clip 0:53
Freedom Writers
Freedom Writers
Clip 0:52
Freedom Writers

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Scott Glen
  • Height
    • 6′ (1.83 m)
  • Born
    • January 26, 1939
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Spouse
    • Carol SchwartzSeptember 10, 1968 - present (2 children)
  • Children
      Dakota Glenn
  • Parents
      Theodore Glenn
  • Relatives
      Bonnie Glenn(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Narrator of "Navy SEALS: Untold Stories" on TLC network.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Interview
    • 3 Pictorials

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Typically does his own thorough research for his roles, not trusting advisers or coaches.
  • Quotes
    Essentially what actors do is put colors on a palette for directors to paint with.
  • Trademarks
      Tough characters with a militaristic background

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