Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Crispin Glover

  • Actor
  • Director
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00024
Crispin Glover
Home Video Trailer from Lionsgate
Play trailer2:02
Willard (2003)
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
While he's never been a typical leading man, Crispin Glover has distinguished himself as one of the most intriguing personalities in the movie business. His unusual characters and personal projects have inspired a cult-like following that has dubbed him both madman and genius.

The son of actress and dancer Betty Glover and actor Bruce Glover, Crispin Hellion Glover was born in New York City and raised in Southern California. He was named after the Saint Crispin's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V. His middle name, Hellion, was also used by his father. Crispin picked up his father's trade while still in elementary school--by age thirteen, he already had an agent scouting out parts. A lead in a stage production of "The Sound of Music" (starring Florence Henderson) led to guest spots on the TV shows Happy Days (1974), Hill Street Blues (1981) and Family Ties (1982), which in turn led to roles in made-for-TV movies. The adolescent Glover felt "confined" by TV work, however, so he opted to stick to movie parts. He made his big-screen debut in the teen hi-jinx movie in My Tutor (1983), then followed up with a supporting role in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984).

Glover's most defining Hollywood moment happened the next year, when he appeared as George McFly (Michael J. Fox's father) in the instant classic Back to the Future (1985). The underdog character struck a chord with moviegoers. Oddly enough, the actor delivered one of his favorite performances around the same time--playing a small-town kid obsessed with Olivia Newton-John in the indie The Orkly Kid (1985)--but the smaller film was completely overshadowed by his commercial success. Glover did, however, receive critical praise for his next indie role, a starring turn as a high-strung murder witness in River's Edge (1986). Glover and the producers did not come to a financial agreement for him to reprise the role of George McFly in Back to the Future Part II (1989). The producers brought the character back to life by splicing together archived footage and new scenes (using an actor in prosthetic makeup). Glover, who hadn't given permission for his likeness to be used, sued the film's producer, Steven Spielberg, and won. The case prompted the Screen Actors Guild to devise new regulations about the use of actors' images.

In 1990 Glover teamed up with fellow eccentric David Lynch to play the maniacal Cousin Dell in Wild at Heart (1990). He filled the next decade with similarly quirky, peripheral roles, including a turn as Andy Warhol in The Doors (1991) and a cameo as a train fireman in Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man (1995). His small but memorable appearances in films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) and The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) often outshone the main action.

When he's not stealing scenes from Hollywood hotshots, Glover pours his considerable energy into other creative endeavors. He wrote his first book, "Billow Rock", before age 18, and since then he's gone on to create a library of peculiar titles (several of which have been published through his family's Volcanic Eruptions press). Among his most famous volumes are "Rat Catching" and "Oak-Mot", both Victorian-era stories updated with macabre illustrations and cut-up text. In 1989 he released an album of spoken word readings and cover tunes (including a rendition of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'") entitled "The Big Problem [does not equal] the Solution. The Solution = Let it be."

In 1995 Glover began shooting his directorial debut, What Is It? (2005), a surreal film populated entirely by actors with Down's Syndrome. He tours with the film and its sequel It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007) and his show, "Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slide Show," which is a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books. The artist in Glover has been said to be inspired by "the aesthetic of discomfort," a theme which seems to have been carried over into an artistic public performance on David Letterman's NBC show in 1987, Glover emerged wearing a wig and platform shoes, then delivered a swift kick toward Letterman's head that prompted the producers to cut to a commercial. Late 2000 saw him hitting the multiplex with roles in Nurse Betty (2000) and Charlie's Angels (2000), and the titular Willard (2003). He re-teamed with Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis as Grendel in Beowulf (2007) and has worked with Johnny Depp for the third time in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010). Other Glover projects loom on the not-too-distant horizon.
BornApril 20
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornApril 20
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,00024
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 3 wins & 3 nominations total

    Photos158

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 152
    View Poster

    Known for

    What Is It? (2005)
    What Is It?
    5.2
    • Dueling Demi-God Auteur
    • The Young Man's Inner Psyche and Id
    • 2005
    Crispin Glover in Willard (2003)
    Willard
    6.1
    • Willard
    • 2003
    Danyi Deats in River's Edge (1986)
    River's Edge
    6.9
    • Layne
    • 1986
    Crispin Glover in Mr. K (2024)
    Mr. K
    5.9
    • Mr. K.
    • 2024

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • The Third Parent
      • Tommy Taffy
      • Post-production
      • 2025
    • Untitled Crispin Hellion Glover Project
      • Brutus
      • Post-production
    • Skinemax
      • Post-production
    • A Blind Bargain
      • Dr. Gruder
      • Completed



    • Crispin Glover, Joely Fisher, Mark Boone Junior, Connie Stevens, Adam Tomei, and Sam Quartin in By the Rivers of Babylon (2025)
      By the Rivers of Babylon
      • William
      • 2025
    • Crispin Glover in Mr. K (2024)
      Mr. K
      5.9
      • Mr. K.
      • 2024
    • Guillermo del Toro in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)
      Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities
      7.0
      TV Series
      • Richard Upton Pickman
      • 2022
    • Red Bird Lane (2021)
      Red Bird Lane
      2.5
      TV Movie
      • Jonah
      • 2021
    • Crispin Glover, Demore Barnes, Emily Browning, Ian McShane, Ricky Whittle, Yetide Badaki, Omid Abtahi, and Bruce Langley in American Gods (2017)
      American Gods
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Mr. World
      • 2017–2021
    • Crispin Glover and Cody Simpson in Smiley Face Killers (2020)
      Smiley Face Killers
      3.7
      • Hooded Figure
      • 2020
    • Crispin Glover, Nina Dobrev, and Luke Bracey in Lucky Day (2019)
      Lucky Day
      5.1
      • Luc
      • 2019
    • Heiner Lauterbach, Axel Milberg, Christiane Paul, and Navid Negahban in Saat des Terrors (2018)
      Saat des Terrors
      5.4
      TV Movie
      • James Logan Davis
      • 2018
    • Crispin Glover, Alexandra Daddario, Sebastian Stan, and Taissa Farmiga in We Have Always Lived in the Castle (2018)
      We Have Always Lived in the Castle
      5.6
      • Uncle Julian
      • 2018
    • Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Sofía Vergara, and Alice Eve in The Con is On (2018)
      The Con is On
      3.8
      • Gabriel
      • 2018
    • Allisyn Snyder in Aimy in a Cage (2015)
      Aimy in a Cage
      3.8
      • Claude Bohringer
      • 2015
    • Bill Paxton, Brendan Fraser, Crispin Glover, Ray Liotta, Christopher McDonald, Robert Knepper, Max Thieriot, Rhys Coiro, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson in Texas Rising (2015)
      Texas Rising
      6.7
      TV Mini Series
      • Mosley Baker
      • 2015
    • Influence (2015)
      Influence
      3.8
      • Dr. Abuse
      • 2015
    • John Cusack, Robert De Niro, and Rebecca Da Costa in The Bag Man (2014)
      The Bag Man
      5.2
      • Ned
      • 2014
    • Freaky Deaky (2012)
      Freaky Deaky
      5.7
      • Woody Ricks
      • 2012

    Director



    • Untitled Crispin Hellion Glover Project
      • Director
      • Post-production



    • It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine. (2007)
      It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine.
      6.9
      • Director (as Crispin Hellion Glover)
      • 2007
    • What Is It? (2005)
      What Is It?
      5.2
      • Director (as Crispin Hellion Glover)
      • 2005

    Writer



    • Untitled Crispin Hellion Glover Project
      • Writer
      • Post-production



    • What Is It? (2005)
      What Is It?
      5.2
      • Writer (as Crispin Hellion Glover)
      • 2005

    Videos101

    Alice in Wonderland: "Progression Reel"
    Clip 1:37
    Alice in Wonderland: "Progression Reel"
    "Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 0:54
    "Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
    "Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 0:54
    "Curiouser and Curiouser" from Alice in Wonderland
    "Tea Party" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 0:54
    "Tea Party" from Alice in Wonderland
    "Potion Making" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 0:55
    "Potion Making" from Alice in Wonderland
    "Off with His Head" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 0:45
    "Off with His Head" from Alice in Wonderland
    "Clothe This Girl" from Alice in Wonderland
    Clip 1:00
    "Clothe This Girl" from Alice in Wonderland

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Official sites
      • Facebook
      • Instagram
    • Alternative name
      • Crispin Hellion Glover
    • Height
      • 6′ 1″ (1.85 m)
    • Born
      • April 20
      • Brooklyn, New York, USA
    • Parents
        Bruce Glover
    • Other works
      Toured with "Crispin Glover's Big Slide Show", reading passages of his books, showing slides of said books, and also screening (first) The Orkly Kid (1985), then in later shows, What Is It? (2005).
    • Publicity listings
      • 4 Interviews
      • 6 Articles
      • 1 Pictorial
      • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Is three years younger than Michael J. Fox, who played his son in Back to the Future (1985), and 11 years older than Angelina Jolie, who played his mother in Beowulf (2007). Both films were directed by Robert Zemeckis.
    • Quotes
      [2003, in "Ain't It Cool News", on contemporary movies] People watch movies--and it's vague ideas, it's vague notions, but people pick up on these things, that they are supposed to think certain ways or that they're not supposed to think, basically, and they don't. And then it's like, if you do any thing that's thoughtful, they think, "Oh, that's weird . . .".
    • Trademark
        Usually plays eccentric characters

    FAQ7

    Powered by Alexa
    • Where was Crispin Glover born?
    • What is Crispin Glover's birth name?
    • How tall is Crispin Glover?

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.