Crispin Glover is so much more than just George McFly in Back to the Future. Obviously, he was Marty's Dad in the first Back to the Future, but in the 30 years since, Glover has made a name for himself as not just an actor, but also as a director, writer, musician, and all around weirdo. If you only know Glover from his blockbusters or his infamous David Letterman appearance, then you're missing out on just how gloriously, defiantly offbeat he really is. The man is an artist, one who specializes in the strange.
Whether he's expressing himself as an actor, a musician, a filmmaker, a performance artist, or just Crispin Glover, he can be counted on to do something totally unique. This is a guy who used the paycheck he earned stealing scenes in Charlie's Angels to write and direct a movie starring only actors with Down syndrome, a guy who won a landmark lawsuit over Back to the Future Part II. He's a provocateur and an enigma, an oddity and a riddle. He's just plain interesting.
That's why we've collected a list of things you probably didn't know about the man, the myth, the legend. These facts,stories, and info-nuggets about Crispin Hellion Glover range from the funny to the shocking to the transcendent. Vote up your favorite Crispin Glover facts below!
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He Directed a Movie in Which Almost Every Actor Has Down Syndrome
Yep, Glover is also a director, having helmed two feature films. His first, What Is It? was produced by David Lynch and featured almost exclusively actors with Down syndrome, though that's not the subject of the movie at all.
It was no mere stunt, Glover told the Huffington Post. "What it really is, it's my psychological reaction to the corporate constraints that have happened with corporately funded distributed films," he said. "Where anything that could make an audience member uncomfortable is excised - or that film will not be corporately funded or distributed. I think that's a very damaging thing. I think 98 percent of our films are either actual, genuine propaganda or distractions."
He Sued Universal Pictures over Back to the Future II
As he explained on The Opie and Anthony Glover Show, Glover opted against returning for the Back to the Future sequels. His replacement, Jeffrey Weissman, was made to resemble his predecessor for George McFly's (brief) Back to the Future II appearances thanks to makeup effects based on Glover's original prosthetic molds from the first film. Upset that the filmmakers deliberately gave the impression that he was the in the movie, the original George sued Universal Pictures for using his likeness, a suit that the studio settled with Glover for an unspecified sum. The case actually ended up having a big effect on likeness law, influencing Screen Actors Guild contracts to this day.
He Had Moral Objections to the Ending of Back to the Future
The idea of success in the super-happy new timeline that Marty's first time travel adventure creates is very, very '80s. In Back to the Future, victory is measured by the McFlys' swollen bank account and Marty's sweet new truck in the garage. Glover took issue with this materialistic happy ending, and his objections didn't go over well with the director.
"I had a conversation with Robert Zemeckis about it," Glover told Tasha Robinson in an AV Club interview. "And I said, 'I think if the characters have money, if our characters are rich, it’s a bad message. That reward should not be in there.' People love the movie, and of course who am I to say - I was 20 years old, though. And again, I was stepping into it from a time period of questioning. But Robert Zemeckis got really angry. Essentially, he did not like that idea. He was pissed."
He Was Banned from The Late Show with David Letterman
Next to Back to the Future, Glover's probably most famous for a surreal 1987 appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman during which the be-wigged actor challenged the host to an arm-wrestling match and generally behaved... oddly. After one of Glover's sudden karate kicks came perilously close to Letterman's head, the interview was cut short.
Glover's behavior and outfit were remarkably similar to his role as Rubin in Rubin & Ed. It's pretty clear that he was doing a bit of performance art in character, but neither viewers nor Letterman were in on the bit. For years,Glover's displayed a sense of humor and mystery about the Late Show fiasco, answering any questions about it with a quippy, "I neither confirm nor deny that I was ever on the David Letterman show."
He Was in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
The year before Back to the Future, Glover played a teenage victim in the fourth Friday the 13th. A pretty typical horror movie horny-teen-turned-corpse, his Jimmy Mortimer ends up with corkscrew through his hand in a meat cleaver in his head courtesy of Jason Voorhees. A magnificently goofy bit of Glover dancing in the film has become a YouTube classic in the years since.
His Father Is an Actor Too
Crispin's a second generation thespian. His dad, Bruce Glover, is an accomplished character actor who played supporting roles in Chinatown and the Walking Tall movies. He was also Mr. Wint, one of Blofeld's henchmen, in the James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever.
He and Nicolas Cage Are Pals
The 1981 pilot Best of Times marked the debut TV performances of both Crispin Glover and Nicolas Cage (back when he still known as Nicolas Coppola). Each actor went on to long careers and outsized reputations, remaining friends all the while.
He Owns a 17th Century Chateau in the Czech Republic
In the Czech Republic, about 45 minutes outside Prague by train, there's an estate from the 1600s owned by none other than Crispin Glover. As he discussed on the Nerdist podcast and in his Reddit AMA, Glover constructs sets and shoots material for his directorial efforts at the chateau, having converted the stables into studio spaces.
His Middle Name Is Hellion
Yep, Crispin Hellion Glover. His unusual middle name comes from his father. "His middle name is Herbert," Glover said in his Reddit AMA. "He never liked his middle name Herbert. So as a young struggling actor in New York he would say to himself 'I am Bruce H. Glover, Bruce Hellion Glover. I am a hellion a troublemaker.' And that would make him feel good. He told my mother this was his real middle name. When they were married she saw him writing on the marriage certificate Bruce Herbert Glover and she thought ‘Who am I marrying?’ They gave Hellion to me as my real middle name.”
He Appeared on Happy Days, The Facts of Life, and Family Ties
It's surprising given his later reputation for offbeat weirdness, but Glover showed up on a whole lot of wholesome sitcoms throughout the '80s, including The Facts of Life and Happy Days. He also appeared alongside his cinematic son, Michael J. Fox, on Family Ties not once but twice, playing a chap named Doug both before and after Back to the Future hit theaters.