Danny Glover

From Places in the Heart and the Lethal Weapon series to the award-winning To Sleep with Anger (which he also executive produced), Danny Glover is one of Hollywood’s most renowned and respected leading men. An actor, producer, keynote speaker, and director, this versatile superstar has impacted stage, screen, and television for over a decade.

Glover’s impressive and diverse body of work has earned him a host of awards, including several NAACP Image Awards, an ACE Award and Emmy nominations. Off-screen, Glover is a powerful advocate for literacy and has spoken to grammar and high school students around the nation about the joys of reading and education.

In addition to his individual presentations focusing on the arts, literacy and community involvement, Glover regularly teams with long-time friend and actor Felix Justice in “An Evening with Martin & Langston.” A powerful and moving program consisting of dramatic readings from the works of Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Jr., it stands among America’s most acclaimed theatrical presentations.

A native of San Francisco, Danny Glover attended San Francisco State University and trained at the Black Actor’s Workshop of the American Conservatory. He appeared in numerous stage productions, including the Island and MacBeth at the Los Angeles Actors’ Theater and Sizwe Banzi is Dead at the Eureka Theatre. However, it was Glover’s performance in the New York production of Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys, that first brought the actor national recognition. During the summer of 2003 he starred in the well-received revival of Master Harold and the Boys.

Glover’s film and television credits include Places in the Heart, Witness, Silverado, The Color Purple, The Lethal Weapon series, Mandela, Bat-21, To Sleep With Anger, Grand Canyon, The Saint of Fort Washington, Angels in the Outfield, Beloved, Boesman and Lena, The Royal Tenenbaums, and Good Fences. He received an ACE Award and several NAACP Image Awards for his film and TV performances, including Best Actor in Lethal Weapon, Beloved, and HBO’s production of Mandela. Glover 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.

To Sleep With Anger marked Glover’s debut as an executive producer. Other films produced by Glover include The Saint of Fort Washington; 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 high seas by a Ukrainian freighter crew; TNT’s Buffalo Soldiers, a dramatic story of America’s first all-black cavalry unit; and TNT’s Freedom Song, a story about the civil rights movement.

Glover hosted and executive produced Courage, a one-hour, weekly prime-time series for Fox Family Channel celebrating and profiling real people who have shown courage and bravery in moments of crisis. Courage was selected by TV Guide as one of the Top Ten Inspirational Shows on Television for 2000. Glover directed Just A Dream, a film project for Showtime released in August 2002.

As someone who is passionate about his community activism and philanthropic efforts, Glover is deeply involved with the Vanguard Public Foundation based in San Francisco. In 2001, he assumed the board chairmanship of TransAfrica Forum, the African-American lobbying organization on Africa and the Caribbean; and he actively serves on the board of The Algebra Project, a math empowerment program developed by civil rights veteran Bob Moses. Internationally, Glover has served as the UNDP Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program since 1998, focusing on issues of poverty, disease, and economic underdevelopment in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. In recognition of his lifetime dedication to public service, Glover was honored with the 2003 NAACP Chairman’s Award.