Photo of Danny Glover’s Parents James & Carrie Glover in 1944 (2 Years Before he was born).
His parents, both postal workers, were active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working to advance equal rights. Glover’s mother, daughter of a midwife, was born in Louisville, Georgia and graduated from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. His father was a World War II veteran. He graduated from George Washington High School in San Francisco.
His parents’ dedication to equal rights and racial justice doubtlessly inspired Glover’s future activist endeavors. Glover said he grew up in a union household where his parents were active members in their local chapter of what was then called the United Postal Alliance. “It’s about the history I lived with my parents,” Glover explained. “I watched my parents emerge and grow as union members and see how proud they were. And I watched the civil rights movement through that lens.” For a time, his father was treasurer and his mother served as the secretary of their local union. He recalled how they placed their struggles in the community and at the workplace within the broader struggle for justice that is still happening across the country.
➡Danny Lebern Glover (born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon film series. He also had leading roles in his films included The Color Purple, To Sleep with Anger, Predator 2, Angels in the Outfield, and Operation Dumbo Drop. Glover has prominent supporting roles in Silverado, Witness, A Rage in Harlem, Dreamgirls, Shooter, Death at a Funeral, Beyond the Lights, Sorry to Bother You, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Dead Don’t Die, Lonesome Dove and Jumanji: The Next Level. He is also an active supporter of various political causes.
Glover was born in San Francisco, CA. As an adolescent and a young adult, Glover had epilepsy but has not had a seizure since age 35. He attended San Francisco State University (SFSU) in the late 1960s but did not graduate. SFSU later awarded him the Presidential Medal of San Francisco State University for his service to education. Glover trained at the Black Actors’ Workshop of the American Conservatory Theater.
Glover originally worked in city administration working on community development before transitioning to theater.
“…It may have been a leap of faith for me, given not only my learning disability (dyslexia)…”, Glover said.
His first theater involvement was with the American Conservatory Theater, a regional training program in San Francisco. Glover also trained with Jean Shelton at the Shelton Actors Lab in San Francisco. In an interview on Inside the Actors Studio, Glover credited Jean Shelton for much of his development as an actor.
Deciding that he wanted to be an actor, Glover resigned from his city administration job and soon began his career as a stage actor. Glover then moved to Los Angeles for more opportunities in acting, where he would later go on to co-found the Robey Theatre Company with actor Ben Guillory in honor of the actor and concert singer Paul Robeson in Los Angeles in 1994.
While attending San Francisco State University (SFSU), Glover was a member of the Black Students’ Union, which, along with the Third World Liberation Front and the American Federation of Teachers, collaborated in a five-month student-led strike to establish a Department of Black Studies. The strike was the longest student walkout in U.S. history. It helped create not only the first Department of Black Studies but also the first School of Ethnic Studies in the United States.
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