Closer USA – August 05, 2019

1

1982 MASTERCLASSHis 1982Broadway

debut“MasterHarold”...andtheBoyswas

“r eallythe playthatbroughtme to the

at tentionof filmdirectors.”Butjustas important,

theapartheiddramashowedhim“howthe

hi ghestlevelof art couldbe protestart,butalso

te ll universalstoriesabouthumanrelationships.”

MY LIFE IN

10

Pictures

DANNY GLOVER

GROWINGUPinSanFrancisco,DannyLebernGloverwasa lonerwho

sufferedfromdyslexia.“Myseventh-gradecounselortoldmy mother

thatI wasretarded,”he admitted.“[But]I’mluckyto haveenjoyedthe

constantsupportof my parents.My motherjusttoldme to be good

atwhateverI choseto do,andI’vedonea lotof things.”That’san un-

derstatement:A fterattendingcollege,workingin localgovernment

jobsanddrivinga taxi,he becamea professionalactorat age30 —and

soonafterthat,oneof thefewAfrican-Americanmoviestarsof the

20 thcentury.Despitea dearthof rolesforactorsof color,Danny,who

turns73 on July22,sayshe’s“alwaysbeenableto makechoicesthat

don’tembarrassme”in bigstudioandindiefilms.Oneconstantthat’s

remainedsincehisteenyearsis a fiercecommitmentto socialcauses

likehomelessnessandcivilrights,anda dedicationto hissecondwife,

Eliane,andhisdaughter,Mandisa.SaysDanny,“Beinga father,that’s

thegreatestprojectthatI haveeverbeeninvolvedin.”

“Ihavethe

capacityto

expresswhatI

fe elneedsto be

expressed.And

I tr y to do what

I believein.”

—Danny

2

1984

HEART

F E LT In

Places in the Heart,

he played a man

helping a widow

(Sally Field) save

her farm — which

meant a lot as he

spent summers on

his grandparents’

farm in Georgia.

“[Upon seeing it] I

wanted them to say,

‘Well done, son.

When you had the

mule and when you

picked the cotton,

you were doing it

right.’ They said it,

in their way.”

58 August 5, 2019 CLOSER