Brian Glover
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| Brian Glover | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 2, 1934 Sheffield, England |
| Died | July 24, 1997 (age 63) London, England |
Brian Glover (April 2, 1934 – July 24, 1997) was a well-known English character actor, writer and wrestler. Glover was a professional wrestler, teacher and finally a film, television and stage actor. He once said, "You play to your strengths in this game. My strength is as a bald-headed, rough-looking Yorkshireman".
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Glover was born in Sheffield, but grew up in Barnsley. His father was a wrestler, performing as the "Red Devil". He attended Barnsley School and the University of Sheffield, where he supplemented his student grant by appearances as a professional wrestler, going under the ring name "Leon Aris the Man From Paris". In 1954 he married and to satisfy his new family responsibilities he became a teacher, at the same Barnsley School where he had been a pupil. Glover worked as a school teacher (teaching English and French) from 1954 until 1970, managing to combine this with regular performances as "Leon Aris".
[edit] Career
Glover's first acting job came playing Mr Sugden, the comically overbearing sports teacher in Ken Loach's film Kes (a job offered him when Barry Hines, a fellow teacher at Barnsley School who wrote the film, suggested him to the director). Although untrained, Glover proved to be a skilled and flexible character actor. While his trademark bald head, stocky build, and gruff Yorkshire accent garnered him many roles as tough guys and criminals, he also played Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream, had a recurring role in the classic sitcom Porridge, played Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop, and lent his voice to a number of animated characters, including the "gaffer" of the "Tetley Tea People" in a long-running series of television advertisements for Tetley tea. He also appeared in An American Werewolf in London, The First Great Train Robbery, Alien³, and Leon the Pig Farmer.
Glover's performance in Kes led to parts at the Royal Court Theatre, London, notably in Lindsay Anderson's The Changing Room (1971). A season with Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company followed, where appropriately enough his roles included Charles the wrestler in As You Like It, and a robust Peter in Romeo and Juliet. For the Royal National Theatre he appeared in The Mysteries, Saint Joan and Don Quixote.
His performance in The Canterbury Tales (West End) was followed by a return to television and the Play for Today series, both as writer and performer. Glover went on to play "Lugg", the endearing rogue manservant to Albert Campion in the series Campion and the role of a crook, "Griffiths", in the Doctor Who story Attack of the Cybermen in 1985. In 1991 he starred in the second episode of Bottom - "Gas" - as "Mr Rottweiler". His last film was John Godber's rugby league comedy Up 'n' Under (1998).
Glover also wrote over 20 plays and short films. In 1982 he was a guest presenter in series six of Friday Night Saturday Morning, a late-night chat show.
[edit] Personal life
Glover was married twice, secondly to film producer Tara Prem, the daughter of TV actor Bakhshi Prem. He had two children, one son and one daughter. Glover developed a brain tumour and died in a London hospital on July 24, 1997. He is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.
[edit] References
- Dewhurst, Keith (2004). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Brian Glover. Oxford University Press.
