Memory Alpha
Register
Advertisement
Memory Alpha
Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

John Glover (born 7 August 1944; age 79) is the actor who played Verad Dax in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episode "Invasive Procedures".

Glover has earned several Emmy Award nominations for guest appearances on such television shows as Frasier (starring Kelsey Grammer, in an episode with Dan Butler and Richard Poe) and L.A. Law (starring Corbin Bernsen and Larry Drake, in an episode with George Hearn, Jennifer Hetrick, Diana Muldaur, and Concetta Tomei). He also played the Devil on the cult series Brimstone, co-starring Lori Petty. However, he is currently best known for his role as Lionel Luthor on Smallville (with Phil Morris), whom he played from 2001 through 2008 and has returned as a recurring guest during the final season of the show.

He is widely recognized for his roles in such films as 52 Pick-Up (1986, with Clarence Williams III and Alex Henteloff), Scrooged (1988, with Alfre Woodard, Michael J. Pollard, Carol Kane, Roy Brocksmith, and Logan Ramsey), and Payback (1999, with Gregg Henry, Jeff Imada and Alex Henteloff, and the director's cut of which featured Sally Kellerman in a voice-only role). He also played Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990, co-starring Robert Picardo and featuring fellow Star Trek alumni Zach Galligan, Dick Miller, Keye Luke, Ron Fassler, Jerry Goldsmith, Kenneth Tobey, Raymond Cruz, and Henry Gibson).

One of Glover's earliest film appearances was a small role in Annie Hall (1977, with Mark Lenard and Carol Kane). Glover co-starred with Star Trek: Enterprise guest actor Peter Weller in A Killing Affair (1986, with Bill Smitrovich) and RoboCop 2 (1990, with Robert DoQui, Mark Rolston, Stephen Lee, Jeff McCarthy, Gabriel Damon, and Bill Bolender). Glover and Weller also worked together in Apology (1986).

Glover received his first Emmy nomination for his work in An Early Frost (1985, co-starring Terry O'Quinn and Scott Jaeck). Glover then worked with Jonathan Frakes in Nutcracker: Money, Madness, and Murder (1987), for which he received another Emmy Award nomination. The movie featured Frank Military, Daniel Hugh Kelly, George D. Wallace, and Noble Willingham, as well. In 1990, Glover co-starred with Star Trek: Voyager actor Robert Beltran in the television movie El Diablo, also featuring Jim Beaver.

Besides his film and television work, Glover has performed in many stage productions. He has been a fixture of the Broadway stage since 1972, when he began appearing in a number of plays as part of the New Phoenix Repertory Company. For the first two of these plays, The Great God Brown and Don Juan, he worked along with James Greene. Glover won a Drama Desk Award for his performance in The Great God Brown. Glover's later Broadway credits include The Importance of Being Earnest, the ill-fated Frankenstein, and Design for Living, in which he worked with Frank Langella.

Glover won the 1995 Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as James and John Jeckyll in Love! Valour! Compassion! He reprised both roles for the 1997 film of the same name, which starred Jason Alexander. Glover and Alexander again worked together in the 2001 film On Edge, along with Suzie Plakson.

Glover voiced the character of The Riddler in several episodes of Batman: The Animated Series (alongside Gary Frank, Loren Lester, Brock Peters and Peter Mark Richman) and reprised the role on episodes of Superman: The Animated Series (with Paul Williams and Corey Burton) and The New Batman Adventures (with Loren Lester, Malachi Throne, Steven Weber and Paul Williams). Glover himself made a cameo as a mad scientist in Batman & Robin (1997). This makes him one of only five actors who has appeared on both Batman: The Animated Series and a live-action film based on the Batman comics – the four others being René Auberjonois, Ed Begley, Jr., Vincent Schiavelli, and U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy.

In addition, Glover has guest-starred on such television series as Miami Vice, Murder, She Wrote (two episodes, including one with Len Cariou), Tales from the Crypt (with Aron Eisenberg, Graham Jarvis, and Jason Marsden), Homicide: Life on the Street (starring Michelle Forbes), and Brothers & Sisters (with Scott Klace, John Rubinstein, and Michael Buchman Silver). He has also made recurring appearances on the television drama series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (developed and produced by Rene Balcer) and Numbers. On the former, he appeared in an episode with Olivia d'Abo; on the latter, he worked with Keone Young.

Glover appeared on NBC's Heroes as Samson Gray, the father of Zachary Quinto's Sylar. He joins a long line of Star Trek alumni to appear on the show, which includes George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Dorn, Dominic Keating, Cristine Rose, Erick Avari, Joanna Cassidy, and Greg Grunberg.

Other Star Trek connections[]

Additional projects in which Glover appeared with other Star Trek performers include:

External links[]

Advertisement