Danny Glover

Danny Glover stars as Santa Claus, a man of few words with patience worth admiring and who is always one step ahead of Andy, in the Disney Original Movie “The Naughty Nine.” An actor, producer and humanitarian, Glover has been a commanding presence on screen, stage and television for more than 30 years. As an actor, his film credits range from the blockbuster “Lethal Weapon” franchise to smaller independent features, some of which Glover also produced. In recent years, he has starred in an array of motion pictures, including the critically acclaimed “Dreamgirls” directed by Bill Condon and the futuristic “2012” for director Roland Emmerich. In addition to his film work, Glover is highly sought after as a public speaker, delivering inspirational addresses and moving performances in such diverse venues as college campuses, union rallies and business conventions. Glover has gained respect for his wide-reaching community activism and philanthropic efforts, with a particular emphasis on advocacy for economic justice and access to health care and education programs in the United States and Africa. For these efforts, Glover received a 2006 DGA Honor and a 2011 “Pioneer Award” from the National Civil Rights Museum. Internationally, Glover has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program from 1998 through 2004, focusing on issues of poverty, disease and economic development in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Glover was presented in 2011 with the prestigious Medaille des Arts et des Letters from the French Ministry of Culture and was honored with a Tribute at the Deauville International Film Festival. In 2014, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco. Currently, Glover serves as UNICEF Ambassador. In 2005, Glover co-founded New York-based Louverture Films with writer/producer Joslyn Barnes and more recent partners Susan Rockefeller and the Bertha Foundation. The company is dedicated to the development and production of films of historical relevance, social purpose, commercial value and artistic integrity. Among the films that Glover has executive or co-produced at Louverture are the César-nominated “Bamako”; the Sundance Grand Jury Prize and the Academy Award®- and Emmy®-nominated film “Trouble The Water”; the award-winning “The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975” and “Concerning Violence”; Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “The House I Live In”; Cannes Palme d’Or winner “Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives”; the Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning “Strong Island”; “ZAMA” by Lucrecia Martel; Oscar®-nominated documentary “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” by RaMell Ross; and Oscar-nominated Best Foreign Language Film “Capernaum” by Nadine Labaki. Additional films include “President” by Camilla Nielsson, “Noche de Fuego” by Tatiana Huezo, and “Memoria” by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. A native of San Francisco, Glover trained at the Black Actors’ Workshop of the American Conservatory Theatre. It was his Broadway debut in Fugard’s “Master Harold…and the Boys” that brought him to national recognition and led director Robert Benton to cast him in his first leading role, 1984’s Academy Award-nominated Best Picture “Places in the Heart.” The following year, Glover starred in two more Best Picture-nominated films: Peter Weir’s “Witness” and Steven Spielberg’s “The Color Purple.” In 1987, Glover partnered with Mel Gibson in the first “Lethal Weapon” film and went on to star in three hugely successful “Lethal Weapon” sequels. Glover starred in “The Royal Tenenbaums” and “To Sleep With Anger,” which he executive produced and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Actor. On the small screen, Glover won an Image Award, a Cable ACE Award and an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the HBO Movie “Mandela.” He has also received Emmy nominations for his work in the acclaimed miniseries “Lonesome Dove” and the telefilm “Freedom Song.” As a director, he earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Showtime’s “Just a Dream.” Glover also appeared in the HBO Original Movie “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight.” Glover starred in “Mr. Pig,” which debuted at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and now streams on Netflix. Co-starring Maya Rudolph, “Mr. Pig” was filmed entirely on location in Mexico and is a tour de force for him. Glover starred in “Almost Christmas” for Universal Studios. He was also seen in “Rage,” co-starring Nicolas Cage, “Beyond the Lights,” and the independent “Complete Unknown.” He co-starred in the feature film “The Old Man & the Gun” opposite Robert Redford and in the films “Proud Mary” opposite Taraji P. Henson and “Come Sunday” with Chiwetel Ejiofor and appeared in “Sorry to Bother You.” Glover also had a pivotal role in the critically acclaimed film “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.” Glover appeared in the Sony Pictures box office hit “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” co-starring Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black, and filmed the independent feature “Press Play” on location in Hawaii. He guest-starred on ABC’s “black-ish” and was featured in “What the Funk” for Netflix. In addition, Glover appeared opposite Susan Sarandon in the touching “Dance” video for artist Julia Stone. Recently, Glover’s remarkable career was celebrated at Film at Lincoln Center, where he co-curated the week-long series “Danny Glover and Louverture Films,” a selected filmography of his most revered performances as well as the work of his production company Louverture Films. In 2022, Glover was honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Honorary Academy Award for his decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights, reflecting his dedication to recognizing our shared humanity on and off the screen.