Actor Danny Glover has revealed that he has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for a number of years, telling former NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt in a Today show interview, “I can live with it, in a sense. I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing.”
The 79-year-old Glover, accompanied by his family, said during the exclusive interview that he was diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative condition just before he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the January 2022 Governors Awards just before the Oscars.
Watch the Today interview below.
The disease impacts memory, movement and speech. Glover said that since being diagnosed his movements, speech and memories have slowed, but that he remains active, attending events in his San Francisco community.
Glover also indicated that the Alzheimer’s Association has provided advice on staying physically active, managing blood pressure and diabetes, getting quality sleep and staying socially connected.
“I think it’s really important for him to have control of his own narrative, of his own life story,” Glover’s daughter, Mandisa, told Holt. “That’s really important. And the time is now. What better time but now for him to speak for himself?
She added, “It’s important because people ask questions sometimes, and I don’t want to be a dishonest person and say, ‘Oh, yeah, everything is all right. It’s all great.’”
The Lethal Weapon star, who has nearly 200 film and TV acting credits, spoke to Holt about his acting career, saying that he considers 1985’s The Color Purple his most personal film due to the fact that his mother had recently died.
“My mother, on the same day that I was told I was going to play the role, she had an automobile accident,” he said.
“The one thing about my parents was their activism,” Glover said. “A sense of being and belonging and making the contribution. When I saw the Montgomery bus boycott (in 1955-56), I knew I wanted to be like those people. I wanted to be in that moment and part of the role.”
Glover’s youngest brother Martin Glover also appeared on Today, pledging his support. “He took me under his wing, and I love him to death. And I’m here to help him now. It’s my turn. We talk, and we share times about our parents, our mothers and our family. So it’s all about family.”
