(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
As a humanitarian, producer, actor and political activist, Danny Glover is known for his roles in The Color Purple and the Lethal Weapon film series.
Born in 1946, Glover has lived his life in the spotlight since he started his acting career in his late 20s. With numerous awards and nominations, Danny Glover has also paved a legendary career outside the actor’s studio–all done despite his health struggles in his younger years.
During his childhood and early adult life, Glover suffered from epilepsy. Epilepsy is a disorder in which nerve cell activity in the brain is disturbed, causing seizures. During a seizure, a person experiences abnormal behavior, symptoms, and sensations, sometimes including loss of consciousness. It wasn’t until 1977, when he made the decision to have a breakthrough with this brain disorder.
Glover claims he had his first seizure at the age of 15, and could tell it was coming on because of an unbearable noise he would hear. This noise may be referred to as an aura, or warning sign.
“Eventually, I could recognize it happening. Then I could say, wherever I was, ‘Something is happening to me. Please grab me. Please hold me. I’m about to have a seizure,’“ Glover writes in a blog.
While doing a play at his San Francisco community theater, he sensed he was about to have a seizure. As he proceeded to the theater’s basement he said to himself, “I will not have this seizure, I will not have this seizure.”
“Each time I got a bit stronger,and the symptoms began to diminish to the point where I was ready to go on stage.” Glover has not suffered an episode since he was 35.
In 2003, Glover was presented the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Epilepsy Foundation. This award celebrates Glover’s efforts to increase awareness and acceptance for people who suffer from epilepsy, and his…
… willingness to disclose his condition publicly. A prostate cancer survivor, Glover joined retired U.S. Army Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf as a co-spokesman for Prostate Awareness Week in 1999. Glover finds the statistic quite alarming that African Americans are two times more likely to get the prostate disease than any other ethnic group. His participation was to increase this awareness especially within the African American community.
While off the screen, Glover also devotes his time bringing awareness to causes such as the AIDS crisis in Africa, mathematics education in the United States as well as other advocacy and philanthropic efforts in healthcare, education and economic justice. In September 2004, Glover was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. To find balance with the demands of life, Glover makes time to take Pilates classes. He resides in his hometown, San Francisco, California.
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