Danny Glover Opens Up About Alzheimer's Diagnosis, Says He Has Made Peace With It
Danny Glover publicly shared on Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, revealing the news during an appearance on Today. The veteran actor explained that doctors identified the condition sometime after he received an honorary Oscar in 2022, and told viewers that he has, in his own way, come to accept living with the diagnosis.
During his conversation with Lester Holt, Glover, now 79, addressed concerns about the disease's impact on memory and cognitive function, acknowledging that he understands how the condition works and what it means for his future. He spoke candidly about the reality that as the disease progresses, aspects of his life and daily experience are likely to shift and change over time. Rather than keeping the diagnosis private, Glover made a deliberate choice to speak publicly about it, hoping to help reduce the stigma surrounding a disease that affects Black men at roughly twice the national average rate. His daughter, Mandisa, appeared on the program as well, explaining that she believed it was important for her father to be the one to share his own story, in his own words.
The interview also gave Glover an opportunity to reflect on a career spanning decades, one that includes standout roles in the Lethal Weapon franchise, The Color Purple, and Predator 2, among many others. He recalled fond memories connected to his fame, including the recurring experience of fans asking him to sign toilets, a playful nod to a widely remembered scene from the Lethal Weapon films. Asked about his favorite role, Glover pointed to his performance in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart, a film that carries deep personal significance for him. He revealed that he dedicated his work in that movie to his mother, who died in an accident on the very day he learned he had been cast in the role, a coincidence that has stayed with him throughout his career.
In a separate featurette produced for Today, Glover expanded on the influence his parents had on shaping his worldview, crediting them with instilling in him a strong commitment to social justice from an early age. That early grounding in activism eventually intersected with his acting career when playwright Amiri Baraka took notice of Glover's engagement with social causes and cast him in one of his stage productions, an experience that helped steer the direction of his later work. Since then, Glover has said he has often chosen roles based on the deeper message or social relevance of the material, a philosophy reflected in his decision to portray Nelson Mandela in the 1987 television movie Mandela.
Taken together, Glover's remarks paint a portrait of an actor using a difficult personal diagnosis as an opportunity for advocacy, much as he has used his platform throughout his career to spotlight issues of justice and representation. Glover joins a growing number of public figures choosing to discuss Alzheimer's diagnoses candidly, aiming to foster greater understanding of a disease that continues to disproportionately affect Black communities while remaining widely misunderstood by the public at large.
