Today’s Outsider: Crispin Glover(1964-)
Bio: Born in New York City to actor Bruce Glover and an actress/dancer named Mary Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey Bloom Koerber, Crispin Glover has built an entire career out of calculating his eccentricity. His parents were rather odd people who named their only child after the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V and saddled him with the middle name “Hellion”, instilling young Crispin with a love of odd, twisted humor. Crispin followed his father into acting as a teenager, with roles on Happy Days and Family Ties. He won roles in several major feature films, including Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. His proclivity for eccentric roles became apparent when he starred in a short film called The Orkly Kid, playing a small-town man obsessed with Olivia Newton-John. At the end of the film, Crispin performed Newton-John’s song “Please Don’t Keep Me Waiting” in full drag. His big break came with 1985’s Back to the Future. Crispin became well-known for his portrayal of George McFly in the popular film, but refused to sign on for its two sequels. He ended up suing the producers when they used prosthetics to dupe audiences into believing that the replacement, Jeffrey Weissman, was really him. Crispin has continued to play odd characters, including Andy Warhol in The Doors and the Thin Man in Charlie’s Angels. Perhaps even more notorious than his roles are his appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. He made his first appearance in 1987 to promote his film River’s Edge, and proceeded to troll it up Andy Kaufman-style. He wore platform shoes and a wig, ranted about the press, and challenged Letterman to an arm-wrestling match. Letterman, unnerved, walked offstage “to check on the Top 10”. Later, Crispin appeared on the show again, ostensibly to promote an album, but he spent most of his time telling a nonsensical story. His mystique grew when he went on hiatus from films in 1989 and produced his only album, The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be. He also wrote a few books, including two (Oak-Mot and Rat Catching) that were constructed using fragments from old novels in the public domain. He’s even ventured into directing, making his debut at Sundance with surrealist film What Is It? Crispin continues to work as an actor- one of his most recent roles was the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland- and lives a rather reclusive lifestyle, refusing publicity work unless he’s given the opportunity to take an “unusual approach”.
Music: Crispin’s album, The Big Problem…, was intended to be a piece of surrealist art. In this it certainly succeeds- it sounds random and disjointed, with sounds swirling together like paint on a canvas. Each song is disturbing in its own unique way. There’s “Clownly Clown Clown”, in which Crispin cheerfully tells a creepy clown story over sinister, carnivalesque synthesizers. Then there’s his cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”- a bland Muzak track plods along while Crispin recites the lyrics to the song in a voice that ranges from an irritating whine to a truly horrifying howl. There’s even a falsetto rendition of a Charles Manson song. As out-there as this album is, however, there’s something about that rings false. It sounds almost as though he’s trying to emulate the bizarre qualities of some of the other artists on this blog, many of whom sound the way they do because of mental illness. When I listen to the tortured sounds of Daniel Johnston and Wild Man Fischer, I hear men expressing what comes naturally to them, but when I listen to Crispin Glover’s music, I hear a successful actor from a Hollywood family trying to be as weird and out there as possible. He may have been able to capture the creepy, unsettling qualities of more genuine outsiders, but his work doesn’t have any of their sweetness or sincerity.
Notable Works: The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be
Trivia: Crispin has a tour called Crispin Glover’s Big Slide Show, where he shows portions of his films and reads passages from his books. His films do not exist in any form except for the 35mm prints which he carries around from city to city, showing them in art houses.
Quote: “Eccentric doesn’t bother me. ‘Eccentric’ being a poetic interpretation of a mathematical term meaning something that doesn’t follow the lines - that’s okay.” -Crispin Glover
Bio: Born in New York City to actor Bruce Glover and an actress/dancer named Mary Elizabeth Lillian Betty Krachey Bloom Koerber, Crispin Glover has built an entire career out of calculating his eccentricity. His parents were rather odd people who named their only child after the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Shakespeare’s Henry V and saddled him with the middle name “Hellion”, instilling young Crispin with a love of odd, twisted humor. Crispin followed his father into acting as a teenager, with roles on Happy Days and Family Ties. He won roles in several major feature films, including Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter. His proclivity for eccentric roles became apparent when he starred in a short film called The Orkly Kid, playing a small-town man obsessed with Olivia Newton-John. At the end of the film, Crispin performed Newton-John’s song “Please Don’t Keep Me Waiting” in full drag. His big break came with 1985’s Back to the Future. Crispin became well-known for his portrayal of George McFly in the popular film, but refused to sign on for its two sequels. He ended up suing the producers when they used prosthetics to dupe audiences into believing that the replacement, Jeffrey Weissman, was really him. Crispin has continued to play odd characters, including Andy Warhol in The Doors and the Thin Man in Charlie’s Angels. Perhaps even more notorious than his roles are his appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. He made his first appearance in 1987 to promote his film River’s Edge, and proceeded to troll it up Andy Kaufman-style. He wore platform shoes and a wig, ranted about the press, and challenged Letterman to an arm-wrestling match. Letterman, unnerved, walked offstage “to check on the Top 10”. Later, Crispin appeared on the show again, ostensibly to promote an album, but he spent most of his time telling a nonsensical story. His mystique grew when he went on hiatus from films in 1989 and produced his only album, The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be. He also wrote a few books, including two (Oak-Mot and Rat Catching) that were constructed using fragments from old novels in the public domain. He’s even ventured into directing, making his debut at Sundance with surrealist film What Is It? Crispin continues to work as an actor- one of his most recent roles was the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland- and lives a rather reclusive lifestyle, refusing publicity work unless he’s given the opportunity to take an “unusual approach”.
Music: Crispin’s album, The Big Problem…, was intended to be a piece of surrealist art. In this it certainly succeeds- it sounds random and disjointed, with sounds swirling together like paint on a canvas. Each song is disturbing in its own unique way. There’s “Clownly Clown Clown”, in which Crispin cheerfully tells a creepy clown story over sinister, carnivalesque synthesizers. Then there’s his cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”- a bland Muzak track plods along while Crispin recites the lyrics to the song in a voice that ranges from an irritating whine to a truly horrifying howl. There’s even a falsetto rendition of a Charles Manson song. As out-there as this album is, however, there’s something about that rings false. It sounds almost as though he’s trying to emulate the bizarre qualities of some of the other artists on this blog, many of whom sound the way they do because of mental illness. When I listen to the tortured sounds of Daniel Johnston and Wild Man Fischer, I hear men expressing what comes naturally to them, but when I listen to Crispin Glover’s music, I hear a successful actor from a Hollywood family trying to be as weird and out there as possible. He may have been able to capture the creepy, unsettling qualities of more genuine outsiders, but his work doesn’t have any of their sweetness or sincerity.
Notable Works: The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution, The Solution Equals Let It Be
Trivia: Crispin has a tour called Crispin Glover’s Big Slide Show, where he shows portions of his films and reads passages from his books. His films do not exist in any form except for the 35mm prints which he carries around from city to city, showing them in art houses.
Quote: “Eccentric doesn’t bother me. ‘Eccentric’ being a poetic interpretation of a mathematical term meaning something that doesn’t follow the lines - that’s okay.” -Crispin Glover
(Source: youtube.com)
