At once a boneless slapstick fool and a tragic man of wax. His snakey face and sinuous, lean body have the hideous elegance of a tormented nineteenth century ghost. There will never be a character as shamefully naked as George McFly in the grip of love, an ageless and unknowing American man. George’s feelings for Lorraine are so pure and intense, they are frightening – "You’re my density, what I mean to say is…you’re my destiny” – the words crawl out of Glover’s mouth like shipwrecked sailors onto a golden beach. Glover refused to reprise his role in Back to the Future II, eventually suing Steven Spielberg for splicing him into the film from unused footage, a landmark case that has changed the way actors negotiate their image rights. Crispin Glover’s other major onscreen triumph is his otherworldly portrayal of Andy Warhol in The Doors. He has him speak with a misty hiss, clouding his words, making them disappear from his own lips. Glover is also a novelist and film director, claiming to be inspired by the ‘aesthetic of discomfort’ – his surreal short film What is it? uses only actors with Down’s Syndrome. In 1987, appearing on Letterman, he launched a fly-kick at the host’s head. Glover later admitted that it was ‘a weird thing to do’. In 1989 he released an album of spoken word readings and cover tunes (including a rendition of These Boots Are Made for Walkin') entitled The Big Problem [does not equal] the Solution. The Solution = LET IT BE. Everything he does is personal but he is, without doubt, the ultimate stranger. Glover is a lizardous Anthony Perkins, a man charged with the wrong energy who is about to do a bad thing.
