Actor Danny Glover, the 79-year-old star of the “Lethal Weapon” films and “The Color Purple,” has revealed that he has been living with Alzheimer’s disease for several years, he said in an interview with NBC News that aired Wednesday.
Glover told former NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt on “The Today Show” that he received the diagnosis “not long” after receiving an honorary Oscar designation in 2022. He said his movements, speech and memories have since slowed, but he remains active.
“I can live with it in a sense,” Glover said in the pre-taped interview. “I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing.”
A four-time Emmy winner, Glover rose to fame in the 1980s with his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh alongside Mel Gibson in the “Lethal Weapon” film series. He was also widely recognized for his performances in “Places in the Heart” (1984) and “The Color Purple” (1985), accumulating more than 170 acting credits over a career that began in his early 20s.
In the interview, Glover and members of his family said they want to help change the stigma around Alzheimer’s by speaking out about his condition.
“I think it’s really important for him to have control of his own narrative, of his own life story,” Glover’s daughter, Mandisa, said. “That’s really important. And the time is now. What better time but now for him to speak for himself?”
Glover is one of roughly 7 million people in the U.S. over the age of 65 living with Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia that affects memory, thinking and behavior, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The association noted that older Black Americans such as Glover are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s or another dementia as older white Americans, though research has not yet identified the cause for the discrepancy.
With a passion for social justice, Glover launched a production company to develop and fund politically relevant films.
“We have challenges in the world,” he said. “I think art becomes a reframe, a way of looking at that, you know?”