Danny Glover has publicly shared for the first time that he has been living with Alzheimer’s disease. The 79-year-old “Lethal Weapon” star spoke with former NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt in an exclusive interview that aired July 1 on TODAY, accompanied by his family. He also opens up in this week’s issue of People magazine.
“I could live with it, in a sense,” Glover told Holt. “I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing.” Asked if he feels supported, he was direct: “Absolutely. They’ve got my back.”
Glover was diagnosed in 2023, just after receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2022 Governors Awards. His daughter Mandisa, 50, says she began noticing changes around that time. “The history of my dad is that he remembers every single thing back to 1970, what corner he was standing on, who he spoke to, what they spoke about, what color they were wearing, everything,” she told People. “And there would be pieces of the story missing.”
Since the diagnosis, Glover’s movements, speech and memory have slowed, though he remains active in his San Francisco community. His mind is clearest in the morning, and he still engages with young people about community involvement. “Justice is our collective responsibility,” he said on TODAY.
Mandisa told Holt the family decided the time was right for Glover to speak for himself. “I think it’s really important for him to have control of his own narrative, of his own life story. And the time is now. What better time but now for him to speak for himself? It’s important because people ask questions sometimes, and I don’t want to be a dishonest person and say, ‘Oh, yeah, everything is all right. It’s all great.'”
Glover is one of more than 7 million Americans over age 65 living with Alzheimer’s, a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease that robs people of their memories. Black people are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia compared to white people, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, which is now working with Glover. The organization advises that staying physically active, managing blood pressure and diabetes, getting quality sleep and staying socially connected can all help, and emphasizes that early detection matters because cognitive decline can begin up to 15 years before a formal dementia diagnosis.
Sitting down with People in his historic San Francisco townhouse, where walls are lined with works by Black artists and memories of decades of visitors and celebrations, Glover reflected on his life and career with characteristic warmth, even as his thoughts sometimes trailed off. “I’m still not accepting in my mind all parts of it,” he said. “There are the moments that you keep remembering that validate the fact that you can remember stuff. And there are moments I’ll never forget.”
He spoke about his late mother, Carrie, who died in a car accident the same day he learned he had won the role in 1984’s “Places in the Heart,” and whose spirit he says still drives his sense of purpose. “The one thing about my parents was their activism,” he said. “A sense of being and belonging and making the contribution. When I saw the Montgomery bus boycott, I knew I wanted to be like those people.” He credits playwright Amiri Baraka with pushing him toward acting in the first place. “He came and he said, ‘Some of you so-called revolutionaries come out and do plays.’ I had never been onstage before.”
Glover reflected on his breakthrough alongside Mel Gibson in the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, his dramatic work in “The Color Purple,” and decades of humanitarian work including serving as a goodwill ambassador for both the United Nations Development Program and UNICEF. He also recalled walking with Nelson Mandela after his release from prison, a memory that still comes through clearly. “Mandela said, ‘Winnie, there’s your other husband.’ It was funny.”
His brother Marty, 67, who lives with him, spoke to both the joy and the pain of watching his older brother navigate the disease. “He saved me,” Marty said on TODAY. “I’ve been to jails, institutions, used drugs. And then he came and got me out. He took me under his wing, and I love him to death. And I’m here to help him now. It’s my turn.” He added to People: “Sometimes you get emotional about it. It’s tough, because you don’t want to see nobody go through this.”
Glover approaches each day with the same spirit he has brought to a career spanning nearly 40 years and more than 170 screen credits. “I don’t feel like it’s the end of my life,” he told People. “There’s work to do.” And in the dining room of his San Francisco home, surrounded by family, caregivers and the echoes of a life fully lived, he summed it up simply: “I still have my daughter, I have friends. I want to just say, your life continues.”