An honorary Oscar-winning actor has been cast in a role he never expected. "Lethal Weapon" movie star Danny Glover, 79, is living with Alzheimer’s.
The four-time Emmy Award nominee is best known for portraying a police officer opposite Mel Gibson in the “Lethal Weapon” franchise, the villain in “The Color Purple” opposite Whoopi Goldberg, and a counselor in "Beloved" with Oprah Winfrey.
In 2022, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences crowned him with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for his humanitarian efforts and activism.
“A public story like this helps correct the misconception that a diagnosis immediately erases a person’s identity,” board-certified neurologist Dr. Rab Nawaz Khan told NTD. “It also shows that a diagnosis is not a reason to withdraw from life. Earlier diagnosis gives people and families more time to access support, discuss treatment options, plan for the future, and make decisions that reflect the person’s values.”
In 2023, Glover was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“I still have my daughter, I have friends,” Glover said. “I want to just say, your life continues.”
In addition to a team of caregivers helping him, Glover’s 50-year-old daughter, Mandisa, and 67-year-old younger brother, Marty, live with him in his San Francisco home.
Despite the illness, it's important for Glover to be of service, according to Mandisa, his only child with his first wife Asake Bomani. On July 22, Glover will be 80 years old.
“It's a change in the core of who you think you are or don't think you are,” she said. "It's very hard. You just have to live the day for what it is.”
More than 6 million people in the United States are diagnosed with it.
“I'm still not accepting in my mind all parts of it,” Glover said of Alzheimer’s. “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.”
Alzheimer’s is a progressive, incurable condition that has been known to cause memory loss and shorter life spans, in some cases.
Many people, however, remain insightful, creative, connected to family, and able to participate in meaningful decisions, according to Khan.
"His story can encourage people to seek assessment when memory, language, judgment, or daily functioning begins to change," he added. "It also shows that a diagnosis is not a reason to withdraw from life. Earlier diagnosis gives people and families more time to access support, discuss treatment options, plan for the future, and make decisions that reflect the person’s values."