John Glover ( born August 7, 1944) is an American actor who has played a range of quirky and villainous roles in films and television, such as Lionel Luthor in Smallville, Dr. Jason Woodrue in Batman & Robin and the voice of Riddler in the DC Animated Universe. He also played the role of Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).
Early life Glover was born in Kingston, New York, and raised in Salisbury, Maryland. His father was a television salesman. Glover attended Wicomico High School and acted at Towson University.
Glover began his career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and later studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas.
Career Glover began his career in television, playing a mentally disturbed man who kidnapped Joanne, the lead character in Search for Tomorrow. One of his early film performances was a role as a U.S. diplomat in White Nights. His other roles include Alan Raimy in 52 Pick-Up, Bryce Cummings in Scrooged, Tony Gateworth in Masquerade, Daniel Clamp in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, a mobster in Payback, an advertising spokesman in RoboCop 2, Derek Mills in Night of the Running Man, the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series, Doctor Jason Woodrue in Batman & Robin, Verad in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Invasive Procedures", the Devil in the series Brimstone, and a recurring role in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd as Cousin Jerry, from Bal'mer, a relative whom no one actually seemed to know.
In 1987, Glover appeared in the Miami Vice episode "Lend Me an Ear" as Steve Duddy. He also appeared in two episodes of Murder, She Wrote, "One White Rose for Death" and "When Thieves Fall Out". He appeared in the television film An Early Frost in 1985, the first TV film to confront the issue of AIDS, and received an Emmy nomination for his performance as a gay AIDS patient. In 1986, he appeared in the TV film Apology with Lesley Ann Warren.
Glover appeared in the role of Max Brodsky, an inmate in concentration camps and later a fighter for Israel's independence, in Ian Sharp's 1989 TV miniseries Twist of Fate (also known as Pursuit). That same year, he played a hard-driving immoral district sales manager in HBO's Traveling Man. He also received a 1994 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his appearance in Frasier.
Glover played Lionel Luthor on Smallville from 2001 to 2008, where he performed as a guest actor in the show's first season and then appeared as a full cast member from seasons two to seven. He later returned in 2010 and 2011 for the tenth and final season as a parallel universe version of the character.
Glover had a small role in the Woody Allen film Annie Hall (1977) in a flashback in which he tells the title character, "Touch my heart. With your foot." He had a recurring role in Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Declan Gage, an old friend and mentor to Detective Robert Goren. On ABC's Brothers & Sisters Glover played Henry, the boyfriend of Saul Holden, in 2009. In Heroes he had a brief appearance as Samson Gray, the father of Sylar.
Glover had made notable appearances on stage, winning a Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play for his dual roles in the Broadway play Love! Valour! Compassion!, which he reprised in the film version. In 2004, he performed with the Philadelphia Theatre Company staging of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
Glover also appeared as "man in the chair/narrator" in The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway during the summer of 2007. He played the role of Lucky in a Broadway production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. In 2014, he appeared as Leonato in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing.
Glover played Telemachus in Yuri Rasovsky's Peabody Award-winning radio dramatization of The Odyssey of Homer and has acted in several radio plays of the LA Theatre Works. Glover has also narrated audiobooks. In 2011, he performed the audiobook version of Ghost Story, the thirteenth novel in Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files series. In October and November 2011, he performed in David Bar Katz's drama The Atmosphere of Memory at the Bank Street Theatre in New York City, co-starring with Ellen Burstyn in a LAByrinth production. He played the role of Uncle Ben in the 2012 Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, directed by Mike Nichols. Glover rehearsed the role of John Kreese in behind-the-scenes pre-production footage from The Karate Kid, indicating he may have been considered for that role. In 2013, Glover starred in the horror anthology Sanitarium. He also guest-starred in an episode of Agent Carter. Glover has done various voice-over work for several projects related to Tron: Legacy: the villain Abraxas in Tron: Evolution, and Dyson in Tron: Uprising. In 2014, he guest-starred on The Blacklist in the episode titled "Berlin".
Personal life Glover is gay. He married sculptor Adam Kurtzman in 2016, whom he had been dating since 1993. Additionally, Glover claims to have slept with Freddie Mercury in the 1970s.
Glover is involved with the Alzheimer's Association. His father had Alzheimer's disease, leading Glover to become more active in charity and activism surrounding the disorder.
Glover returns to Towson annually to work with theater students. The theater department awards a scholarship in his name.
Filmography Film +List of films and roles Year Title Role Notes Reference(s) 1973 Shamus Johnnie 1977 Annie Hall Actor Boy Friend 1977 Julia Sammy 1978 Somebody Killed Her Husband Herbert Little 1979 Last EmbraceRichard Peabody 1980The American Success Company Ernst 1980 The Mountain Men Nathan Wyeth 1980 Melvin and Howard Freese, Attorney #2 1981The Incredible Shrinking Woman Tom Keller 1982A Little Sex Walter 1984 The Evil That Men Do Briggs 1985 White Nights Wynn Scott 1986A Killing Affair Sheb Sheppard 1986 52 Pick-Up Alan Raimy 1986 Willy/Milly Fred Niceman 1988 Masquerade Tony Gateworth 1988 Rocket Gibraltar Rolo Rockwell 1988 Scrooged Brice Cummings 1988The Chocolate War Brother Leon 1989 Meet the Hollowheads Henry Hollowhead 1990 Gremlins 2: The New Batch Daniel Clamp 1990 RoboCop 2 Magnavolt Salesman 1993 Ed and His Dead Mother A.J. Pattle 1994 In the Mouth of Madness Saperstein 1995 Night of the Running Man Derek Mills 1995 Automatic Goddard Marx 1997 Love! Valour! Compassion! John Jeckyll / James Jeckyll 1997 Batman & Robin Dr. Jason Woodrue 1997 Medusa's Child Rogers Henry 1998 Dead Broke Sam 1997The Broken Giant Bennett Hale 1999 Payback Phil 1999 Macbeth in Manhattan Richard, The Director 2001 The Body Jesus Christ Street Actor 2001 On Edge Yuri Moskvin 2002 Mid-Century Bill Gates 2004 Tricks Ralph 2004 A Kiss at Kerouac's Grave Will 2005The Civilization of Maxwell Bright Ogden 2013 Sanitarium Gustav Segment: "Figuratively Speaking" 2013 Sweet Talk Professor / Count 2014 Reality Zog 2015 You Bury Your Own Detective Gillespie 2016 We Go On Dr. Ellison 2019 Shazam! Mr. Sivana 2022 Fatal Influence: Like. Follow. Survive The Grand Zel 2025 The Home Lou
Television +List of television appearances and roles Year Title Role Notes Reference(s) 1975 Kojak Billy Jo Episode: "Elegy in an Asphalt Graveyard" 1984 George Washington Charles Lee Episode: "Charles Lee" 1985 ABC Afterschool Specials Mr. Stewart Episode: "Don't Touch" 1985 An Early Frost Victor DiMato Television film 1986The Twilight Zone The Alien Ambassador Episode: "A Small Talent for War" 1986 Apology Philip Cable television film 1986 Murder, She Wrote Franz Mueller Episode: "One White Rose for Death" 1987 Nutcracker: Money, Madness and Murder Richard Behrens Episode: 1-3 (entire miniseries) 1987 Miami Vice Steve Duddy Episode: "Lend Me an Ear" 1987 Murder, She Wrote Andrew Durbin Episode: "When Thieves Fall Out" 1988 David Charles Rothenberg Television film 1989 Breaking Point Dr. Gerber Television film 1989 Twist of Fate Max Brodsky TV miniseries 1989 The Hitchhiker Miles Duchet Episode: "Striptease" 1990 El Diablo Autolycus, The Peacher Television film 1991 What Ever Happened to... Billy Korn Television film Tales from the Crypt Sebastian Esbrook Episode: "Undertaking Palor" 1992 Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel "Loco" Garrison Television film The Ray Bradbury Theater Walter Grip Episode: "Silent Towns" 1993 Frasier Ned Miller Episode: "Oops" Crime & Punishment Dennis Atwood Episode: "Best Laid Plans"Nominated for Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama SeriesThe Legend of Prince Valiant King Edward Voice, episode: "The Blackest Poison" Animaniacs Rasputin Voice, episode: "Nothing but the Tooth" A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Verad Episode: "Invasive Procedures" 1992–1994 Dinosaurs Babysitter / Prosecutor / Lucius Voice, 3 episodes Batman: The Animated Series Edward Nygma / Riddler Voice, 3 episodes 1998 Superman: The Animated Series Voice, episode: "Knight Time"The New Batman Adventures Voice, episode: "Judgement Day" Pinky and the Brain Tycoon Voice, episode: "Pinky's Turn" 1998–1999 Brimstone The Devil, Angel 13 episodes 1999–2001 Haunted History The Narrator Voice, 25 episodes 2001–2008, 2010-2011 Smallville Lionel Luthor 145 episodes 2006–2009 Numb3rs Samuel Craft, The Psychic 2 episodes 2006–2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Declan Gage 2 episodes 2009 Heroes Samson Gray Episode: "Shades of Gray" 2009 Brothers & Sisters Henry Mittner Episode: "Owning It" 2011–2015 The Good Wife Jared Andrews 4 episodes 2012–2013 Tron: Uprising Dyson Voice, 4 episodes 2014 The Blacklist Dr. Bruce Sanders Episode: "Berlin" 2014 Perception The Devil Episode: "Possession" 2015 Agent Carter SSR Informant Episode: "The Iron Ceiling" 2017 The Lost Wife of Robert Durst Seymour Durst Television film 2019 The Good Fight Jared Andrews Episode: "The One Where a Nazi Gets Punched" Tales of the City Bill Schwartz Episode: "Next Level Sh*t" Evil Byron Duke Episode: "3 Stars" 2021 Fear the Walking Dead Theodore "Teddy" Maddox 5 episodes Lucifer Peter Peterson Episode: "Family Dinner" 2022 Dead in the Water: A Fear the Walking Dead Story Theodore "Teddy" Maddox Web series; episode: "This Ain't It" 2023–2025 And Just Like That... Elliot 3 episodes 2025 Gremlins Rodney Voice, episode: "Never Get Out of the Truck"
Theatre +List of theatre roles Year Title Role Notes Reference(s) 1977 The Importance of Being Earnest Algernon Moncrieff 1981 Frankenstein Henry Clerval 1984 Design for Living Leo 2012 Death of a Salesman Ben Loman 2013–2014 Macbeth Witch, Porter, Third Murderer 2018 Saint Joan The Archbishop of Rheims, A Gentleman 2025 Life, Death, and Other Opportunities
Video games +List of video game voice roles Year Title Role Notes Reference(s) 1994 The Adventures of Batman & Robin Edward Nygma / Riddler 2003 Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo Help Points 2010 Tron: Evolution Abraxas, Jalen
Audiobooks +List of audiobook roles Year Title Author Notes Reference(s) 1992 The Thief of Always (abridged) Clive Barker 1999 Night Shift Stephen King The Lawnmower Man Stephen King Gray Matter Stephen King Thank You for Smoking Christopher Buckley 2009 Level 26: Dark Origins Anthony E. Zuiker 2010Worst Case James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge The Bride Collector Ted Dekker The Tempest William Shakespeare Star Wars: Red Harvest Joe Schreiber 2011 Gideon's Sword Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child Dracula (Dramatized) Bram Stoker and Charles Morey
References
External links
Interview with John Glover