Freddy recently finished up using "Back to the Future" to teach English to one of his high school classes. Crispin Glover, as the nerdy dad, George McFly, is always one of the favorite characters of the students. (As well as one of Freddy's all time favorites) When Freddy was in high school, he used to imitate Crispin Glover's attempt to ask out Lorraine Baines at the soda stand: "Yes, I'm George, George McFly, and I'm your density!... err uh, I mean destiny." This is one of Hollywood's all time greatest pick up lines.Although Freddy was always a big fan of Crispin Glover, it wasn't until college that he discovered Glover's wide range of artistic endeavors. Soon after meeting his college roommate, Freddy was introduced to Crispin Glover's music album, "The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution. The Solution = Let it Be." Freddy was immediately enthralled with tracks like "The New Clean Song", Crispin Glover's interpretation of "These Boots are Made For Walkin'", "Clowny Clown Clown" (of which Freddy once did an interpretive
reading and dance backed up by an impromptu band) and of course, "Auto Manipulator". In fact, the Auto Manipulator song even inspired of Freddy's Auto Manipulator T-shirt design, which Crispin Glover has seen himself, and autographed. If you're not familiar with the album or the music, please enjoy this video of Glover's "Clowny Clown Clown" available on YouTube:
Freddy hadn't watched this video in quite some time and was just noticing that "Mr. Farr" actually appears to be Glover's character from one of his own films, "Rubin and Ed". Unfortunately Freddy has never had the opportunity to see this film, other than some of the clips that are available on YouTube. Here is Freddy's favorite YouTube clip from Glover's "Rubin and Ed"...
Perhaps one of Crispin Glover's most well-known appearances (aside from Back to the Future) is his 1987 appearance on Letterman, which is also all over YouTube. There are a lot of rumors out there that Glover did the appearance while he was on an acid trip. Based on his behavior, it would be easy to believe. Freddy"s personal opinion is that he was in the character of Rubin Farr (From his movie, "Rubin and Ed") Once you watch the clip, you'll also notice that the Rubin Farr character also appears in the Clownly Clown Clown video. In my opinion, Glover appeared "in character" for the interview. I do not believe he was on LSD. Crispin Glover's 1987 Letterman appearance:
About three years later, Crispin Glover appeared on Letterman again, this time as himself. He attempts to explain what happened back in '87, but the story takes too long and Letterman cuts him off before he can finish. From what Freddy can guess, it seems that Glover was trying to say that it was not actually him that appeared on the show back in 1987. He says that he was tired from doing several appearances in a row, and asked an acquaintance, who looked very much like him, Rubin Farr, to do the interview in his place. (Freddy apologizes for the low quality of the clip, it is the only one he could find of this interview)
Crispin Glover, himself, will not confirm or deny any rumors about his 1987 appearance on Letterman. He says he prefers to just let the incidents have a life of their own and let people think what they want.
Mr. Glover elaborates more on why he likes to let his work stand on its own, and why he sometimes likes to make people feel a bit awkward and uncomfortable (David Letterman?) in this interview with Tom Green:
Freddy is not surprised that Crispin Glover and Werner Herzog get along well. Freddy is also a Herzog fan, and even evaluated three of Herzog's films in a research paper for graduate school in Germany. Freddy would categorize both Werner Herzog and Crispin Glover in that weird genius category. Some other time, Freddy will probably write up a blog entry about Herzog as well.
Anyhow, one reason Freddy is a fan of Crispin Glover relates to what he talks about in one of the interviews. Glover mentions how he sort of enjoys the audience reactions to some of his quirky antics. (Freddy wonders if Borat is a Glover fan...) You see, in case you didn't know, Freddy designs weird t-shirts (mostly weird, at least). Freddy also enjoys watching the reactions from people on the street, who "don't get" the t-shirts. But that is an article for another day. Freddy doesn't want to get off topic. This is supposed to be about Crispin Glover. Well, the post has gotten too long anyhow, so perhaps he should close it up.
For those of you who are perhaps only familiar with Crispin Glover as George McFly from "Back to the Future", or as just some weirdo, Freddy hopes that he has been able to open your eyes to a different, more thought-provoking, intellectual side of his acting. There are all kinds of clips on YouTube with Crispin, from one of his very early roles on Happy days, to some weird Latina girl interviewing him. Freddy doesn't have time to post them all here, but if you want to know more about Crispin, please look for him on YouTube and visit his own website, perhaps he is coming to your town for a presentation of his slide show and film.
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