Mini Biography: Danny Glover is the dean of African American character actors. Though he has never managed to break through into stardom as has character-lead Morgan Freeman, he remains one of the top character actors working in cinema, constantly in demand, after almost thirty years since making his movie debut in a bit part in the 1979 Clint Eastwood potboiler Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Glover also has established a reputation as an outspoken political progressive, appearing in such productions as the stage production of Howard Zinn's "Voices from A People's History of the United States" and lending his voice to the aspirations of black folk in Africa and the Americas.

Glover's on-screen persona is one of a ballsy man who is not to be trifled with. Of all the character actors who have plied their trade in the movies, he is arguably the most militant on-screen presence since the legendary James Cagney. Like Cagney, Glover has a chip on his shoulder, though he is more wary than challenging of those who would try to knock it off.

He won the first of his four Emmy nominations as an actor (he also has a Daytime Emy nomination as a director) for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela (1987) (TV). Arguably, he is best known for his role as Los Angeles police detective Roger Muztagh in the Lethal Weapon (1987) movie franchise, the last installment of which he was paid $7 million to reprise the role. He headlined the action-hit Predator 2 (1990), although such Schwarzeneggeresque drivel is beneath him, talent-wise.

In addition to his five Emmy nominations, Glover has won the NAACP Image Award five times. Although Glover, like Freeman, is fully capable of playing "color-blind" roles like Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe (in the 1995 "Red Wind" episode of Showtime network's "Fallen Angels" (1993) series, for which he received an Emmy nomination), he is committed to articulating the African American experience on-screen and on-stage. In 1994, Glover helped create the Robey Theatre Company of Los Angeles, to bring the black experience to the stage. He has played the great African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass on-stage in Zinn's "Voices of A People's History of the United States," and will reprise the role in "The People Speak", the TV mini-series being made from Zinn's work.

The Venezuelan Congress has approved legislation that provides Glover with $20 million in financing to make two films, one about the great Latin American liberator Simon Bolivar one about Toussaint Louverture, the great rebel general who lead a successful uprising of slaves against France in the late 18th Century and who was only defeated by the chicanery of Napoleon Bonaparte. Congress is closely allied with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who considers Glover a friend.

"The General in His Labyrinth," based on a novel by left-wing novelist Gabriel García Márquez, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is slated to be directed by Venezuela-born director Alberto Arvelo. "Toussaint" will be directed by Glover himself.

Glover had been acquainted with Chavez for several years, even appearing on Chavez's TV and radio talk show "Hello, President." He is a member of the Advisory Council for the Caracas, Venezuela-based pan-Latin American television network TeleSUR ("Television of the South"), that was launched in 2005. Glover has been criticized by the American media for his friendship with Chavez, particularly after introducing the Venezuelan president at an event in which Chavez characterized President George W. Bush the devil. It likely is an opinion that Glover, a supporter of liberal Democrat John Edwards for the presidency, likely shares.