Julian Glover is the actor who provided the voice of Aragog in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Biography
Early life
Glover was born in Hampstead, the son of Honor (née Wyatt), a close friend of the novelist Barbara Pym, and C. Gordon Glover, a BBC radio producer.[1] His half brother is the musician Robert Wyatt. He attended Bristol Grammar School in Bristol, England, where he was in the same class as actors Timothy West and "Darth Vader" actor David Prowse, and also Alleyn's School in Dulwich.
Career
Glover trained at the National Youth Theatre and performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In the early 1950s he appeared in several shows at Unity Theatre, London During the 1960s and 1970s, Glover frequently appeared in British television shows, including The Avengers, Doctor Who, The Saint and Blake's 7.
Julian Glover also appeared in 1967's Quatermass and the Pit, a Hammer Films adaptation of Nigel Kneale's 1950s BBC television original, in which he portrayed Quatermass' nemesis, Colonel Breen, a military man, initially sceptical of the ancient origin of an archaeologically excavated extraterrestrial spacecraft, who is later ironically in thrall to the murderous energy released from the craft. In 1979, he appeared as the villain, Scaroth, in the Doctor Who episode, "City of Death," one of the most acclaimed and popular episodes of the series. He later recorded DVD commentaries for The Crusade (Doctor Who) episode The Wheel of Fortune (from the Lost in Time (Doctor Who) DVD set) and City of Death.
Glover also appeared opposite Roger Moore in the episode of The Saint titled "Invitation to Danger."
He made some of his most notable appearances during the 1980s as the Imperial General Maximilian Veers in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the ruthless Aris Kristatos in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981), and the deceptive American Nazi Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). During the 1980s he played the leading role in the BBC television drama series, By the Sword Divided. He also appeared in the 2002 film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as the voice of the giant spider Aragog.
Glover has made the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf practically his own since the 1980s, delivering various forms of staged interpretation. Taking the role of an Anglo-Saxon gleeman or traveller poet he delivers an abridged version of the tale whilst stood around a mead hall hearth. This powerful 11th century Old English text, set in the dark age Germanic world of the Geats, examines Anglo-Saxon concepts of honour and comitatus. The performance is interspersed with Glover rendering selected passages in the original Old English. This adaptation has almost become 'definitive', being shown in documentaries on both the English Language and Anglo-Saxon England. Most recently it was shown in Michael Wood's documentary 'Beowulf', broadcast during the BBC Poetry Season on BBC4 and BBC2 in 2009.
He is currently playing the role of Mr. Brownlow in the West End revival of the musical Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
He is an Associate Member of The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Personal life
Glover is twice married to actresses; Eileen Atkins in 1957 (divorced 1966) and since 1968, Isla Blair with whom he has a son, actor Jamie Glover, currently starring in the fourth series of Waterloo Road on the BBC. In 2006, he held the role of Edward Alleyn Club President.[2]
Awards
- His performance in the title role of the Royal Shakespeare Company's staging of Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, at the Barbican Centre in London, earned him the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in 1993.
- He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1993 (1992 season) for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Henry V at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Tom Jones | Lt. Northerton | 
|
| 1964 | Girl with Green Eyes | Malachi Sullivan | |
| 1965 | Time Lost and Time Remembered | Dr. Matthew Langdon | |
| The Alphabet Murders | Don Fortune | ||
| Doctor Who - The Crusade | Richard the Lionheart | ||
| 1966 | Theatre of Death | Charles Marquis | 
|
| 1967 | Quatermass and the Pit | Col. Breen | |
| 1968 | The Magus | Anton | |
| 1969 | Alfred the Great | Shrdlu | |
| The Adding Machine | Shrdlu | ||
| 1970 | The Last Grenade | Andy Royal | |
| Wuthering Heights | Hindley Earnshaw | ||
| The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer | Col. Moffat | ||
| 1971 | Nicholas and Alexandra | Gapon | |
| 1972 | Antony and Cleopatra | Proculeius | |
| 1973 | Luther | The Knight | |
| Hitler: The Last Ten Days | Fegelein | ||
| 1974 | Dead Cert | Lodge | |
| Terror on the Britannic | Commander Marder | ||
| The Internecine Project | Arnold Pryce-Jones | ||
| 1975 | Space 1999 - Alpha Child | Jarak | |
| 1977 | Gulliver's Travels | (voice) | |
| The Brute | Teddy | ||
| 1979 | Doctor Who - City of Death | Scaroth/Count Scarlioni | |
| 1980 | Invasion | Alexander Dubcek | |
| Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back | General Veers | 
| |
| 1981 | For Your Eyes Only | Aristotle Kristatos | |
| 1982 | Ivanhoe | King Richard | |
| Dombey and Son | Mr. Dombey | ||
| 1983 | Heat and Dust | Crawford, the District Collector | |
| 1987 | Hearts of Fire | Alfred | |
| The Fourth Protocol | Brian Harcourt-Smith | ||
| Cry Freedom | Don Card | ||
| 1989 | Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade | Walter Donovan | 
|
| 1990 | Tusks | Ian Taylor | |
| Treasure Island | Dr. Livesey | ||
| Letters, Riddles and Writs | Joseph Haydn | ||
| 1991 | King Ralph | King Gustav | |
| 1994 | Power and Lovers | Matthew | |
| 1997 | The House of Angelo | Sir Robert Willoughby | |
| 2000 | Vatel | Prince de Condé | |
| 2002 | The Book of Eve | Burt Smallwood | |
| Two Men Went to War | Col. Hatchard | ||
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Aragog (voice) | 
| |
| 2004 | Troy | Triopas | |
| Strings | Kahro (English version voice) | ||
| 2006 | Scoop | Lord Lyman | |
| 2008 | Mirrors | Robert Esseker | |
| 2009 | The Young Victoria | Duke of Wellington | |
| Princess Kaiulani | Mr. Davies | ||
| 2010 | Gangster Kittens | Lord Clarence Beaverbrook |
