Julian Glover

Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English actor with many stage, television, and film roles. Classically trained, he is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Glover's well-known film roles have included playing villains in several major motion picture franchises: General Maximilian Veers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Aristotle Kristatos in For Your Eyes Only (1981), and Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). He has also appeared as Brian Harcourt-Smith in The Fourth Protocol (1987), voiced the giant Acromantula spider Aragog in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), and appeared as conductor Andris Davis in the psychological drama Tár (2022).

Glover has also appeared frequently on television, especially in the UK, including guest appearances in series such as The Avengers, The Saint, Thriller, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, Space: 1999, Remington Steele, and Inside No. 9. He played the recurring supporting role of Grand Maester Pycelle in HBO's Game of Thrones (2011–2016) and appeared as General Beauvilliers in the BBC drama Spies of Warsaw (2013).

Early life Glover was born in Hampstead, London, the son of Honor Ellen Morgan (née Wyatt), a BBC journalist, and Claude Gordon Glover, a BBC radio producer. Glover and Wyatt divorced in the 1940s, after the birth of a daughter, Prue, and Honor Wyatt subsequently married George Ellidge. Julian Glover's younger half-brother is the musician Robert Wyatt.

Glover attended Bristol Grammar School, where he was in the same class as future actors Timothy West and David Prowse. He also attended Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1954. He also performed national service in the British Army, where he went on the officers' training course.

Career In the early 1950s, Glover appeared in several shows at Unity Theatre, London, and played Tolen in Ann Jellicoe's The Knack at the Royal Court Theatre in 1962. He also performed at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He became a regular actor in 1960s and 1970s British television series such as The Avengers, The Saint, Strange Report, Doctor Who, Blake's 7, and Space: 1999.

In 1966, Glover played William the Conqueror in A Choice of Kings, then in 1967 featured as Professor Quatermass's nemesis Colonel Breen in the Hammer Films production of Quatermass and the Pit, an adaptation of Nigel Kneale's 1958–1959 BBC TV original. He also appeared twice in Doctor Who: as Richard the Lionheart in The Crusade (1965); and as the villain Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, in one of the original run's most popular serials, City of Death (1979). Glover later recorded DVD commentaries for The Crusade episode "The Wheel of Fortune" (from the Lost in Time set) and for City of Death.

In the 1980s, Glover made some of his most notable appearances: the Imperial general Maximilian Veers in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the ruthless Greek villain Aristotle Kristatos in the James Bond film For Your Eyes Only (1981) and the deceptive American Nazi collaborator Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).

On television, he played the leading role of Sir Martin Lacey in the BBC English Civil War drama series By the Sword Divided, and played the guest role of surgeon Arnold Richardson in a 1989 episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty (he made a second guest appearance as a different character in 2011, and also appeared as a different character again in the sister series Holby City in 2014). He played a leading role in the British film Brash Young Turks in 2016.

In the 2002 film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Glover voiced the giant spider Aragog.

Glover has been associated with the epic poem Beowulf since the 1980s and has delivered staged interpretations in various forms, often taking the role of an Anglo-Saxon gleeman or traveller poet, delivering an abridged version of the tale while standing around a mead hall hearth and rendering selected passages in the poem's original Old English. This adaptation has been shown in documentaries on both the English language and Anglo-Saxon England and was also used for historian Michael Wood's documentary on the poem broadcast during the BBC Poetry Season in 2009. He adapted his interpretation in novel form as Beowulf: An Adaptation.

In 2009, Glover played the role of Mr. Brownlow in the West End revival of the musical Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. In the short film Battle for Britain (2010), Glover played a 101-year-old Polish veteran Royal Air Force pilot.

Glover portrayed the character of Grand Maester Pycelle in the HBO series Game of Thrones between 2011 and 2016, appearing in a total of 31 episodes across the first six seasons of the show.

In 2013, Glover played the role of General Beauvilliers in the BBC Four drama series The Spies of Warsaw. In May 2014, he played the character Joe Goodridge in two episodes of the BBC TV medical drama series Holby City ("My Name is Joe" and "No Apologies"). In the same year, he portrayed an old man in horror thriller Backtrack as well as a theater performance as The Interlocutor in the 2014 West End transfer of the Scottsboro Boys in October.

In February 2017, Glover participated as a featured guest at the inaugural Saudi Comic Con in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, alongside fellow Game of Thrones actor Charles Dance.

In 2019, Glover played the role of Nonno in the West End theatre production of Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana at the Noël Coward Theatre.

Glover is an associate member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Awards In 1993, Glover was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1992 production of Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. Theatre critic Michael Billington called his portrayal of the king in that production "superb".

Honours Glover was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Personal life Glover has been twice married: to actresses Eileen Atkins and Isla Blair (with whom he has a son, actor Jamie Glover).

In 2020, Glover sold 250 lots of photographs, costumes, props and memorabilia from his career at East Bristol Auctions, including his badge of rank from The Empire Strikes Back and the watch, overcoat and personal script from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1963 Tom Jones Lt. Northerton 1964 Girl with Green Eyes Malachi Sullivan 1965 The Alphabet Murders Don Fortune Time Lost and Time Remembered Dr. Matthew Langdon I Was Happy Here alt. title. 1966 Theatre of Death Charles Marquis 1967 Quatermass and the Pit Colonel Breen 1968 The Magus Anton 1969 Alfred the Great Æthelstan The Adding Machine Shrdlu 1970 The Last Grenade Andy Royal The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer Colonel Moffat Wuthering Heights Hindley Earnshaw 1971 Nicholas and Alexandra Gapon 1972 Antony and Cleopatra Proculeius 1973 Hitler: The Last Ten DaysGruppenführer Hermann Fegelein The Foundation Trilogy Hober MallowRadio production 1974 Luther The Knight Dead Cert Lodge The Internecine Project Arnold Pryce-Jones Juggernaut Commander Marder US title: Terror on the Britannic 1977 Gulliver's Travels Voice The Brute Teddy 1980 Invasion Alexander Dubček The Empire Strikes Back General Maximilian Veers 1981 For Your Eyes Only Aristotle "Aris" Kristatos 1983 Heat and Dust Crawford, the District Collector a.k.a. The Nineteen Twenties in the Civil Lines at Satipur 1984 Kim Colonel Creighton 1987 The Fourth Protocol Brian Harcourt-Smith Cry Freedom Donald Card Hearts of Fire Alfred 1988 Tusks Ian Taylor 1989 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Walter Donovan 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 Colonel Hatchard Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Aragog Voice 2004 Troy Triopas Strings Kahro VoiceEnglish version 2006 Scoop Lord Lyman Big Nothing 80 Year Old Blind Man 2007 Shoot on Sight Susan's Father 2008 Mirrors Robert Esseker 2009 The Young Victoria Duke of Wellington Princess Kaiulani Theophilus Harris Davies 2012 U.F.O. John Jones Chasing the Bear Mentor / Studio Head Airborne George 2014 Backtrack The Old Man 2015 The Timber Howell 2016 Brash Young Turks Lou Hartman We Still Steal the Old Way Sir Edward Gangster Kittens Lord Clarence Beaverbrook 2017 Amy and Sophia Jim 2019 The Pride of Atticus Lee Atticus Lee Short2021 The Toll Magnus Nemesis Sebastian Nobody Has to Know Angus The Laureate Alfred Graves2022 Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher Lord Ashford TárAndris Davis 2023 The Reverend and Mrs. Simpson Older Charles Wilson Forever Young Jim Petrak Senior 2024 An Irish Angel Father Reitel 2025 Borley Rectory: The Awakening Harry Bull Banking on Mr. Toad Vicar Burntwhistle Pre-production

Television