Danny Glover, 79, reveals heartbreaking Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Danny Glover has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
The actor gave an update on his health during a “Today” show segment with Lester Holt, which aired Wednesday morning.
“I could live with it in a sense,” the “Lethal Weapon” star, who received his diagnosis “not long after” his honorary Oscar win in 2022, said in the pre-taped sitdown.
However, the 79-year-old acknowledged, “I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing.”
He praised his family, who have “absolutely … got [his] back.”
Glover’s daughter, Mandisa, also spoke with Holt, 67, and said it’s “really important” for her father to have “control of his own narrative, of his own life story.”
She added, “That’s really important. And the time is now. What better time but now for him to speak for himself? It’s important because people ask questions sometimes, and I don’t want to be a dishonest person and say, ‘Oh, yeah, everything is all right. It’s all great.’”
Glover looked back on his legendary career elsewhere in the interview, dubbing “Places in the Heart” with Sally Fields his “favorite” project of all.
As for his legacy, he is focused on teaching “young people” about their “responsibilities.”
The Emmy nominee explained, “Justice is our collective responsibility. One thing I learned from my parents most of my life is the capacity of people to change through their own. They become the architect of their change.”
Glover has been transparent about other health struggles in the past — namely, his epilepsy battle.
Glover had his first seizure at 15 and treated the disease with medication for the next two decades.
However, he grew to “recognize when it was happening,” he wrote in a blog post, per BlackDoctor.
“I could say, wherever I was, ‘Something is happening to me. Please grab me. Please hold me. I’m about to have a seizure,’” the Grammy nominee noted.
He recalled once feeling an episode coming on during a play and repeatedly telling himself backstage, “I will not have this seizure.”
Glover remembered, “Each time I got a bit stronger, and the symptoms began to diminish to the point where I was ready to go on stage.”
He has not suffered a seizure since the age of 35.
