Danny Glover has unveiled his battles with Alzheimer’s disease.
The “Lethal Weapon” actor sat down with the “Today” show and said he was diagnosed with the degenerative disease several years ago.
“I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing,” Glover said.
Since his diagnosis, Glover’s speech and movements have slowed and his memory has decreased, but he’s still active. He’s been attending events, telling the “Today” show, " I could live with it, in a sense," speaking about the disease.
He and his family are also trying to remove some of the stigma that comes with an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
“I think it’s really important for him to have control of his own narrative, of his own life story,” Glover’s daughter, Mandisa, said. “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,’” she explained.
In addition to his roles in such classics as the “Lethal Weapon” series, “The Color Purple” and “Places in the Heart,” he is also a producer, starting a company to make “socially conscious, politically relevant films from underserved communities around the world,” “Today” said.
Glover was also a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Program from 1998 to 2004 and for UNICEF in 2004.
He was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2021 Academy Awards for his activism, saying that his mother was his inspiration.
Glover said his Alzheimer’s diagnosis came shortly after he received that award.
This isn’t the first time he has spoken about a health issue.
Page Six said he was transparent about his battle with epilepsy. He had his first seizure at the age of 15 and was on medication to treat the condition for two decades. But then he started to be able to see the signs of a seizure before they happened.
Writing in a blog post, “I could say, wherever I was, ‘Something is happening to me. Please grab me. Please hold me. I’m about to have a seizure,’” Page Six reported.
He said one time he was backstage while performing in a play and repeatedly told himself, “I will not have this seizure.”
“Each time I got a bit stronger, and the symptoms began to diminish to the point where I was ready to go on stage,” Glover said, adding he hadn’t had a seizure since he was 35.
Glover turns 80 on July 22, US Magazine reported.