Danny Glover said he has been living with Alzheimer's disease for several years. He said the diagnosis came not long after his honorary Oscar designation in 2022, and he disclosed it in a Wednesday NBC interview.
Glover said his movements, speech and memories have slowed, but he also said, “I can live with it in a sense.” He added, “I’m sure as it advances, things are going to be different and changing.”
Wednesday NBC interview
The interview put a public face on a disease that affects memory, thinking and behavior. The source says there are some 7 million people in the US over the age of 65 living with Alzheimer's disease, and symptoms tend to become more severe and interfere with daily tasks.
Glover and members of his family said they want to help change the stigma around the disease by speaking out about his condition. Mandisa said, “I think it's really important for him to have control of his own narrative, of his own life story,” adding, “That’s really important.”
Black Americans in the US
The disclosure also draws attention to older Black Americans, whom the Alzheimer's Association in the US says are twice as likely as older white Americans to develop Alzheimer's or another dementia. Research has not yet identified the cause for that discrepancy.
Glover, 79, said he is still active. “We have challenges in the world,” he said, and added, “I think art becomes a reframe, a way of looking at that, you know?”
How advanced his Alzheimer's disease is now remains the open question, but the public disclosure makes the next stage a matter of how he and his family manage the changes he said are already under way.
