Danny Glover's daughter, Mandisa Glover, has revealed that her 79-year-old father is living with Alzheimer's disease, a condition that she says comes and goes. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Mandisa, 50, shared that the actor and activist's memory lapses first became noticeable in 2022 when he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars.
First Signs of Memory Loss
Mandisa, Glover's only child with his first wife Asake Bomani, described her father's extraordinary memory before the diagnosis. "The history of my dad is that he remembers every single thing back to 1970, what corner he was standing on, who he spoke to, what they spoke about, what color they were wearing, everything," she said. However, she began to notice gaps in his recollections. "He'd tell you so much about his parents — and I've heard those stories over and over — and pieces were missing. There would be pieces of the story missing. I said, 'I wonder what's going on.'"
Glover's Perspective on His Condition
Glover himself acknowledged his denial about the disease. "I'm still not accepting in my mind all parts of it. There are the moments that you keep remembering that validate the fact that you can remember stuff," he told PEOPLE. "And there are moments I'll never forget." One such indelible memory is the day his mother died in a car accident, which coincided with his learning he had landed a breakthrough role in the 1984 film Places in the Heart. "Guess what my mother wanted to be? An actress," he said.
Family Support and Caregiving
Glover's younger brother Marty, 67, lives with him and serves as his primary caregiver at the actor's longtime San Francisco townhouse. Marty, who worked in film production, described the emotional toll of witnessing his brother's decline. "You see the deterioration, and you think, 'Wow,'" Marty said. "Sometimes you get emotional about it. It's tough, because you don't want to see nobody go through this. We just want him to live his best life like he made us live ours."
Mandisa emphasized the importance of family support. "We argue a lot," she said. "I mean, I'm the representative of his mother. I've taken on that role. He needs to argue with somebody, and it's got to be me. But it's all love." She added, "It's either this, or he's not here. I'm grateful."
