The intense, highly respected character actor Scott Glenn first made a box office splash in 1980’s “Urban Cowboy,” where he was perfectly cast as a bronco-riding ex-con with eyes for John Travolta’s filly Debra Winger. Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s he made an impression with supporting roles in well-respected fare like “The Right Stuff” (1983), “Silverado” (1985) and “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), favoring heroic, adrenaline-fueled characters and manly men with hidden depths. Glenn never quite reached leading man status, but he always brought Sam Shepard-like “cool” cred to any film — a quality that earned him a new wave of popularity in 2007 when he appeared in “Freedom Writers” and the summer blockbuster “Bourne Ultimatum.”
Theodore Scott Glenn was born on Jan. 26 in either 1941 or 1942, with resources reporting both dates. Glenn spent his early childhood in Pittsburgh, PA, including a full year when he was bedridden with scarlet fever. During that time, a legend that poet Lord Byron was in the family ancestry kept Glenn’s imagination active with dreams of being a poet, and he wrote as much as his illness would allow. His long recovery marked the beginning of an intense and lifelong passion for physical fitness and adventurous sports, though his literary leanings remained a career goal. Glenn graduated from the College of William and Mary with a journalism degree, but his professional plans were put on hold with a three-year stint in the marines, during which he served in Southeast Asia. Following his discharge from the military, he landed a job as a crime reporter for a daily paper in Kenosha, WI.
Glenn was in Kenosha for less than a year when he was offered a newspaper job in the Virgin Islands. He accepted the offer, but before beginning work, he decided to spend some time in New York to finish a play he was writing. A friend suggested that acting classes might help him with writing dialogue. Two weeks into classes Glenn realized that he was born to act. He set up camp in New York and continued studying with renowned actor William Hickey – who he was fortunate enough to have as his influential first coach – going on to train at the Actor’s Studio while working as a laborer and bouncer.
Within a year, he was cutting his stage teeth in off-Broadway productions at La Mama and The Public theaters, and by 1969, he was getting regular paychecks for a recurring role on the soap “The Edge of Night” (CBS, 1956-1975, ABC 1975-1984). In 1970 he was cast in his first feature, playing opposite Barbara Hershey in “The Baby Maker,” deciding to move to Los Angeles to pursue more film work. The aspiring artist found roles in several low budget biker and horror films and guest appearances on TV cop shows, but he was frustrated by the lack of quality work until Robert Altman cast him in his landmark film, “Nashville” in 1975. This led to a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s similarly historic “Apocalypse Now” (filmed 1976, released 1979) and co-star billing in the Western, “She Came to the Valley” (1979), after which Glenn was so disillusioned by Hollywood that he moved to Ketchum, ID, where he worked as a bartender and mountain ranger for two years. He was lured back to the business with an offer to appear in “Urban Cowboy,” a major success which finally kickstarted his career.
Now in his early forties, Glenn finally began to enjoy steady and varied film work. He had significant roles in westerns like “Cattle Annie and Little Britches” (1981) and “Silverado” (1985); a co-starring role as an Olympic trainer in the sports drama “Personal Best” (1982); and was stellar as part of the ensemble cast of the classic NASA piece “The Right Stuff” (1985), in which he portrayed astronaut Alan Shepard. Glenn’s reputation continued to grow in the 1990s, beginning with the Tom Clancy-based thriller “The Hunt for Red October” (1990) and a hair-raising turn as stoic F.B.I. agent Jack Crawford in “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991). Glenn continued his hot streak in box office hits by playing the arsonist firefighter in “Backdraft” (1991), for which the buff middle-ager also contributed his own stunt work. He confirmed his natural fit in Westerns with “The Unforgiven” (1992), and that same year reunited with Robert Altman for a memorable cameo opposite Lily Tomlin in “The Player” (1992). His 1995 films – "Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill" and "Reckless" – were box office disappointments but Glenn scored the following year with his portrayal of an investigative reporter in "Courage Under Fire" (1996).
Glenn received attention for his acting as well as his stunt work in 2000’s Mt. Everest drama, “Vertical Limit,” as well as appearing in “Buffalo Soldiers,” “Shipping News” and “Training Day” the following year. Several years of TV movie appearances seemed to hint that the actor’s best years were behind him but in 2007 Glenn was back on the big screen playing father to inner-city teacher Hilary Swank in the moving drama “Freedom Writers;” showcasing his panache for action intrigue in the latest Bourne franchise, “Bourne Ultimatum.”