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Father Knows Best
‘Like father, like son’ seems to be the case in Smallville as wicked Lionel Luthor tries to perpetuate his legacy through his son Lex. Actor John Glover, who plays Luthor Senior, spoke to Steven Eramo about the Genesis of Evil.

Starburst Issue 307, February 2004


All fathers want their sons to have more than they had when growing up; Smallville’s Lionel Luthor is no different. As the founder and owner of the hugely successful Luthor Corp, he has gone to great lengths to teach his oldest son Lex how to survive in the business world. Sadly, Lionel is lacking in ethics and will do whatever he feels is necessary to get what he wants. As such, Lex is very reluctant to follow in his father’s footsteps. In fact, their opposing ways when it comes to how they conduct business and treat people often puts the two men at odds with each other. What made Lionel Luthor the man he is today is a secret known only to him and, perhaps, the actor who has played him for the past two seasons, John Glover.

“Somebody recently asked me what Lionel’s father was like, which I thought was such a good question and one I hadn’t spent a great deal of time thinking about,” says Glover. “I’ve since come to the conclusions that he came from a family who didn’t have very much. At some point a seed was planted in his mind that gave him the impetus to pull himself up out of his poverty. I’m sure he was a self-driven man, too, which is a trait that he passed on to his son Lionel, who in turn has passed it onto Lex.

“So Lionel is driven towards success and power. He has a knack, I guess you’d call it that, of understanding other people and figuring out how he can rise above them. Lionel’s game is to get ahead of the competition. He’s been trying to teach Lex the ‘tricks of the trade’ but up to now he hasn’t had much luck. That constant struggle between father and son is part of what makes working on Smallville so much fun for me. I mean, my character’s relationship with Lex is fascinating to play. Michael Rosenbaum [Lex] is an incredible actor and I thoroughly enjoy every chance I have to share a scene with him.

“Lex is struggling with goodness and has a father who’s pushing him to be successful at any cost. People often say to me, ‘Jeez, Lionel is so mean to Lex.’ In fact, I see him as a man who’s trying to teach his son to be strong, so he’s giving him a series of ‘tests’ in an effort to achieve that goal. I’ve talked with Alfred Gough and Miles Millar [series creators and executive producers] about Lionel’s intentions and all I can say is there’s more to him than meets the eye.”

The Tony award-winning Glover was born 7th August 1944 in Salisbury, Maryland. He enrolled in Towson State Teacher’s College (now Towson University) in Maryland with the idea of pursuing an academic career. “I thought I’d become a high school English teacher and direct school plays,” he recalls. “Obviously, things didn’t turn out quite as planned. I grew up very near the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. One Easter, my mother went to visit her mother in Virginia. She knew I was interested in theatre and that I’d performed onstage during my first year in college. My mother called the Barter Theatre and was told that it had summer apprenticeships.

“I got two recommendation letters, applied to the programme and was accepted. As an apprentice you were expected to do everything from sweep the floor to help build sets. You could also audition for roles even though you weren’t a member of the union. I did a number of crowd scenes that summer, and eventually went on to play Hugo in Bye, Bye Birdie and then Eugene Gant in Look Homeward, Angel. There I was at 19 years old performing alongside such talented actors as Ned Beatty and Jerry Hardin. It was amazing. I spent the next three summers at the theatre and after graduating from Towson I got on a bus to New York City to try my hand at an acting career. It was my experience at the Barter Theatre that gave me the courage to do that.”

Over the next few years Glover honed his craft by performing onstage in both New York and Los Angeles. He was appearing in a production of Juno and the Paycook at the Mark Taper Forum when he was hired for his first feature film role. The actor played Johnnie in Shamus, starring Burt Reynolds. Not long after, he made his TV debut in an episode of the Telly Salavas police drama Kojak. “It was so exciting. Someone who worked on the series had seen Juno and I must have made some sort of impression because I was just offered the part,” notes Glover. “I had to stand behind a curtain and stick a gun through the opening. I can’t remember if I had to fire it, though. The director said, ‘Action’ and I thought, ‘This must be my cue.’ I did my thing and everything seemed to go OK, No one said anything to the contrary!”

Since the mid-Seventies, Glover has become a familiar face on both the big and small screens and still received critical acclaim for his stage work. His credits and his reputation in the industry were both strong selling points when Smallville producers were casting the role of Lionel Luthor. They called Glover’s agents and asked if he’d like to do a short scene in the show’s pilot. They went on to say that depending on the actor’s availability, his character could reappear during the first year of the series. Although the story of Superman had already been told in films, on TV and in comic books, Glover saw something unique in Smallville and accepted their offer.

“I was intrigued that the show’s producers were going with the root of the Superman saga,” he says. “They explained to me that the series would be about Clark Kent, a high school student, and what created the legend of Superman. Of course, Lex Luthor became one of Superman’s greatest adversaries, and in this show we get to see him in his formative years. I thought it might be interesting to play his dad, and you know what? — I was right.

“So we’re having a great time making Smallville. Alfred and Miles have done an excellent job of assembling a group of actors not a group of people looking for fame. There’s a huge difference. Allison Mack [Chloe] has been in the business since she was a little girl and one of her [acting] teachers was Diane Hill, who is married to Jerry Hardon. I worked with the both of them at the Barter Theatre. Diane understands how to play a scene and about give and take when performing opposite a fellow actor. It’s obvious that Diane instilled that work ethic in Allison. She squeezed all she can out of a scene and is just amazing!”

More from John Glover on Lionel Luthor next issue!


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