Glenn, we miss you so much,
but I know you enjoyed the service -
Joe Openshaw
Glenn and I bonded over our
mutual connection to the University of North Alabama (or
‘Florence State,’ as Glenn called it). I was a journalist
at the time and interviewed Glenn for the New York Times
news service. We got to know each other very well and saw
each other at film conventions and during my frequent trips
to Hollywood. In 2008, Glenn served as one of my celebrity
judges for the George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival. He was a
total pro and such a grand trouper! We talked about
bringing him back to UNA for a special celebration of his
life and work. Sadly, that never happened. Glenn was a
gentle, loving life-affirming spirit; I loved him dearly and
I will miss him. - Terry Pace
FAREWELL, ‘MAD’:
The world is a smaller
place without you. I’ll never forget meeting you… New York…
3 a.m. phone calls from all over the world. –
Gayle “Fish”
Just before Christmas,
Glenn got a (thankfully false) diagnosis of
pancreatic cancer, with 3-6 months to live. He called me to
come see him at his condo. He told me he had taken care of
his family, but he couldn’t will his SAG pension to anyone
but a spouse. He knew I was in poor financial shape, so he
asked me to marry him so I could have his pension after he
was gone. Thank the dear Lord, we found it was a
misdiagnosis, and he was fine. But, it meant so much to me
that at such an awful time, he was thinking not of himself ,
but of caring for his friends and family. I’ve known Glenn
for 40 years and I’ll miss him forever. –
Karyl Kernodel-Rice
I loved sitting with Glenn
on my deck or at his house, but some of my favorite times
were when we would sit down and he would read to me a story
he’d written. One favorite was about ‘Salome”, his
(childhood) housekeeper. He would read the story with voice
inflections to mimic each character. One story about 2
aunts and a thunderstorm was also entertaining. Every
moment with Glenn was entertaining. I will miss him deeply.
– Gigi Talley
Glenn spent a week with me
and Frank. He told so many wonderful stories, I looked
forward to coming home every evening to hear the next great
story! I loved to sit and listen and really enjoyed each
time I had the honor to be with him! –
Tammy Scott
Playing with Hot Wheels in
the basement while listening to the Mamas and the Papas –
Alan Ousley
My Most Precious Time With
Glenn
We picked blackberries
together and sold them. Nima Lois taught us to ride horses
and we were in the Rebel Riders Saddle Club together. I
loved him. Would like to read his stories. –
Shirley Allcorn Black
’Whatever your dream,
pursue it with passion…’ (Personal conversation with Glenn
at a benefit for BAO in 2007.” –
Lisa Cabrera
TALE OF THE TUNA
In the mid-seventies, Glenn
and I planned to visit BSC friends in NYX. He was thrilled
and said he hadn’t been there. While packing his bag, I saw
copious quantities of canned tuna fish. I was aghast with
visions of his bag popping open on Fifth Avenue and tune
flying everywhere. I said ‘They sell tuna fish in New York,
and not for significantly more money than in the ‘Ham. You
are not packing tuna. Period!’ With laughter, we
referred to the tuna fish episode for the next 36 years. –
William Wright (formerly of West
Hollywood)
I first knew (of) Glenn
through his role in Beetlejuice, but I had the
pleasure of meeting Glenn in person the night before my dad
married his mom. He had flown in from California for the
wedding and Ann introduced us. I liked him instantly and
felt his warmth, charm, and grace. We kept in contact when
he returned to California through e-mails, etc. He sent me
a picture of him in Beetlejuice and signed it,
although he never made a big deal of his “celebrity.” I sat
with him for a while at a DragonCon in Atlanta and he was so
gracious to his fans. I miss you, Glenn, and I will always
think of you with fondness. –
Lisa Barnard Dekle
When my daughter was four,
the movie Dunstan Checks In was coming on TV that
night. Glenn is my mother’s cousin. That night I told my
daughter that “Grandmother’s cousin is coming on TV tonight;
we have to watch him. He’s in that movie with the monkey.”
Amazed, my daughter replied, “Grandmother’s cousin is a
monkey?” – Anonymous
Several years ago I came to
Birmingham to give my mom one of my kidneys. The day after
I was released from the hospital, I met Glenn for the first
time. We were nearly inseparable from that moment on. We
spent some part of nearly every day of the month I was here
together. I continually had to beg him to quit being so
funny because it hurt so bad to laugh. He kept telling me
that he had to “stop keeping me in stitches so I could
actually stay in stitches.”
He said to me once that our
friendship was “aggressive.” We were strangers connected by
marriage and separated by twenty years, yet we really had no
choice in the matter of our friendship. From that first day
to the three-and-a-half hour phone conversation we had on
Sunday, we were never again strangers and there was no
twenty-year age gap.
Glenn was my best friend.
He had the most amazing
capacity to love and had a heart big enough to hold the
entire world – and he often tried to do just that.
There simply are no words
to explain how much I loved him.
My life was changed forever
the day I met him and my world will never be the same now
that I’ve lost him.
We never have enough time
on this earth with the people we love, but I am so very
grateful for every single second I had with him.
My heart was broken on
Tuesday and I will miss him for the rest of my life. –
Victoria Dadi
Loved this southern gentleman.
–
Helen
Lawson
A man for whom I have known
such a
short time.
You have changed my views
on so much.
I will miss our chats.
You will be missed my friend. – Matt Morris,
Sr.
Glenn put me in his clock series
and said the best things about me. I wish they were all
true. Just before he died he linked his website to mine
which I hope remains forever. –
Cherry
Met Glenn in 1972 on Halloween.
Glenn was dressed as a clown, full makeup. He slept on my
sofa that night and left the makeup on the upholstery. He
took a piece of my heart. –
Anne
Glenn will be with me forever on
my email page. He was my pal, my dear friend. I often talked
to him and I'm waiting for an answer now. I loved and love
him. – Jo
I’ll never forget that one
particular day shopping with you for literally everything.
I still can’t believe we got more stuff into your car than
we could stack on the elevator. –
Gary Childress
My dear
brother Glenn gifted me with one sentence that has changed
my life. And I will make sure that I pass it down to my
children. "Shoot for the stars little sister, not the
ditches!" – Susan Gagne
