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Tim Burton
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I met Tim in October of 1986. He had seen me in a little local play at The Ensemble Theater West in Los Angeles and had me called in to audition for the role of Otho in Beetlejuice. He opened the door to the world of film and taught me how to work in front of a camera. Tim took the time to guide me through two video taped auditions and sold the idea of my playing Otho to David Geffen and in doing so changed my life. We became friends and saw each other socially long before I was actually signed to do the movie in January of 1987. We have remained friends and I have been through some amazing adventures with Mr. Burton in the last 13 years. We have romped around London, hit the ski slopes in Aspen ( I only conquered "Panda Peak"), explored ancient Indian caves in New Mexico, partied in Manhattan, rested on The Isle of Wight, and survived the losses good friends share as years go by. I remember sitting in a bar in Santa Fe in May of 1989. I asked him what he felt about the approaching opening of his first BATMAN film. I had just returned from visiting him in London during post production. He looked puzzled, turned his head from side to side and mumbled, "I don't know. It's kinda clunky. Who knows?" I told him, "Remember that no matter what the critical or popular response, you just remember that you are an artist." Weeks later I remember sitting by the pool at the Sunset Marquis the morning after BATMAN opened. There were four of us sitting there and Tim had just gotten the word that BATMAN had broken all existing box office records for an opening weekend at that time. Nobody said much. I know I was a little hung over from the premiere party at 20/20 (I was a drinker in those days), but I will always remember the sad, somewhat confused mood Tim seemed to be in and how far away his thoughts seemed to be. He had hit a summit and I guess it must be an odd sensation. In 1993 I was privileged to provide the voice of the Mayor of HalloweenTown. That offer came about in a way I will always remember. A couple of us were around his pool at his old place above The Chateau Marmont and I was actually in the water and I think Tim was in the Jacuzzi. Out of the blue he says, "Hey Glenn, you got a big voice. Wanna do the voice of the mayor in The Nightmare Before Christmas?" I was splashing around and yelled back, "Sure.">
In October of 2000 I got a call from Tim asking me if I was willing to deal with heavy make-up for the role of Orangutan Senator Nado in his new PLANET OF THE APES. I was, once again, very quick with my "Sure!" and we shot my scenes in January and March of 2001.
His was the first clock portrait I did. He was just about to head off to Florida to film Edward Scissorhands. He stopped by my little place at Ten Bungalows and I put on David Bowie's "The Wild Eyed Boy From FreeCloud." It was mid afternoon on March 3rd, 1990. I took four pictures in rapid succession and the one above was the very first frame I shot. One take. Then he was out the door to fly to Florida. I said, "make a good movie". He did. He always does.
