Actor Julian Glover tells ME & MY MONEY: ‘I wish I’d kept my Indiana Jones death mask… it’s worth $35,000’

Star of stage and screen, Julian Glover, has been plying his trade since the 1950s, writes Dan Moore. 

He has won critical acclaim for performances including the king in Henry IV, for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award. On television, he’s starred in everything from The Crown and Game Of Thrones to Waking The Dead and Silent Witness. 

Hollywood fame includes villainous roles in James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only; as General Veers in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back; and as Walter Donovan in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. 

Now 88, he and his wife actress Isla Blair live in South London and have one son, Jamie, also an actor, and two granddaughters, Evie, 17, and Ava, 15.

How much did you get paid for your first job?

I got a holiday job while at RADA and was an assistant stage manager at a theatre in Lancashire. It was a very good introduction to what happens backstage in a theatre and I was there as a dogsbody and found myself doing everything – except anything creative. It was well paid though – five pounds and ten shillings a week. 

Golden: Julian Glover as villain Walter Donovan, far left, in Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade

After RADA, I got a leg-up when I joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford in 1957, earning eight pounds, ten shillings. 

Money went a lot further in those days and our first flat there was three pounds a week. And I managed to buy one pint at the Dirty Duck every Sunday. The next season I went up to £10 a week, which was fantastic.

Did you think acting would be a lifelong career?

Most definitely. I became enamoured with acting at school in Dulwich when I played Mark Antony. Thankfully, I’m still working all these years on because I can’t afford to retire, apart from anything else.

There’s a myth that quite successful actors earn millions and millions of pounds and it’s simply not true. Acting is rather different from most people’s careers because the money is so spasmodic and you never know when the next job is going to come in. That’s why some actors commit themselves to a series, like Coronation Street, for years and years. I never really had that opportunity. But my life’s been jolly good, so I’m not complaining.

What was your most successful year?

The years when I made those big movies: Indiana Jones, Bond, and even Game Of Thrones for TV have been the most successful financially. But the best acting roles have been on the stage – King Lear at The Globe, An Inspector Calls and Henry IV at Stratford-upon-Avon. 

One of my most creative roles was for Indiana Jones, when I had to find a backstory for myself. My most successful role, financially, was Troy. I had a comparatively small part, but it was a big Hollywood movie, which took us to Mexico. I couldn’t believe the money I got, although the government took 75 per cent of it in taxes.

Do you own property?

We have a comfortable, but not luxurious five-bed semi-detached house in South London, although one bedroom is my study and another one is my wife Isla’s study. We’ve been there 44 years and we don’t intend to move. We’ve made it our own, done various changes, such as knocking almost all of the groundfloor into one big room, because being actors we need space to prance about, although not quite so much now.

Team: Julian says that his actress wife Isla Blair is a great manager of money

Are you a spender or a saver?

Acting is such a precarious profession, which is why most of us worry about money – all the time. If you make a good film and earn quite a lot of money you don’t think: ‘Great! Now I can spend it all on a new whatever.’ You calculate your tax bill for the next year, and make sure you have enough money for it put away.

Did you have a pension?

Yes, I took out a pension off the back of some sound advice, and I’m damned glad I did it, plus I have the state pension, too. Isla was given bad advice early on. She was told to pay the married woman’s allowance, which was at a lower rate, and means her pension is much less than it should have been.

What has been your best financial decision?

Marrying Isla Blair. Although by her own admission she can’t add five to ten, she has a wonderful way of managing money.

She keeps a close eye on it, and tells me when we should pay a little more into one account or closing one in favour of another.

Another good decision is an early one. My father always told me to acknowledge a cheque. We don’t use them much anymore, but even now, after all those years if I do get one, I’ll immediately sit down and write a thank you note.

You sold a lot of your movie memorabilia a few years back. Why?

I talked to my family about it, and they told me to sell, as it clutters up the house, and there might be some money in it.

Longevity: Julian Glover’s book Cue To Cue: Episodes From My Career

So, I flogged a lot of stuff: props, clothes and so on. I did miss a trick, though. On Indiana Jones I had rather a grisly death, my face all collapsing. In order to achieve this, I had a death mask made, which was gradually worked on to show my disintegration. At the end of the film, the props team asked if I wanted it, and I took it home as a trophy, in triumph.

Isla hated it, said it was horrible and banished it to the garage, where it stayed until we had a clear-out and I rediscovered it. I was pleased to be reunited, but Isla was having none of it and told me to bin it which I did. Of course, I understood, as I really didn’t look good. Anyway, a few years later I was at a convention in Atlanta, talking with a dealer in memorabilia and mentioned this. He said he’d have given me $35,000 for it, so the lesson is to never throw anything away.

What is your financial priority?

To stay working in order to keep our family safe and Isla happy. I want to know we have enough to cover the bills if we have to stop working, get dementia or must go into a home.

I hope I’m helpful to my son, Jamie, who’s a very fine actor and director. He has a family of his own with all the responsibilities and worries that come with that, so we try to help when we sense he needs it. I must add that I am a great supporter of Dignity In Dying, the charity that supports the individual’s right to secure assisted dying if the time comes. Right now, you have to be able to afford to go to Switzerland, which excludes many.

How do you treat yourself?

You mean aside from a large Scotch? Getting another job, that’s the far-reaching one, as I do enjoy having a good old party, chewing the fat with friends when I finish.

• Julian Glover’s book Cue To Cue: Episodes From My Career is now available in paperback. To learn more about Dignity In Dying, visit dignityindying.org.uk.