In the early 1950s, Glover appeared in several shows at
Unity Theatre, London, and played Tolen in
Ann Jellicoe's
The Knack at the
Royal Court Theatre in 1962. He also performed at the
Royal Shakespeare Company. He became a regular actor in 1960s and 1970s British television series such as
The Avengers,
The Saint,
Strange Report,
Doctor Who, ''
Blake's 7, and Space: 1999''. In 1966, Glover played
William the Conqueror in
A Choice of Kings, then in 1967 featured as
Professor Quatermass's nemesis Colonel Breen in the
Hammer Films production of
Quatermass and the Pit, an adaptation of
Nigel Kneale's 1958–1959 BBC
TV original. He also appeared twice in
Doctor Who: as
Richard the Lionheart in
The Crusade (1965); and as the villain
Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, in one of the original run's most popular serials,
City of Death (1979). Glover later recorded DVD commentaries for
The Crusade episode "The Wheel of Fortune" (from the
Lost in Time set) and for
City of Death. In the 1980s, Glover made some of his most notable appearances: the
Imperial general
Maximilian Veers in
The Empire Strikes Back (1980), the ruthless Greek villain Aristotle Kristatos in the
James Bond film
For Your Eyes Only (1981) and the deceptive American Nazi collaborator
Walter Donovan in
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989). On television, he played the leading role of Sir Martin Lacey in the BBC
English Civil War drama series
By the Sword Divided, and played the guest role of surgeon Arnold Richardson in a 1989 episode of the BBC medical drama
Casualty (he made a second guest appearance as a different character in 2011, and also appeared as a different character again in the sister series
Holby City in 2014). He played a leading role in the British film
Brash Young Turks in 2016. In the 2002 film version of
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Glover voiced the giant spider
Aragog. Glover has been associated with the epic poem
Beowulf since the 1980s and has delivered staged interpretations in various forms, often taking the role of an Anglo-Saxon
gleeman or traveller poet, delivering an abridged version of the tale while standing around a
mead hall hearth and rendering selected passages in the poem's original
Old English. This adaptation has been shown in documentaries on both the English language and
Anglo-Saxon England and was also used for historian
Michael Wood's documentary on the poem broadcast during the BBC Poetry Season in 2009. He adapted his interpretation in novel form as
Beowulf: An Adaptation. In 2009, Glover played the role of
Mr. Brownlow in the West End revival of the musical
Oliver! at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. In the short film
Battle for Britain (2010), Glover played a 101-year-old Polish veteran
Royal Air Force pilot. Glover portrayed the character of
Grand Maester Pycelle in the
HBO series
Game of Thrones between 2011 and 2016, appearing in a total of 31 episodes across the first six seasons of the show. In 2013, Glover played the role of General Beauvilliers in the
BBC Four drama series
The Spies of Warsaw. In May 2014, he played the character Joe Goodridge in two episodes of the BBC TV medical drama series
Holby City ("My Name is Joe" and "No Apologies"). In the same year, he portrayed an old man in horror thriller
Backtrack as well as a theater performance as The Interlocutor in the 2014
West End transfer of the
Scottsboro Boys in October. In February 2017, Glover participated as a featured guest at the inaugural
Saudi Comic Con in
Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, alongside fellow
Game of Thrones actor
Charles Dance. In 2019, Glover played the role of Nonno in the
West End theatre production of
Tennessee Williams'
The Night of the Iguana at the
Noël Coward Theatre. Glover is an associate member of the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. == Awards ==