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

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

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

Hollywood fame includes villainous roles in the 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 a son, Jamie, also an actor, and two granddaughters, Evie, 17, and Ava, 15.

How much were you paid for your first job?

I got a summer job at RADA and was an assistant director at a theater in Lancashire. It was a really good introduction to what goes on backstage in a theater and I was there as a dog’s body and found myself doing everything – except everything creative. However, it was well paid: five pounds and ten shillings a week.

After RADA I got a head start when I went to work at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford in 1957, earning eight pounds and ten shillings.

Money went much further in those days and our first flat cost £3 a week. And I managed to buy one pint every Sunday at the Dirty Duck. The next season I went up to £10 a week, which was fantastic.

Did you think acting would be a lifelong career?

Definitely. I fell in love with acting at school in Dulwich when I played Mark Antony. Luckily I’m still working all these years 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, but that’s simply not true. Acting is quite different from most people’s careers because the money is so tight and you never know when the next job will come through. That is why some actors commit themselves to a series for years, such as Coronation Street. I never actually had that opportunity. But my life has been very good, so I’m not complaining.

What was your most successful year?

The years in which I made those big films: Indiana Jones, Bond and even Game Of Thrones for TV, were the most financially successful. But the best acting roles have appeared on 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 financially successful role was Troy. I had a relatively small role, but it was a big Hollywood movie that took us to Mexico. I couldn’t believe the money I got, even though the government collected 75 percent of it in taxes.

Do you own real estate?

We have a comfortable but not luxurious five-bedroom semi-detached house in South London, although one bedroom is my study and the other is my wife Isla’s study. We have lived there for 44 years and have no plans to move. We made it our own, making several changes, like turning almost the entire main floor into one big room, because as actors we need space to jump around, although that’s not so bad now.

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

Are you a spender or a saver?

Acting is such an insecure profession and that’s why most of us worry about money all the time. If you make a good movie and make a lot of money, you don’t think, ‘Great! Now I can spend it all on something new.” You calculate your tax bill for the coming year and ensure that you set aside enough money for it.

Did you have a pension?

Yes, I took out a pension thanks to some good advice, and I’m damn glad I did, plus I have a state pension too. Isla received bad advice early on. She was told to pay the married woman’s allowance, which was a lower rate, meaning her pension is much lower than it should have been.

What has been your best financial decision?

Marrying Isla Blair. Although she says she can’t add five to ten, she has a great way with money.

She keeps a close eye on it and tells me when we need to put a little more into one account or close one in favor of the other.

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

A few years ago you sold a lot of your movie memorabilia. Why?

I talked to my family about it and they said I should sell it because the house is getting messy 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 things: props, clothes and so on. However, I missed a trick. On Indiana Jones I had a pretty gruesome death where my face collapsed. 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 triumphantly took it home as a trophy.

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

What is your financial situation priority?

To keep working to keep our family safe and Isla happy. I want to know if we will have enough to pay the bills if we have to stop working, get dementia or have to move into a house.

I hope I can help my son Jamie, who is a fine actor and director. He has his own family with all the responsibilities and worries that come with that, so we try to help when we notice he needs it. I should add that I am a huge supporter of Dignity In Dying, the charity that supports the individual’s right to assisted dying when the time comes. At this point you have to be able to afford to go to Switzerland, which excludes many.

How do you treat yourself?

You mean apart from a large whisky? Getting another job, that’s the most far-reaching one, because I like to have a good old party and chew the fat with friends when I’m done.

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