Quake3World

Late Night appearance

Glover is often remembered for his appearance on Late Night with David Letterman[8] on July 28, 1987, to promote his new movie Rubin and Ed (the release of which was actually delayed until 1991)[9]. Unbeknownst to Letterman and the audience, who didn't recognize the character from the as yet unreleased film, Glover appeared in character as the titular Rubin, wearing his costume from the film (platform shoes and a wig) and staged an Andy Kaufman-like shtick. After being goaded by a woman in the audience (who some argue was a plant[10]), Glover became incensed and stated that he "knew that this was gonna happen [sic]" and that "the press, they can do things, they can twist things around". After a failed attempt to challenge Letterman to an arm-wrestling match, Glover delivered an impromptu karate kick just inches from Letterman's face while shouting, "I'm strong... I can kick!".[11] Letterman then abruptly ended the segment by walking off stage, saying "I'm going to check on the Top 10", and the program cut to commercial. The studio audience and Letterman himself were apparently shocked by Glover's behavior and assumed he was being himself.

The subsequent confusion and controversy surrounding his appearance was compounded by the fact that Rubin and Ed was not actually released until 1991 (although it had been in development since before Back to the Future -- Crispin had actually already devised the character's "look" by 1985).[12] Almost no-one, apparently including Letterman, understood what Glover was doing and the interview became the hallmark of the "weird" TV guest. Most people still are unaware that it was a performance.

Glover returned to the Letterman show two-and-a-half years later for a much more normal interview, although he refused to answer straight forward questions about his previous appearance.