'Ticket Taker Guy' Says Goodbye to Clearview, Morristown

With a little more than 11,800 Facebook likes, Eric Glover is well-known online and in person; he’s more commonly known as "Fluffy" or "The Ticket Taker Guy" for his antics at Clearview Cinemas. Glover has taken tickets from people with the now-famous cash-register noise and smile since 1993. Unfortunately, with the announcement of the closing of Clearview Cinema Headquarters  on Sunday marks the end of Glover’s three decades of dedication in this town.

The theater’s closing comes on the heel of Cablevision selling its Clearview Cinema Theaters chain to Bow Tie Cinemas of Ridgefield.

However, according to Christopher Beattie, Bow Tie spokeman, this quick closure of Clearview Cinema Headquarters is not what the company hoped for as they had been negotiating with the landlord to extend the lease.

Glover said that although Sunday was the original close date, the theater is going to stay open “until further notice.”

As for the free Tuesdays, that ends soon too. Optimum Rewards will extend the movie discounts and Free Movie Tuesdays at Clearview Cinemas through the end of May to Optimum Rewards members.

“It’s been an honor to do this all these years. It’s sad to hear that it’s leaving and that it’s closing. I’ve been here so long,” said Glover. “I’m going to miss it here when they close. Some people have told me, ‘I can’t believe you’re leaving. You’ve known me since I was a baby.’”

Glover has put in close to three decades in this town and has grown with the people in the community.

“I was here when (Clearview) first opened. I did security at first … then the Hyatt took over and moved us. When we first opened here back in ’87, we had movies like Dirty Dancing. A lot of good movies back then. I’ve been here 26 years … a total of 29 years (including security),” said Glover. “I’ve had a lot of laughs with people throughout the years. I always enjoyed coming here to work and have fun.”

Some perks of working with Clearview include free movies for you and your family. “That’s the good thing and you get free Cablevision after a 6-month probation period,” said Glover. His company has his back in the face of the theater’s closure.

“They said they’re going to … transfer me to a Clearview Cinema in Parsippany or Succasunna if there’s availability there. The worst case scenario is that if it’s not available, I can collect unemployment until they find something for me.”

People in the community and even from farther away, come to see Glover.

“People like my sound effects. Sometimes I’ll see a group of people coming around the corner and they’ll say, ‘Yes, he’s here.’ It’s such an honor,” he said. “This lady was visiting from Denmark and was staying at the Hyatt. She came to see Harry Potter one night and I did the sounds for her and she freaked out laughing. She said that hundreds of her friends in Copenhagen were talking about me because they had been here before … That made me almost cry when she told me that. I think I’m famous around the world. That’s definitely an honor there.”

Some of his favorites on the big screen include Dirty Dancing, Forrest Gump and Full Metal Jacket. Over the years, he’s had several roles with the theater from being an usher, custodian and security, but his favorite is being the ticket taker.

He said that he started his now-famous sound effects in 1993, when Jurassic Park came out.

“(I’m going to miss) the customers for the most part.”

Know Eric Glover "Fluffy"? Give him a good bye shout out in the comments section below