Walter Donovan (Julian Glover) is the main antagonist of the film. He is an American businessman who desires the Holy Grail in order to achieve immortality. He secretly works with the Nazis, and sends both Indiana and his father on the search for the Grail without their knowledge of his ties to Germany. He shoots Henry and forces Indy to clear the traps for him. After Indy does so, Donovan and Elsa follow him into a room filled with cups, one of which is the Grail. Elsa chooses a bejeweled gold cup for Donovan, but when he drinks from it, his body crumbles to dust in seconds. The knight guarding the room remarks that Donovan chose poorly.
Glover enjoyed playing the part because of the character's ambiguous nature:
"What would you do, if you had the chance of having eternal life? That's quite a question. Where would you draw the line? People say was a Nazi, he wasn't a Nazi, he joined the Nazi Party in order to investigate its property, and he bloody nearly got that. Only because he was greedy did he . This is an advice for you : always choose the pewter cup. It applies to everything. An allegory for life."
Isla Blair, Glover's wife, cameoed as Mrs. Donovan in the scene where he and Indiana discuss the Holy Grail. The in-joke was conceived by one of the producers.
Read more about this topic: List Of Indiana Jones Characters, Introduced in The Last Crusade
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