32
John Lithgow
Born · October 19, 1945 (79 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Rochester, New York, USA
Bio
John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor. Prolific in films, television and on stage, Lithgow is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Golden Globe Awards, six Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Tony Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards. He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lithgow studied at Harvard University winning a Fulbright scholarship and getting a chance to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. From there he focused his training on the New York stage beginning a distinguished career on Broadway. In 1973, Lithgow received his first Tony Award for his performance in The Changing Room. In 1976 Lithgow acted alongside Meryl Streep in three plays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, A Memory of Two Mondays and Secret Service. In the 1980s he continued to receive Tony Awards nominations for his performances in Requiem for a Heavyweight (1985) and M. Butterfly (1988). In 2002, Lithgow received his second Tony Award, this time for a musical, The Sweet Smell of Success and another nomination for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005). In 2007, he made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Malvolio in Neil Bartlett's production of Twelfth Night. He has also appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed plays The Columnist (2012) and A Delicate Balance (2014). He portrayed Bill Clinton in Hillary and Clinton (2019) alongside Laurie Metcalf as Hillary Clinton. Lithgow is also known for his television roles such as Dick Solomon in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance. He also played Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter (2009) and he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama. In 2004, Lithgow played Blake Edwards in the HBO television movie, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. He has also appeared on 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, Louie and Drunk History. Lithgow won great acclaim for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Peter Morgan's historical drama The Crown (2016–2019) on Netflix. For acting in The Crown he won a Primetime Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2020, he had a recurring role on the HBO period series Perry Mason. He is also well known for his film roles. His early screen roles included Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979) and Brian De Palma's Blow Out (1981). He received his first Academy Award nomination for his breakout performance in The World According to Garp (1982) and received a second Academy Award nomination for Terms of Endearment (1983). He then starred in the films Footloose (1984), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), The Pelican Brief and Cliffhanger (1993), A Civil Action (1998), Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000), Shrek (2001), Kinsey (2004), Dreamgirls (2006), Love Is Strange (2014), Miss Sloane (2016) and Beatriz at Dinner (2017). In 2019 he appeared in Mindy Kaling's comedy Late Night and portrayed Roger Ailes in Bombshell.
The Rule of Jenny Pen
0.0
2025
Jimpa
Jimpa
0.0
2025
Spellbound
Bolinar (voice)
6.9
2024
Art Happens Here with John Lithgow
Self
0.0
2024
Cabrini
Mayor Gould
7.8
2024
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
Self
7.5
2023
Sharper
Richard Hobbes
7.0
2023
Chez Bob
0.0
2022
The Bubble
Tom the Studio Chairman
4.6
2022
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes
Philip Drummond
7.5
2021
Give My Regards to Broadway
Self
0.0
2020
Pitch Perfect 3
Fergus
6.5
2017
Broadway: The Next Generation
Self
10.0
2017
Daddy's Home 2
Don
6.3
2017
The Pulitzer At 100
Self
6.0
2017
Beatriz at Dinner
Doug Strutt
5.8
2017
They All Saw a Cat
0.0
2017
Miss Sloane
Senator Ronald Sperling
7.4
2016
The Accountant
Lamar Blackburn
7.1
2016
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Self - Performer
7.5
2016
Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
Narrator
0.0
2016
Best of Enemies
Self
7.2
2015
Lord John
0.0
2015
Inside 'Interstellar'
Self
6.9
2015
Projections of America
Self - Narrator (voice)
5.0
2015
9 Kisses
Man in Club
6.2
2014
Interstellar
Donald
8.4
2014
The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest
Maurice (voice)
5.7
2014
Love Is Strange
Ben
6.4
2014
The Homesman
Reverend Alfred Dowd
6.5
2014
Timms Valley
Ol' Gregory Timms
6.2
2013
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
Self
9.0
2013
Shrek Stories
Lord Farquaad (voice)
8.0
2013
National Theatre Live: The Magistrate
Posket
6.0
2013
This Is 40
Oliver
5.9
2012
Casting By
Self
7.1
2012
The Campaign
Glen Motch
5.8
2012
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Charles Rodman
7.3
2011
Leap Year
Jack Brady
6.9
2010
Miracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn
Narrator
0.0
2009
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Edgar West
6.5
2009
Car of the Future
Narrator
6.0
2008
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
Self
7.0
2007
Dreamgirls
Jerry Harris
6.7
2006
Sangre
Cafe chef and owner
0.0
2006
Einstein's Big Idea
Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
7.2
2005
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
Blake Edwards
6.6
2004
Kinsey
Alfred Seguine Kinsey
6.6
2004
The Ghost of Lord Farquaad
Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
6.0
2004
Dogs and More Dogs
Narrator
5.2
2004
Bark, George
0.0
2003
Orange County
Bud Brumder
6.0
2002
Buckaroo Banzai Declassified
Self
8.4
2002
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
6.4
2001
Shrek
Lord Farquaad (voice)
7.7
2001
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Jean-Claude (voice)
6.6
2000
Don Quixote
Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
6.1
2000
95 Worlds and Counting
Narrator
0.0
2000
A Civil Action
Judge Walter J. Skinner
6.5
1998
Homegrown
Malcolm / Robert Stockman
5.6
1998
Johnny Skidmarks
Sergeant Larry Skovik
5.8
1998
Officer Buckle and Gloria
Narrator (voice)
0.0
1997
Hollow Point
Thomas Livingston
5.1
1996
Special Effects: Anything Can Happen
Narrator
0.0
1996
The Tuskegee Airmen
Senator Conyers
7.0
1995
My Brother's Keeper
Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
1.0
1995
Redwood Curtain
Laird Riordan
6.0
1995
Silent Fall
Dr. Rene Harlinger
5.2
1994
Princess Caraboo
Professor Wilkinson
5.4
1994
A Good Man in Africa
Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
5.2
1994
Love, Cheat & Steal
Paul Harrington
4.7
1993
The Pelican Brief
Smith Keen
6.6
1993
The Wrong Man
Phillip Mills
4.8
1993
Cliffhanger
Eric Qualen
6.5
1993
Raising Cain
Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
6.1
1992
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Leslie Huben
6.3
1991
Ricochet
Earl Talbott Blake
6.1
1991
Memphis Belle
Bruce Derringer
6.7
1990
Ivory Hunters
Robert Carter
4.2
1990
Night of 100 Stars III
Self
4.0
1990
Out Cold
Dave
5.9
1989
Distant Thunder
Mark Lambert
5.6
1988
Harry and the Hendersons
George Henderson
6.1
1987
Baby Girl Scott
Neil Scott
6.0
1987
The Manhattan Project
John Mathewson
6.2
1986
Resting Place
Maj. Kendall Laird
6.2
1986
Mesmerized
Oliver Thompson
5.0
1985
Santa Claus: The Movie
B.Z.
6.3
1985
2010
Dr. Walter Curnow
6.7
1984
The Glitter Dome
Sgt. Marty Wellborn
4.5
1984
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
Lord John Whorfin
6.0
1984
Footloose
Rev. Shaw Moore
6.7
1984
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Goldilocks' Father
5.0
1984
Terms of Endearment
Sam Burns
7.1
1983
The Day After
Joe Huxley
6.7
1983
Twilight Zone: The Movie
Valentine
6.5
1983
The World According to Garp
Roberta Muldoon
6.7
1982
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
Mr. Brunner
6.0
1982
Blow Out
Burke
7.4
1981
The Oldest Living Graduate
Clarence
0.0
1980
All That Jazz
Lucas Sergeant
7.4
1979
Rich Kids
Paul Philips
5.0
1979
The Big Fix
Sam Sebastian
5.6
1978
Obsession
Robert Lasalle
6.6
1976
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
John
4.0
1972
Amazing Stories: The Movie II
John Walters (archive footage)
0.0
Conclave
Tremblay
7.1
2024
Killers of the Flower Moon
Prosecutor Peter Leaward
7.4
2023
Emily @ the Edge of Chaos
Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
0.0
2021
Myths and Hymns
0.0
2021
Bombshell
Roger Ailes
6.8
2019
On Broadway
Self
8.7
2019
The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts
President Donald J. Trump
7.6
2019
The Tomorrow Man
Ed Hemsler
5.8
2019
Pet Sematary
Jud Crandall
5.7
2019
Late Night
Walter Lovell
6.4
2019
Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman
Jud Crandall
7.0
2018
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
Self
7.9
2018
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
7.5
2018
Hickory Dickory Doc
Himself
0.0
2017
Finding Your Roots
Self · (1 episode)
6.2
2012
Shrek: Once Upon a Time
Self
7.5
2011
New Year's Eve
Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
5.9
2011
The Macabre World of Lavender Williams
God
6.0
2009
Twenty Good Years
(9 episodes)
8.5
2006
30 Rock
John Lithgow · (1 episode)
7.4
2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
0.0
2006
The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand Challenge
Narrator
0.0
2006
The Colbert Report
(1 episode)
6.8
2005
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
(1 episode)
0.0
2005
How I Met Your Mother
Jerry Whittaker · (4 episodes)
8.2
2005
The Tony Danza Show
Self · (3 episodes)
6.1
2004
VH1 Goes Inside
(1 episode)
10.0
2003
The Early Show
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
1999
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
Dr. Oscar Charles
8.7
1999
The View
Self · (7 episodes)
4.4
1997
Cosby
John Lithgow · (1 episode)
5.9
1996
3rd Rock from the Sun
Dick Solomon · (139 episodes)
7.5
1996
American Cinema
Narrator
0.0
1995
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
Self
0.0
1994
The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale
Alexander (voice)
0.0
1993
Frasier
Madman Martinez (voice) · (1 episode)
7.7
1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest · (4 episodes)
7.1
1993
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
Narrator
10.0
1993
The Boys
0.0
1991
John Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
5.0
1990
Traveling Man
Ben Cluett
3.3
1989
Tales from the Crypt
Dr. Oscar Charles · (1 episode)
8.0
1989
The Amazing Bone
Narrator
0.0
1987
Santa Claus: The Making of the Movie
Self
5.0
1985
Not in Front of the Children
Richard Carruthers
6.0
1982
Faerie Tale Theatre
Goldilocks' Father · (1 episode)
8.2
1982
Big Blonde
Herbie Morse
5.0
1980
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
Wally
0.0
1980
Secret Service
Capt. Thorne
0.0
1977
The Country Girl
Paul Unger
0.0
1974
The Fall of 2008
Glenn Motch (The Campaign)
0.0
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled
Self · (3 episodes)
8.0
2023
Sherri
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
4.2
2022
The Old Man
Harold Harper · (15 episodes)
7.2
2022
Dexter: New Blood
Arthur Mitchell · (1 episode)
8.0
2021
Ultra City Smiths
Ol' Gregory Timms · (1 episode)
6.4
2021
Perry Mason
Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan · (8 episodes)
7.3
2020
Stars in the House
Self - Special Guest · (1 episode)
0.0
2020
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self · (1 episode)
6.2
2019
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
(1 episode)
7.5
2018
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
Self · (2 episodes)
6.8
2018
Trial & Error
Larry Henderson · (13 episodes)
7.3
2017
The Crown
Winston Churchill · (12 episodes)
8.2
2016
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
6.6
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
(1 episode)
6.6
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self · (2 episodes)
6.6
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Self · (1 episode)
5.7
2015
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
Self · (1 episode)
4.4
2014
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
James Roosevelt (voice) · (7 episodes)
8.3
2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self · (2 episodes)
5.5
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self · (1 episode)
5.8
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
(1 episode)
5.8
2014
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
The White Rabbit (voice) · (13 episodes)
6.9
2013
Prohibition
Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice) · (3 episodes)
7.9
2011
Conan
Self · (2 episodes)
7.0
2010
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
5.0
2009
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
7.2
2007
Dexter
Arthur Mitchell · (12 episodes)
8.2
2006
E! Live from the Red Carpet
Self · (1 episode)
3.2
2002
The View
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
4.4
1997
The West
Self · (9 episodes)
8.4
1996
The West
Self / Uriah Oblinger (voice) · (1 episode)
8.4
1996
The Daily Show
Self · (1 episode)
6.4
1996
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
3.5
1996
American Cinema
(13 episodes)
8.0
1994
World War II: When Lions Roared
Franklin Delano Roosevelt · (2 episodes)
6.8
1994
The Simpsons
Gus (voice) · (1 episode)
8.0
1989
The Simpsons
John Lithgow (voice) · (1 episode)
8.0
1989
Amazing Stories
John Walters · (1 episode)
7.5
1985
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (3 episodes)
6.9
1975
NOVA
Narrator · (6 episodes)
6.9
1974
Great Performances
Capt. Thorne · (1 episode)
5.2
1971
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · (6 episodes)
5.0
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee & Performer · (1 episode)
5.0
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Winner · (1 episode)
5.0
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee · (1 episode)
5.0
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee/Performer · (1 episode)
5.0
1956
Today
Self · (1 episode)
5.5
1952
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Paul Unger · (1 episode)
8.7
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Major Kendall Laird · (1 episode)
8.7
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Laird Riordan · (1 episode)
8.7
1951
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (2 episodes)
6.8
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
6.8
1944