John Lithgow
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.
Acted in
Spellbound
2024
as Minister Bolinar (voice)
Conclave
2024
as Joseph Tremblay
The Rule of Jenny Pen
2024
Art Happens Here with John Lithgow
2024
as Self
Cabrini
2024
as Mayor Gould
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
as Self
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023
as Prosecutor Peter Leaward
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled
2023
as Self
Sharper
2023
as Richard Hobbes
Chez Bob
2022
The Old Man
2022
as Harold Harper
The Bubble
2022
as Tom the Studio Chairman
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes
2021
as Philip Drummond
Dexter: New Blood
2021
as Arthur Mitchell
Ultra City Smiths
2021
as Ol' Gregory Timms
Emily @ the Edge of Chaos
2021
as Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
Myths and Hymns
2021
Give My Regards to Broadway
2020
as Self
Perry Mason
2020
as Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
Stars in the House
2020
as Self - Special Guest
Bombshell
2019
as Roger Ailes
On Broadway
2019
as Self
The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts
2019
as President Donald J. Trump
The Tomorrow Man
2019
as Ed Hemsler
Pet Sematary
2019
as Jud Crandall
Late Night
2019
as Walter Lovell
Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman
2018
as Jud Crandall
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
2018
as Self
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018
as Self
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
2018
as Self - Guest
Pitch Perfect 3
2017
as Fergus
Broadway: The Next Generation
2017
as Self
Daddy's Home 2
2017
as Don
The Pulitzer At 100
2017
as Self
Beatriz at Dinner
2017
as Doug Strutt
Trial & Error
2017
as Larry Henderson
Hickory Dickory Doc
2017
as Himself
They All Saw a Cat
2017
Miss Sloane
2016
as Senator Ronald Sperling
The Crown
2016
as Winston Churchill
The Accountant
2016
as Lamar Blackburn
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
as Self - Performer
Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
2016
as Narrator
Best of Enemies
2015
as Self
Lord John
2015
Inside 'Interstellar'
2015
as Self
Projections of America
2015
as Self - Narrator (voice)
9 Kisses
2014
as Man in Club
Interstellar
2014
as Donald
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
2014
as James Roosevelt (voice)
The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest
2014
as Maurice (voice)
Love Is Strange
2014
as Ben
The Homesman
2014
as Reverend Alfred Dowd
Timms Valley
2013
as Ol' Gregory Timms
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
2013
as Himself
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
2013
as The White Rabbit (voice)
Shrek Stories
2013
as Lord Farquaad (voice)
National Theatre Live: The Magistrate
2013
as Posket
This Is 40
2012
as Oliver
Casting By
2012
as Self
The Campaign
2012
as Glen Motch
Finding Your Roots
2012
as Self
Shrek: Once Upon a Time
2011
as Self
New Year's Eve
2011
as Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
Prohibition
2011
as Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011
as Charles Rodman
Leap Year
2010
as Jack Brady
Miracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn
2009
as Narrator
The Macabre World of Lavender Williams
2009
as God
Confessions of a Shopaholic
2009
as Edgar West
Car of the Future
2008
as Narrator
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
2007
as Self
Dreamgirls
2006
as Jerry Harris
Twenty Good Years
2006
30 Rock
2006
as John Lithgow
Dexter
2006
as Arthur Mitchell
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
as René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand Challenge
2006
as Narrator
Sangre
2006
as Cafe chef and owner
Einstein's Big Idea
2005
as Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
2005
How I Met Your Mother
2005
as Jerry Whittaker
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
2004
as Blake Edwards
Kinsey
2004
as Alfred Seguine Kinsey
The Ghost of Lord Farquaad
2004
as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
Dogs and More Dogs
2004
as Narrator
Bark, George
2003
Orange County
2002
as Bud Brumder
Buckaroo Banzai Declassified
2002
as Self
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
2001
as Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
Shrek
2001
as Lord Farquaad (voice)
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
2000
as Jean-Claude (voice)
Don Quixote
2000
as Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
95 Worlds and Counting
2000
as Narrator
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
1999
as Dr. Oscar Charles
A Civil Action
1998
as Judge Walter J. Skinner
Homegrown
1998
as Malcolm / Robert Stockman
Johnny Skidmarks
1998
as Sergeant Larry Skovik
Officer Buckle and Gloria
1997
as Narrator (voice)
Hollow Point
1996
as Thomas Livingston
Cosby
1996
as John Lithgow
The West
1996
as Self
The West
1996
as Self / Uriah Oblinger (voice)
Special Effects: Anything Can Happen
1996
as Narrator
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996
as Dick Solomon
The Tuskegee Airmen
1995
as Senator Conyers
My Brother's Keeper
1995
as Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
American Cinema
1995
as Narrator
Redwood Curtain
1995
as Laird Riordan
Silent Fall
1994
as Dr. Rene Harlinger
Princess Caraboo
1994
as Professor Wilkinson
A Good Man in Africa
1994
as Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994
as Self
American Cinema
1994
World War II: When Lions Roared
1994
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale
1993
as Alexander (voice)
Love, Cheat & Steal
1993
as Paul Harrington
The Pelican Brief
1993
as Smith Keen
Frasier
1993
as Madman Martinez (voice)
The Wrong Man
1993
as Phillip Mills
Cliffhanger
1993
as Eric Qualen
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
1993
as Narrator
Raising Cain
1992
as Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991
as Leslie Huben
Ricochet
1991
as Earl Talbott Blake
The Boys
1991
Memphis Belle
1990
as Bruce Derringer
Ivory Hunters
1990
as Robert Carter
John Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
1990
Night of 100 Stars III
1990
as Self
The Simpsons
1989
as Gus (voice)
The Simpsons
1989
as John Lithgow (voice)
Traveling Man
1989
as Ben Cluett
Tales from the Crypt
1989
as Dr. Oscar Charles
Out Cold
1989
as Dave
Distant Thunder
1988
as Mark Lambert
Harry and the Hendersons
1987
as George Henderson
The Amazing Bone
1987
as Narrator
Baby Girl Scott
1987
as Neil Scott
The Manhattan Project
1986
as John Mathewson
Resting Place
1986
as Maj. Kendall Laird
Santa Claus: The Making of the Movie
1985
as Self
Mesmerized
1985
as Oliver Thompson
Santa Claus: The Movie
1985
as B.Z.
Amazing Stories
1985
as John Walters
2010
1984
as Dr. Walter Curnow
The Glitter Dome
1984
as Sgt. Marty Wellborn
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
1984
as Lord John Whorfin
Footloose
1984
as Rev. Shaw Moore
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
1984
as Goldilocks' Father
Terms of Endearment
1983
as Sam Burns
The Day After
1983
as Joe Huxley
Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983
as Valentine
Not in Front of the Children
1982
as Richard Carruthers
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982
as Goldilocks' Father
The World According to Garp
1982
as Roberta Muldoon
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
1982
as Mr. Brunner
Blow Out
1981
as Burke
Big Blonde
1980
as Herbie Morse
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980
as Wally
The Oldest Living Graduate
1980
as Clarence
All That Jazz
1979
as Lucas Sergeant
Rich Kids
1979
as Paul Philips
The Big Fix
1978
as Sam Sebastian
Secret Service
1977
as Capt. Thorne
Obsession
1976
as Robert Lasalle
NOVA
1974
as Narrator
The Country Girl
1974
as Paul Unger
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
1972
as John
Great Performances
1971
as Capt. Thorne
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Presenter
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee & Performer
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Winner
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee
Tony Awards
1956
as Self - Nominee/Performer
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Paul Unger
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Major Kendall Laird
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Laird Riordan
Jimpa
as Jimpa
Amazing Stories: The Movie II
as John Walters (archive footage)