John Lithgow
Highest Rated: 93% Love Is Strange (2014)
Lowest Rated: 10% A Good Man in Africa (1994)
Birthday: Oct 19, 1945
Birthplace: Rochester, New York, USA
Academy Award-nominated American film and TV actor John Lithgow gained notoriety with his roles in "The World According to Garp" (1982), "Terms of Endearment" (1983), "3rd Rock from the Sun" (NBC, 1996-2001), and "Dexter" (Showtime, 2006-2013). Lithgow, who was born in Rochester, New York in 1945, was raised in a family that was heavily involved in the theater. His mother was an actress, while his father scraped together a living by managing various small theaters throughout the Midwest. Due to the nomadic nature of his father's career, the Lithgows moved around a lot when John was still a young boy. He spent a great deal of his childhood in parts of Ohio, primarily Yellow Springs and Akron, while his father managed local and college theaters, in addition to running Shakespeare festivals. When John was 16, his father took a job running the McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey. So, for the first time in John's life, he had a place he called home. He attended high school in Princeton, and later earned a scholarship to Harvard. Although the theater was a vital part of Lithgow's life growing up, he never saw acting as a vital career choice, and instead went on to study literature and history at Harvard. Lithgow attended Harvard intent on working in visual arts one day. In later interviews, he mentioned how he loved painting and dreamed of one day becoming a painter. During his week at Harvard, however, Lithgow got involved with an acting group on campus and before long was performing in stage productions put on by the university. After a few roles on stage, Lithgow's mind was made up: he was going to become an actor. Lithgow graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1967, and shortly after won a Fulbright scholarship to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. His experience in London proved to be transformative for Lithgow, and by the time he returned to the states he was ready to take the acting world by storm. Lithgow made his Broadway debut in 1973's "The Changing Room," which earned him his first Tony Award for Featured Actor in a Play. He would appear in several more plays throughout the 70s and 80s, most notably Arthur Miller's "A Memory of Two Mondays" and Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight." His stage performances were met with universal praise by critics, but it was the big screen where Lithgow would truly make his mark. Throughout the 1970s, Lithgow gradually made a name for himself in Hollywood with critically-acclaimed performances in films like "Obsession" (1976) and "All That Jazz" (1979). In the decade that followed, however, Lithgow became a bona fide movie star, thanks to a string of memorable roles in several high profile films. These films included "Blow Out" (1981), "The World According to Garp," "Terms of Endearment," "Footloose" (1984), "The Manhattan Project" (1986), and "Harry and the Hendersons" (1987). Lithgow continued working steadily in films throughout the mid-90s, sometimes appearing in up to five films a year, as he did in 1993. By 1996, however, Lithgow had become exhausted by the constant travel that being a movie actor required. So he decided to venture into TV, seeing as it was a stable acting job that required no travel. In 1996 Lithgow began appearing as Dr. Dick Solomon, an alien posing as a human man, on the NBC science-fiction sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun." The show was a hit with both audiences and critics, with Lithgow taking home three Emmy Awards during the show's six season run. After "3rd Rock from the Sun" ended in 2001, Lithgow earned praise for his roles in films like "Kinsey" (2004) and "Dreamgirls" (2006), but it was his guest starring role on "Dexter" in 2009 that would truly wow people. Lithgow played the serial killer Arthur Mitchell, also known as the "Trinity Killer," during the show's fourth season. His role as the villain earned widespread acclaim and as a result Lithgow took home an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. By the 2010s, Lithgow had been acting in films and movies for nearly 50 years, but had shown no signs of slowing down. In addition to earning critical praise for his roles in films like "Interstellar" (2014) and "Beatriz at Dinner" (2017), he also played the iconic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on the Netflix historical series "The Crown" (Netflix, 2016- ). By the end of the decade, Lithgow had been working harder than ever. In 2019 alone he appeared in four films: "Late Night," "The Tomorrow Man," "Pet Sematary," and "Bombshell." In the latter film, Lithgow played Roger Ailes, the powerhouse cable news mogul who ran Fox News from 1996 to 2016. "Bombshell" premiered in late 2019.
Photos
John Lithgow
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Spellbound | Minister Bolinar (Voice) | - | 2024 |
90% | No Score Yet | Conclave | Tremblay (Character) | - | 2024 |
90% |
|
Cabrini | Mayor Gould (Character) | $19.0M | 2024 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rule of Jenny Pen | Unknown (Character) | - | 2024 |
93% |
|
Killers of the Flower Moon | Prosecutor Leaward (Character) | $68.0M | 2023 |
69% |
|
Sharper | Richard Hobbes (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes | Mr.Drummond (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Emily @ the Edge of Chaos | Sir Isaac Newton (Voice) | - | 2021 |
76% |
|
On Broadway | Self | $82.3K | 2019 |
68% |
|
Bombshell | Roger Ailes (Character) | $31.7M | 2019 |
80% |
|
Late Night | Walter Lovell (Character) | $15.5M | 2019 |
42% |
|
The Tomorrow Man | Ed (Character) | $331.8K | 2019 |
57% |
|
Pet Sematary | Jud Crandall (Character) | $54.7M | 2019 |
28% |
|
Pitch Perfect 3 | Fergus (Character) | $104.9M | 2017 |
21% |
|
Daddy's Home 2 | Don (Character) | $104.0M | 2017 |
76% |
|
Beatriz at Dinner | Doug Strutt (Character) | $7.1M | 2017 |
22% | No Score Yet | The Pulitzer at 100 | Self | $2.6K | 2016 |
76% |
|
Miss Sloane | Senator Ronald Sperling (Character) | $3.5M | 2016 |
53% |
|
The Accountant | Lamar Blackburn (Character) | $86.2M | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Projections of America | Narrator | - | 2014 |
81% |
|
The Homesman | Rev. Alfred Dowd (Character) | $2.4M | 2014 |
73% |
|
Interstellar | Donald (Character) | $188.0M | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest | Unknown (Voice) | - | 2014 |
93% |
|
Love Is Strange | Ben (Character) | $2.3M | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Jungle Bunch: The Movie | Maurice (Voice) | - | 2012 |
51% |
|
This Is 40 | Oliver (Character) | $67.5M | 2012 |
66% |
|
The Campaign | Glenn Motch (Character) | $86.9M | 2012 |
82% |
|
Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Charles Rodman (Character) | $176.7M | 2011 |
24% |
|
Leap Year | Jack (Character) | $25.9M | 2010 |
27% |
|
Confessions of a Shopaholic | Edgar West (Character) | $44.3M | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Macabre World of Lavender Williams | God (Character) | - | 2009 |
79% |
|
Dreamgirls | Jerry Harris (Character) | $103.3M | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bark, George... and More Doggie Tails | Unknown (Character) | - | 2005 |
69% |
|
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Blake Edwards (Character) | - | 2004 |
90% |
|
Kinsey | Alfred Sequine Kinsey (Character) | $10.2M | 2004 |
47% |
|
Orange County | Bud Brumder (Character) | $41.0M | 2002 |
88% |
|
Shrek | Lord Farquaad (Voice) | $267.7M | 2001 |
76% |
|
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie | Jean-Claude (Voice) | $76.5M | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Don Quixote |
Don Quixote de La Mancha/ Co-Executive Producer |
- | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Don Quijote |
Unknown (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Johnny Skidmarks | Sergeant Larry Skovik (Character) | - | 1998 |
44% |
|
Homegrown |
Malcolm/ |
$271.4K | 1998 |
64% |
|
A Civil Action | Judge Walter J. Skinner (Character) | $56.7M | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hollow Point | Thomas Livingston (Character) | - | 1996 |
43% |
|
Special Effects | Narrator | - | 1996 |
86% |
|
The Tuskegee Airmen | Senator Conyers (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet |
|
My Brother's Keeper |
Tom Bradley / |
- | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Redwood Curtain | Laird Riordan (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet |
|
Love, Cheat & Steal | Paul Harrington (Character) | - | 1994 |
26% |
|
Silent Fall | Dr. Rene Harlinger (Character) | $2.7M | 1994 |
65% |
|
Princess Caraboo | Professor Wilkinson (Character) | $3.0M | 1994 |
10% |
|
A Good Man in Africa | Arthur Fanshawe (Character) | $2.2M | 1994 |
No Score Yet |
|
World War II: When Lions Roared | Unknown (Character) | - | 1994 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Sylvester and the Magic Pebble | Narrator | - | 1993 |
55% |
|
The Pelican Brief | Smith Keen (Character) | $100.7M | 1993 |
68% |
|
Cliffhanger | Eric Qualen (Character) | $80.5M | 1993 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Wrong Man | Phillip Mills (Character) | - | 1993 |
63% |
|
Raising Cain |
Carter/ |
$20.5M | 1992 |
57% |
|
At Play in the Fields of the Lord | Leslie Huben (Character) | $1.3M | 1991 |
74% |
|
Ricochet | Earl Talbot Blake (Character) | $20.6M | 1991 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Boys | Artie Margulies (Character) | - | 1991 |
68% |
|
Memphis Belle | Lt. Col. Bruce Derringer (Character) | $25.5M | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ivory Hunters | Robert Carter (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Elephant | Robert Carter (Character) | - | 1990 |
No Score Yet |
|
Traveling Man | Ben Cluett (Character) | - | 1989 |
No Score Yet |
|
Out Cold | Dave (Character) | $201.5K | 1989 |
43% |
|
Distant Thunder | Mark Lambert (Character) | $146.0K | 1988 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Baby Girl Scott | Neil Scott (Character) | - | 1987 |
45% |
|
Harry and the Hendersons | George Henderson (Character) | $27.1M | 1987 |
No Score Yet |
|
Resting Place | Maj. Kendall Laird (Character) | - | 1986 |
50% |
|
The Manhattan Project | John Mathewson (Character) | $3.8M | 1986 |
22% |
|
Santa Claus | B.Z. (Character) | $23.6M | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Amazing Stories: The Movie II | John Walters (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet |
|
Mesmerized | Oliver Thompson (Character) | - | 1984 |
55% |
|
Footloose | Reverend Shaw Moore (Character) | - | 1984 |
67% |
|
2010 | Dr. Walter Curnow (Character) | - | 1984 |
66% |
|
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension |
Doctor Emilio Lizardo/ |
- | 1984 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Glitter Dome | Sgt. Marty Wellborn (Character) | - | 1984 |
60% |
|
Twilight Zone: The Movie | John Valentine (Character) | - | 1983 |
82% |
|
Terms of Endearment | Sam Burns (Character) | - | 1983 |
86% |
|
The Day After | Joe Huxley (Character) | - | 1983 |
71% |
|
The World According to Garp | Roberta Muldoon (Character) | - | 1982 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Not in Front of the Children | Richard Carruthers (Character) | - | 1982 |
89% |
|
Blow Out | Burke (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Oldest Living Graduate | Clarence (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mom, the Wolfman, and Me | Wally (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet |
|
Big Blonde | Unknown (Character) | - | 1980 |
67% |
|
Rich Kids | Paul Philips (Character) | - | 1979 |
88% |
|
The Big Fix | Sam Sebastian (Character) | - | 1978 |
No Score Yet |
|
Secret Service | Capt. Thorne (Character) | - | 1977 |
75% |
|
Obsession | Robert Lasalle (Character) | - | 1976 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues | John (Character) | - | 1972 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
85% | 66% | The Old Man | Harold Harper (Character) | 2022 2024 |
No Score Yet | 62% | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Guest | 2024 |
No Score Yet | 49% | The Late Show With Stephen Colbert | Guest | 2018-2022 2024 |
No Score Yet | 12% | The View | Guest | 2014 2021-2022 |
No Score Yet | 44% | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2014 2016-2020 2022 |
85% | 76% | The Simpsons | Gus (Guest Voice) | 2019 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Firing Line With Margaret Hoover | Guest | 2021 |
No Score Yet | 41% | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2017 2020-2021 |
No Score Yet | 19% | The Late Late Show With James Corden | Guest | 2016 2019-2021 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Finding Your Roots | Guest | 2021 |
80% | 75% | Perry Mason | Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan (Character) | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Conan | Guest | 2017 2019-2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Perry Mason FREE | Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan (Character) | 2020 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2014 2017-2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer | Contestant | 2019 |
83% | 85% | James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Chew | Guest | 2013 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Variety Studio: Actors on Actors | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Harry | Guest | 2017 |
88% | 87% | Trial & Error | Larry Henderson (Character) | 2017 |
81% | 92% | The Crown | Sir Winston Churchill (Character) | 2016 |
93% | 95% | Louie | Funny Man (Guest Star) | 2015 |
100% | 94% | The Roosevelts: An Intimate History | Unknown (Voice) | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Great Performances | Host | 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Colbert Report | Guest | 2011 2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Moyers & Company | Guest | 2014 |
63% | 67% | Once Upon a Time in Wonderland | White Rabbit (Voice) | 2013-2014 |
84% | 84% | How I Met Your Mother | Jerry Whitaker (Guest Star) | 2011 2013-2014 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2010 2012 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Talk | Guest | 2011 |
71% | 81% | Dexter | Arthur Mitchell (Guest Star) | 2009 |
78% | 92% | 30 Rock | John Lithgow (Guest Star) | 2009 |
26% | No Score Yet | Twenty Good Years | Dr. John Mason (Character) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Heroes of Comedy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2002 |
No Score Yet | 67% | 3rd Rock From the Sun | Dr. Dick Solomon (Character) | 1996-2001 |
95% | 94% | Frasier | Madman Martinez (Guest Voice) | 1995 |
82% | 90% | Tales From the Crypt | Unknown (Character) | 1995 |
No Score Yet | 62% | Saturday Night Live | Host | 1985 1987-1988 |
No Score Yet | 82% | Amazing Stories | Unknown (Character) | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | DreamWorks Spooky Stories | Unknown (Character) |