John Lithgow
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Oct 19, 1945 (age 80)
- Place of birth
- Rochester, New York, USA
- Credits
- 211
John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his diverse work on stage and screen. He has received numerous accolades, including six Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, four Grammy Awards, four Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award.
Lithgow won two Tony Awards, his first for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his Broadway debut in The Changing Room (1972) and his second for Best Actor in a Musical for the musical Sweet Smell of Success (2002). He was Tony-nominated for Requiem for a Heavyweight (1985), M. Butterfly (1988), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005). He has acted in the plays The Columnist (2012), A Delicate Balance (2014), and Hillary and Clinton (2019). He portrayed Roald Dahl in the play Giant on the West End, for which he was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor.
He starred as Dick Solomon in the television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001), winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He received further Primetime Emmy Awards for his performances as Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter (2009) and as Winston Churchill in the Netflix drama The Crown (2016–2019). He also starred in HBO's Perry Mason (2020) and FX's The Old Man (2022).
On film, he has received two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor nominations for his roles as a transgender ex-football player in The World According to Garp (1982) and a lonely banker in Terms of Endearment (1983). He also acted in All That Jazz (1979), Blow Out (1981), Footloose (1984), Harry and the Hendersons (1987), A Civil Action (1998), Shrek (2001), Kinsey (2004), Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Love Is Strange (2014), Interstellar (2014), Late Night (2019), Bombshell (2019), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), and Conclave (2024).
Known for
Interstellar
2014Movie
Donald
Shrek
2001Movie
Lord Farquaad (voice)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011Movie
Charles Rodman
The Simpsons
1989TV
Gus (voice), John Lithgow (voice)
The Accountant
2016Movie
Lamar Blackburn
How I Met Your Mother
2005TV
Jerry Whittaker
Filmography
Harry Potter
2026TV
Albus Dumbledore
Giant
2026Movie
Roald Dahl
Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic
2026Movie
Self
Jimpa
2026Movie
Jimpa
Dexter: Resurrection
2025TV
Arthur Mitchell
The Rule of Jenny Pen
2025Movie
Dave Crealy
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
2025TV
Self
Spellbound
2024Movie
Bolinar (voice)
Conclave
2024Movie
Tremblay
Art Happens Here with John Lithgow
2024Movie
Self
Cabrini
2024Movie
Mayor Gould
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023Movie
Self
Killers of the Flower Moon
2023Movie
Prosecutor Peter Leaward
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled
2023TV
Self
Sharper
2023Movie
Richard Hobbes
Chez Bob
2022Movie
Sherri
2022TV
Self - Guest
The Old Man
2022TV
Harold Harper
The Bubble
2022Movie
Tom the Studio Chairman
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes
2021Movie
Philip Drummond
Dexter: New Blood
2021TV
Arthur Mitchell
Show of Titles
2021Movie
"There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
Emily @ the Edge of Chaos
2021Movie
Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
Myths and Hymns
2021Movie
Give My Regards to Broadway
2020Movie
Self
Perry Mason
2020TV
Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
Stars in the House
2020TV
Self - Special Guest
Bombshell
2019Movie
Roger Ailes
On Broadway
2019Movie
Self
The Kelly Clarkson Show
2019TV
Self
The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts
2019Movie
President Donald J. Trump
The Tomorrow Man
2019Movie
Ed Hemsler
Pet Sematary
2019Movie
Jud Crandall
Late Night
2019Movie
Walter Lovell
Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman
2018Movie
Jud Crandall
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018TV
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
2018TV
Self
Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018Movie
Self
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
2018TV
Self - Guest
Pitch Perfect 3
2017Movie
Fergus
Daddy's Home 2
2017Movie
Don
The Pulitzer At 100
2017Movie
Self
Beatriz at Dinner
2017Movie
Doug Strutt
Trial & Error
2017TV
Larry Henderson
Hickory Dickory Doc
2017Movie
Himself
They All Saw a Cat
2017Movie
Miss Sloane
2016Movie
Senator Ronald Sperling
The Crown
2016TV
Winston Churchill
The Accountant
2016Movie
Lamar Blackburn
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016Movie
Self - Performer
Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
2016Movie
Narrator
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015TV
Self - Guest, Self
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015TV
Self
Best of Enemies
2015Movie
Voice of Gore Vidal
Lord John
2015Movie
Inside 'Interstellar'
2015Movie
Self
Projections of America
2015Movie
Self - Narrator (voice)
The Late Late Show with James Corden
2015TV
Self - Guest
Variety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014TV
Self
Interstellar
2014Movie
Donald
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History
2014TV
James Roosevelt (voice)
The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest
2014Movie
Maurice (voice)
Love Is Strange
2014Movie
Ben
The Homesman
2014Movie
Reverend Alfred Dowd
Late Night with Seth Meyers
2014TV
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014TV
Self - Guest
9 Kisses
2014Movie
Man in Club
Timms Valley
2013Movie
Ol' Gregory Timms
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
2013Movie
Self
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
2013TV
The White Rabbit (voice)
Shrek Stories
2013Movie
Lord Farquaad (voice)
National Theatre Live: The Magistrate
2013Movie
Posket
This Is 40
2012Movie
Oliver
Casting By
2012Movie
Self
The Campaign
2012Movie
Glen Motch
Finding Your Roots
2012TV
Self
Shrek: Once Upon a Time
2011Movie
Self
New Year's Eve
2011Movie
Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
Prohibition
2011TV
Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
2011Movie
Charles Rodman
Conan
2010TV
Self
Leap Year
2010Movie
Jack Brady
Miracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn
2009Movie
Narrator
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009TV
Self - Guest
The Macabre World of Lavender Williams
2009Movie
God
Confessions of a Shopaholic
2009Movie
Edgar West
Car of the Future
2008Movie
Narrator
ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
2007Movie
Self
The Graham Norton Show
2007TV
Self
Dreamgirls
2006Movie
Jerry Harris
Twenty Good Years
2006TV
John Mason
30 Rock
2006TV
John Lithgow
Dexter
2006TV
Arthur Mitchell
The One Show
2006TV
Self
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006Movie
René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand Challenge
2006Movie
Narrator
Sangre
2006Movie
Cafe chef and owner
The Colbert Report
2005TV
Einstein's Big Idea
2005Movie
Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
2005TV
How I Met Your Mother
2005TV
Jerry Whittaker
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
2004Movie
Blake Edwards
Footloose: A Modern Musical
2004Movie
Self
The Tony Danza Show
2004TV
Self
Kinsey
2004Movie
Alfred Seguine Kinsey
Shrek 3-D
2004Movie
Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
Dogs and More Dogs
2004Movie
Narrator
VH1 Goes Inside
2003TV
DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection
2003TV
Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003TV
Self - Guest
Bark, George
2003Movie
Live from E!
2002TV
Self
Orange County
2002Movie
Bud Brumder
Buckaroo Banzai Declassified
2002Movie
Self
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
2001Movie
Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
Shrek
2001Movie
Lord Farquaad (voice)
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
2000Movie
Jean-Claude (voice)
Don Quixote
2000Movie
Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
95 Worlds and Counting
2000Movie
Narrator
The Early Show
1999TV
Self
Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special
1999Movie
(archive footage)
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
1999Movie
Dr. Oscar Charles
A Civil Action
1998Movie
Judge Walter J. Skinner
Homegrown
1998Movie
Malcolm / Robert Stockman
Johnny Skidmarks
1998Movie
Sergeant Larry Skovik
The View
1997TV
Self, Self - Guest
Officer Buckle and Gloria
1997Movie
Narrator (voice)
Hollow Point
1996Movie
Thomas Livingston
Cosby
1996TV
John Lithgow
The West
1996TV
Self, Self / Uriah Oblinger (voice)
The Daily Show
1996TV
Self
Special Effects: Anything Can Happen
1996Movie
Narrator
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996TV
Self - Guest
3rd Rock from the Sun
1996TV
Dick Solomon
The Tuskegee Airmen
1995Movie
Senator Conyers
Redwood Curtain
1995Movie
Laird Riordan
My Brother's Keeper
1995Movie
Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
Silent Fall
1994Movie
Dr. Rene Harlinger
Princess Caraboo
1994Movie
Professor Wilkinson
A Good Man in Africa
1994Movie
Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994Movie
Self
World War II: When Lions Roared
1994TV
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
American Cinema
1994TV
Self - Host
The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale
1993Movie
Alexander (voice)
Love, Cheat & Steal
1993Movie
Paul Harrington
The Pelican Brief
1993Movie
Smith Keen
Frasier
1993TV
Madman Martinez (voice)
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993TV
Self - Guest
The Wrong Man
1993Movie
Phillip Mills
Cliffhanger
1993Movie
Qualen
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
1993Movie
Narrator
Stallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger
1993Movie
Self
Raising Cain
1992Movie
Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991Movie
Leslie Huben
Ricochet
1991Movie
Earl Talbott Blake
The Boys
1991Movie
Artie Margulies
Amazing Stories: The Movie II
1990Movie
John Walters
Memphis Belle
1990Movie
Bruce Derringer
Ivory Hunters
1990Movie
Robert Carter
John Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
1990Movie
Night of 100 Stars III
1990Movie
Self
Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years
1990Movie
Self
The Simpsons
1989TV
Gus (voice), John Lithgow (voice)
Traveling Man
1989Movie
Ben Cluett
Tales from the Crypt
1989TV
Dr. Oscar Charles
Out Cold
1989Movie
Dave
Distant Thunder
1988Movie
Mark Lambert
Harry and the Hendersons
1987Movie
George Henderson
The Amazing Bone
1987Movie
Narrator
Baby Girl Scott
1987Movie
Neil Scott
The Manhattan Project
1986Movie
John Mathewson
Resting Place
1986Movie
Maj. Kendall Laird
Santa Claus: The Making of the Movie
1985Movie
Self
Mesmerized
1985Movie
Oliver Thompson
Santa Claus: The Movie
1985Movie
B.Z.
Amazing Stories
1985TV
John Walters
2010
1984Movie
Dr. Walter Curnow
The Glitter Dome
1984Movie
Sgt. Marty Wellborn
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
1984Movie
Lord John Whorfin
Footloose
1984Movie
Rev. Shaw Moore
Goldilocks and the Three Bears
1984Movie
Goldilocks' Father
2010 : The Odyssey Continues
1984Movie
Himself
The Day After
1983Movie
Joe Huxley
Terms of Endearment
1983Movie
Sam Burns
Twilight Zone: The Movie
1983Movie
Valentine
Not in Front of the Children
1982Movie
Richard Carruthers
Faerie Tale Theatre
1982TV
Goldilocks' Father
The World According to Garp
1982Movie
Roberta Muldoon
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
1982Movie
Mr. Brunner
Blow Out
1981Movie
Burke
Big Blonde
1980Movie
Herbie Morse
Mom, the Wolfman and Me
1980Movie
Wally
The Oldest Living Graduate
1980Movie
Clarence
All That Jazz
1979Movie
Lucas Sergeant
Rich Kids
1979Movie
Paul Philips
The Big Fix
1978Movie
Sam Sebastian
Secret Service
1977Movie
Capt. Thorne
Obsession
1976Movie
Robert Lasalle
Saturday Night Live
1975TV
Self - Host
NOVA
1974TV
Narrator
The Country Girl
1974Movie
Paul Unger
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
1972Movie
John
Film '72
1971TV
Self
Great Performances
1971TV
Capt. Thorne
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962TV
Self
Tony Awards
1956TV
Self - Winner, Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee / Performer
The Oscars
1953TV
Self - Presenter
Today
1952TV
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951TV
Paul Unger, Major Kendall Laird, Laird Riordan
Golden Globe Awards
1944TV
Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Winner
Broadway: The Next Generation
Movie
Self