John Lithgow
Birthplace: Rochester
Born: 1945-10-19
Occupations recorded in source
actor; banjoist; film actor; musician; poet; stage actor; television actor; voice actor; writer
Biography from Wikipedia
John Arthur Lithgow (/ˈlɪθɡoʊ/ LITH-goh; 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 four Actor Awards, seven Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Laurence Olivier Award, and three Tony Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award and four Grammy Awards.
A three-time Tony Award winner, Lithgow has won in the categories Best Featured Actor in a Play for his Broadway debut portraying a rugby player in The Changing Room (1972), Best Actor in a Musical for playing a fearful columnist in Sweet Smell of Success (2002), and Best Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Roald Dahl in Giant (2026). He was Tony-nominated for Requiem for a Heavyweight (1985), M. Butterfly (1988), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (2005), and The Columnist (2012). He has also acted in A Delicate Balance (2014) and Hillary and Clinton (2019).
On television, Lithgow starred as Dick Solomon in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001), winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. He received further Emmy Awards for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series playing Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter (2009) and for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the Netflix drama The Crown (2016–2019). He also starred in the HBO drama series Perry Mason (2020) and the FX thriller series The Old Man (2022–2024).
In film, Lithgow has received two nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his roles as a transgender ex-football player in The World According to Garp (1982) and as 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).
Sources & attribution
Wikidata · revision
Wikidata contributors · CC0
Wikipedia · revision 1377105912
Wikipedia contributors; original introduction, prose paragraphs; HTML formatting removed · CC BY-SA 4.0
Films in Cinema Hound
Acting
- Jimpa (2025) — Jimpa
- The Rule of Jenny Pen (2025) — Dave Crealy
- Conclave (2024) — Cardinal Tremblay
- Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) — Prosecutor Peter Leaward
- Sharper (2023) — Richard Hobbes
- Bombshell (2019) — Roger Ailes
- Late Night (2019) — Walter Lovell
- Pet Sematary (2019) — Jud Crandall
- The Tomorrow Man (2019) — Ed Hemsler
- Beatriz at Dinner (2017) — Doug
- Daddy's Home 2 (2017) — Don Whitaker
- Pitch Perfect 3 (2017) — Fergus
- Miss Sloane (2016) — U.S. Senator Ron M. Sperling
- The Accountant (2016) — Lamar Black
- Interstellar (2014) — Donald
- Love is Strange (2014) — Ben
- The Homesman (2014) — Reverend Alfred Dowd
- Casting By (2012)
- Lives of the Saints (2012) — ?
- The Campaign (2012) — Glen Motch
- This Is 40 (2012) — Oliver
- New Year's Eve (2011) — Jonathan Cox
- Prohibition (2011)
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) — Charles Rodman
- Leap Year (2010) — Jack
- Shrek Forever After (2010) — Lord Farquaad
- Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) — Edgar West
- Kinsey (2004) — Alfred Seguine Kinsey
- The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) — Blake Edwards
- Shrek 4-D (2003) — Lord Farquaad
- Orange County (2002) — Bud Brumder
- Shrek (2001) — Lord Farquaad
- Don Quixote (2000)
- Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) — Jean-Claude (voice)
- A Civil Action (1998) — Judge Walter J. Skinner
- Homegrown (1998) — Malcolm / Robert Stockman
- Johnny Skidmarks (1998) — Sergeant Larry Skovik
- Hollow Point (1996) — Thomas Livingston
- My Brother's Keeper (1995)
- Redwood Curtain (1995)
Frequent collaborators
Shared films in this catalogue.
- Brian de Palma · 3 films
- Cameron Diaz · 3 films
- Eddie Murphy · 3 films
- John Travolta · 3 films
- Mike Myers · 3 films
- Richard Dreyfuss · 3 films
Catalogue credits: Wikidata and Open Media Database. Sources & licences.
