Movies+ Where To Watch
Download Search New Upcoming Discover Home
John Lithgow
5 FOLLOWERS • 91 CREDITS • OCT 19, 1945 • 79
Follow
Biography
more
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 transsexual 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).
Overview
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 transsexual 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
Saturday Night Live
The Oscars
The Kelly Clarkson Show
The Simpsons
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Tony Awards
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
The Daily Show
The One Show
How I Met Your Mother
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Golden Globe Awards
Amazing Stories
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
The Early Show
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Finding Your Roots
The Graham Norton Show
Frasier
The Colbert Report
Today
Tales from the Crypt
Faerie Tale Theatre
E! Live from the Red Carpet
James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
30 Rock
Cosby
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
Dexter: Resurrection
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
The Bubble
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
The Crown
Dexter
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
All That Jazz
Dexter
Dreamgirls
Pitch Perfect 3
Dexter: New Blood
Prohibition
Miss Sloane
Memphis Belle
The Pelican Brief
Shrek: Once Upon a Time
Late Night
Spellbound
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
Interstellar
The Tuskegee Airmen
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
A Civil Action
Hallmark Hall of Fame
The Campaign
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
Killers of the Flower Moon
Perry Mason
Confessions of a Shopaholic
The Accountant
Terms of Endearment
The Day After
World War II: When Lions Roared
Orange County
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie
Sharper
Daddy's Home 2
Leap Year
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Shrek
Bombshell
Conclave
Ultra City Smiths
Twenty Good Years
The Glitter Dome
Footloose
This Is 40
Trial & Error
Ricochet
The Rule of Jenny Pen
Cliffhanger
Distant Thunder
2010
The Old Man
Harry Potter
Love, Cheat & Steal
3rd Rock from the Sun
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Harry and the Hendersons
My Brother's Keeper
Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman
Production Credits
The Rule of Jenny Pen
Movies+ Discover & Track Movies
Never miss a movie again with Movies+, the simple tracker that keeps you updated on where to watch, stream, rent, or buy, while also alerting you to any production changes and new release dates of your favorite films!
Get