John Lithgow
Birthdate: Oct 19, 1945
Birthplace: Rochester, New York, USA
If "born to the theater" has meaning in determining a person's life path, then John Lithgow is a prime example of this truth. He was born in Rochester, New York, to Sarah Jane (Price), an actress, and Arthur Washington Lithgow III, who was both a theatrical producer and director. John's father was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, where the Anglo-American Lithgow family had lived for several generations.
John moved frequently as a child, while his father founded and managed local and college theaters and Shakespeare festivals throughout the Midwest of the United States. Not until he was 16, and his father became head of the McCarter Theater in Princeton New Jersey, did the family settle down. But for John, the theater was still not a career. He won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he finally caught the acting bug (as well as found a wife). Harvard was followed by a Fulbright scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Returning from London, his rigorous dramatic training stood him in good stead, and a distinguished career on Broadway gave him one Tony Award for "The Changing Room", a second nomination in 1985 for "Requiem For a Heavyweight", and a third in 1988 for "M. Butterfly". But with critical acclaim came personal confusion, and in the mid 1970s, he and his wife divorced. He entered therapy, and in 1982, his life started in a new direction, the movies - he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp (1982). A second Oscar nomination followed for Terms of Endearment (1983), and he met a UCLA economics professor who became his second wife. As the decade of the 1990s came around, he found that he was spending too much time on location, and another career move brought him to television in the hugely successful series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996).
This production also played a role in bringing him back together with the son from his first marriage, Ian Lithgow, who has a regular role in the series as a dimwitted student.
Gallery
Filmography
actor
Upcoming (1)
Previous (48)
- 2024 |
- 2024 |
- 2023 | Killers of the Flower MoonasProsecutor Peter Leaward
Killers of the Flower Moon
When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one - until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.
- 2021 | Hollow PointasThomas Livingston
Hollow Point
When his wife and daughter are senselessly murdered, a grieving man finds himself caught up in a war between a group of charismatic vigilantes and the crime that infests their city.
- 2019 |
- 2019 |
- 2019 | The Tomorrow ManasEd
The Tomorrow Man
Ed Hemsler spends his life preparing for a disaster that may never come. Ronnie Meisner spends her life shopping for things she may never use. These two people will try to find love.
- 2019 | Pet SemataryasJud
Pet Sematary
Dr. Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, relocate from Boston to rural Maine with their two young children. The couple soon discover a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home.
- 2018 | Mister Rogers: It's You I Like
- 2017 | Pitch Perfect 3asFergus
Pitch Perfect 3
Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices.
- 2017 | Daddy’s Home 2asDon
Daddy’s Home 2
Having finally gotten used to each other's existence, Brad and Dusty must now deal with their intrusive fathers during the holidays.
- 2017 | Beatriz at DinnerasDoug
Beatriz at Dinner
A holistic medicine practitioner attends a wealthy client's dinner party after her car breaks down.
- 2016 | The AccountantasLamar Blackburn
The Accountant
As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities, and the body count starts to rise.
- 2014 | Love Is Strangeas Ben Hull
- 2014 | Projections of Americaas Narrator
- 2014 | InterstellarasDonald
Interstellar
When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.
- 2012 | LA Philharmonic's LIVE with Gustavo Dudamel
- 2010 | Leap Yearas Jack
- 2009 | Miracle in a Box: A Piano Rebornas Narrator
- 2009 | The Real Revolutionariesas William Shockley
- 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellersas Blake Edwards
- 2001 | Shrekas Lord Farquaad
- 2000 | C-Scamas Bernardo
- 1998 | Courage: Profiles in Creativity
- 1998 | Homegrownas Malcolm
- 1998 | Johnny Skidmarksas Larry Skovik
- 1994 | A Good Man in Africaas Fanshawe
- 1994 | Silent Fallas Dr. Rene Harlinger
- 1993 | Cliffhangeras Eric Qualen
- 1993 | The Wrong Manas Phillip
- 1992 | Raising Cainas Carter
- 1991 | At Play in the Fields of the Lordas Leslie Huben
- 1991 | Ricochetas Earl Talbot Blake
- 1989 | Out Coldas Dave
- 1988 | Distant Thunderas Mark Lambert
- 1987 | Harry and the Hendersonsas George Henderson
- 1986 | The Manhattan Projectas John Mathewson
- 1985 | Mesmerizedas Oliver Thompson
- 1985 | Santa Claus: The Movieas B.Z.
- 1984 | 2010: The Year We Make Contactas Dr. Walter Curnow
- 1984 | Footlooseas Rev. Shaw Moore
- 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimensionas Dr. Emilio LizardoLord John Whorfin
- 1982 | The World According to Garpas Roberta Muldoon
- 1981 | Blow Outas Burke
- 1979 | Rich Kidsas Paul Philips
- 1978 | The Big Fixas Sam Sebastian
- 1976 | Obsessionas Robert La Salle
- 1972 | Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Bluesas John
