Acting · Rochester, New York, USA · Born October 19, 1945
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).
TVHarry Potter
2026
as Albus Dumbledore
MovieGiant
2026
as Roald Dahl
MovieFinding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic
2026
as Self
TVFinding Harry: The Craft Behind The Magic
2026
as Himself
MovieJimpa
2026
as Jimpa
TVDexter: Resurrection
2025
as Arthur Mitchell
MovieThe Rule of Jenny Pen
2025
as Dave Crealy
TVSNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
2025
as Self
MovieSpellbound
2024
as Bolinar (voice)
MovieConclave
2024
as Tremblay
MovieArt Happens Here with John Lithgow
2024
as Self
MovieCabrini
2024
as Mayor Gould
MovieDick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic
2023
as Self
MovieKillers of the Flower Moon
2023
as Prosecutor Peter Leaward
TVLiv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled
2023
as Self
MovieSharper
2023
as Richard Hobbes
MovieChez Bob
2022
TVSherri
2022
as Self - Guest
TVThe Old Man
2022
as Harold Harper
TVBlack Tar
2022
as Dale Kemp
MovieThe Bubble
2022
as Tom the Studio Chairman
MovieLive in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes
2021
as Philip Drummond
TVDexter: New Blood
2021
as Arthur Mitchell
MovieShow of Titles
2021
as "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
MovieEmily @ the Edge of Chaos
2021
as Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
MovieMyths and Hymns
2021
MovieGive My Regards to Broadway
2020
as Self
TVPerry Mason
2020
as Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
TVStars in the House
2020
as Self - Special Guest
MovieBombshell
2019
as Roger Ailes
MovieOn Broadway
2019
as Self
TVThe Kelly Clarkson Show
2019
as Self
MovieThe Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts
2019
as President Donald J. Trump
MovieThe Tomorrow Man
2019
as Ed Hemsler
MoviePet Sematary
2019
as Jud Crandall
MovieLate Night
2019
as Walter Lovell
MoviePet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman
2018
as Jud Crandall
TVFiring Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
TVJames Cameron's Story of Science Fiction
2018
as Self
MovieMister Rogers: It's You I Like
2018
as Self
TVThe Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer
2018
as Self - Guest
MoviePitch Perfect 3
2017
as Fergus
MovieDaddy's Home 2
2017
as Don
MovieThe Pulitzer At 100
2017
as Self
MovieBeatriz at Dinner
2017
as Doug Strutt
TVTrial & Error
2017
as Larry Henderson
MovieHickory Dickory Doc
2017
as Himself
MovieThey All Saw a Cat
2017
MovieMiss Sloane
2016
as Senator Ronald Sperling
TVThe Crown
2016
as Winston Churchill
MovieThe Accountant
2016
as Lamar Blackburn
MovieShakespeare Live! From the RSC
2016
as Self - Performer
Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9
2016
as Narrator
TVThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
as Self - Guest
TVClose Up with The Hollywood Reporter
2015
as Self
MovieBest of Enemies
2015
as Voice of Gore Vidal
Lord John
2015
MovieInside 'Interstellar'
2015
as Self
MovieProjections of America
2015
as Self - Narrator (voice)
TVThe Late Late Show with James Corden
2015
as Self - Guest
TVVariety Studio: Actors on Actors
2014
as Self
MovieInterstellar
2014
as Donald
TVThe Roosevelts: An Intimate History
2014
as James Roosevelt (voice)
MovieThe Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest
2014
as Maurice (voice)
MovieLove Is Strange
2014
as Ben
MovieThe Homesman
2014
as Reverend Alfred Dowd
TVLate Night with Seth Meyers
2014
as Self
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
as Self - Guest
Movie9 Kisses
2014
as Man in Club
MovieTimms Valley
2013
as Ol' Gregory Timms
MovieMarvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love
2013
as Self
TVOnce Upon a Time in Wonderland
2013
as The White Rabbit (voice)
MovieShrek Stories
2013
as Lord Farquaad (voice)
MovieNational Theatre Live: The Magistrate
2013
as Posket
MovieThis Is 40
2012
as Oliver
MovieCasting By
2012
as Self
MovieThe Campaign
2012
as Glen Motch
TVFinding Your Roots
2012
as Self
MovieShrek: Once Upon a Time
2011
as Self
MovieNew Year's Eve
2011
as Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
TVProhibition
2011
as Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
MovieRise of the Planet of the Apes
2011
as Charles Rodman
TVConan
2010
as Self
MovieLeap Year
2010
as Jack Brady
MovieMiracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn
2009
as Narrator
TVWatch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
2009
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Macabre World of Lavender Williams
2009
as God
MovieConfessions of a Shopaholic
2009
as Edgar West
MovieCar of the Future
2008
as Narrator
MovieShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway
2007
as Self
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieDreamgirls
2006
as Jerry Harris
TVTwenty Good Years
2006
as John Mason
TV30 Rock
2006
as John Lithgow
TVDexter
2006
as Arthur Mitchell
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self
MovieThe Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
as René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
MovieThe Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand Challenge
2006
as Narrator
Sangre
2006
as Cafe chef and owner
TVThe Colbert Report
2005
MovieEinstein's Big Idea
2005
as Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
2005
TVHow I Met Your Mother
2005
as Jerry Whittaker
MovieThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers
2004
as Blake Edwards
MovieFootloose: A Modern Musical
2004
as Self
The Tony Danza Show
2004
as Self
MovieKinsey
2004
as Alfred Seguine Kinsey
MovieShrek 3-D
2004
as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
Dogs and More Dogs
2004
as Narrator
VH1 Goes Inside
2003
TVDreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection
2003
as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
TVJimmy Kimmel Live!
2003
as Self - Guest
MovieBark, George
2003
TVLive from E!
2002
as Self
MovieOrange County
2002
as Bud Brumder
MovieBuckaroo Banzai Declassified
2002
as Self
MovieShrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party
2001
as Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
MovieShrek
2001
as Lord Farquaad (voice)
MovieRugrats in Paris: The Movie
2000
as Jean-Claude (voice)
MovieDon Quixote
2000
as Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
Movie95 Worlds and Counting
2000
as Narrator
TVThe Early Show
1999
as Self
MovieTales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection
1999
as Dr. Oscar Charles
MovieA Civil Action
1998
as Judge Walter J. Skinner
MovieHomegrown
1998
as Malcolm / Robert Stockman
MovieJohnny Skidmarks
1998
as Sergeant Larry Skovik
TVThe View
1997
as Self
MovieOfficer Buckle and Gloria
1997
as Narrator (voice)
MovieHollow Point
1996
as Thomas Livingston
TVCosby
1996
as John Lithgow
TVThe West
1996
as Self
TVThe Daily Show
1996
as Self
MovieSpecial Effects: Anything Can Happen
1996
as Narrator
TVThe Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996
as Self - Guest
TV3rd Rock from the Sun
1996
as Dick Solomon
MovieThe Tuskegee Airmen
1995
as Senator Conyers
MovieRedwood Curtain
1995
as Laird Riordan
My Brother's Keeper
1995
as Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
MovieSilent Fall
1994
as Dr. Rene Harlinger
MoviePrincess Caraboo
1994
as Professor Wilkinson
MovieA Good Man in Africa
1994
as Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
MovieMasters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects
1994
as Self
TVWorld War II: When Lions Roared
1994
as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
TVAmerican Cinema
1994
as Self - Host
MovieThe Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale
1993
as Alexander (voice)
MovieLove, Cheat & Steal
1993
as Paul Harrington
MovieThe Pelican Brief
1993
as Smith Keen
TVFrasier
1993
as Madman Martinez (voice)
TVLate Night with Conan O'Brien
1993
as Self - Guest
MovieThe Wrong Man
1993
as Phillip Mills
MovieCliffhanger
1993
as Qualen
MovieSylvester and the Magic Pebble
1993
as Narrator
MovieRaising Cain
1992
as Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
MovieAt Play in the Fields of the Lord
1991
as Leslie Huben
MovieRicochet
1991
as Earl Talbott Blake
MovieThe Boys
1991
as Artie Margulies
MovieAmazing Stories: The Movie II
1990
as John Walters (archive footage)
MovieMemphis Belle
1990
as Bruce Derringer
MovieIvory Hunters
1990
as Robert Carter
MovieJohn Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
1990
MovieNight of 100 Stars III
1990
as Self
MovieHappy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years
1990
as Self
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Gus (voice)
MovieTraveling Man
1989
as Ben Cluett
TVTales from the Crypt
1989
as Dr. Oscar Charles
MovieOut Cold
1989
as Dave
MovieDistant Thunder
1988
as Mark Lambert
MovieHarry and the Hendersons
1987
as George Henderson
MovieThe Amazing Bone
1987
as Narrator
Baby Girl Scott
1987
as Neil Scott
MovieThe Manhattan Project
1986
as John Mathewson
MovieResting Place
1986
as Maj. Kendall Laird
MovieSanta Claus: The Making of the Movie
1985
as Self
MovieMesmerized
1985
as Oliver Thompson
MovieSanta Claus: The Movie
1985
as B.Z.
TVAmazing Stories
1985
as John Walters
Movie2010
1984
as Dr. Walter Curnow
MovieThe Glitter Dome
1984
as Sgt. Marty Wellborn
MovieThe Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
1984
as Lord John Whorfin
MovieFootloose
1984
as Rev. Shaw Moore
MovieGoldilocks and the Three Bears
1984
as Goldilocks' Father
Movie2010 : The Odyssey Continues
1984
as Himself
MovieThe Day After
1983
as Joe Huxley
MovieTerms of Endearment
1983
as Sam Burns
MovieTwilight Zone: The Movie
1983
as Valentine
Not in Front of the Children
1982
as Richard Carruthers
TVFaerie Tale Theatre
1982
as Goldilocks' Father
MovieThe World According to Garp
1982
as Roberta Muldoon
MovieI'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
1982
as Mr. Brunner
MovieBlow Out
1981
as Burke
MovieBig Blonde
1980
as Herbie Morse
MovieMom, the Wolfman and Me
1980
as Wally
MovieThe Oldest Living Graduate
1980
as Clarence
MovieAll That Jazz
1979
as Lucas Sergeant
MovieRich Kids
1979
as Paul Philips
MovieThe Big Fix
1978
as Sam Sebastian
MovieSecret Service
1977
as Capt. Thorne
MovieObsession
1976
as Robert Lasalle
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
TVNOVA
1974
as Narrator
MovieThe Country Girl
1974
as Paul Unger
MovieDealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
1972
as John
Film '72
1971
as Self
TVGreat Performances
1971
as Capt. Thorne
TVThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
TVTony Awards
1956
as Self - Winner
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self - Presenter
TVToday
1952
as Self
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Paul Unger
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Nominee
MovieBroadway: The Next Generation
as Self
MovieStallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger
as Self
