John Lithgow on screen and stage

John Lithgow is an American actor, musician, poet, author, comedian and singer. He made his film debut in the comedy-drama Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972).^[1] He has since then appeared in over 50 films, countless television projects and on stage. Lithgow's first appearance on stage came in 1973, in a Broadway production of The Changing Room by David Storey, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play and a Drama Desk Award.^[2][3] Some of his other theater work he performed in were My Fat Friend (1974), Trelawny of the 'Wells' (1975) and the 1976 plays A Memory of Two Mondays / 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, Secret Service and Boy Meets Girl.^[3] Lithgow subsequently acted in films such as Obsession (1976), The Big Fix (1978), the 1979 films All That Jazz with Roy Scheider and Rich Kids, Blow Out (1981) starring John Travolta, and I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982).^[1]

Lithgow attending the red carpet prior to the 40th Primetime Emmy Awards in 1988

Lithgow's film breakthrough came after playing a transgender woman, Roberta Muldoon, who was a former football player, in a supporting role in the comedy-drama The World According to Garp (1982) with Robin Williams.^[4][5][6] Lithgow was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role.^[7] He then portrayed an airplane passenger who suffers from aviophobia in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983).^[8] Later the same year, Lithgow went on to play a science professor in the television disaster film The Day After, which won him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special.^[9] As 1983 came to a close, he also featured in Terms of Endearment, where he played the role of a banker with Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson, thus earning Lithgow his second Academy Award nomination in the same category.^[10] In addition, Lithgow had a string of main and supporting roles during the 1980s, notably in the 1984 films Footloose, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, 2010, Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), The Manhattan Project (1986), and Harry and the Hendersons (1987).^[1]

The 1990s saw Lithgow continue to appear in various Hollywood films, namely Ricochet (1991) opposite Denzel Washington, Raising Cain (1992), Cliffhanger (1993) starring Sylvester Stallone and The Pelican Brief (1993), where he was reunited with Washington.^[1][11] He was cast in a main role in the 1996 television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, where he played a high-ranking commander of an alien unit of four who have been sent to Earth to retrieve information under the disguise as a university professor.^[12] The show spanned over 100 episodes, during which Lithgow won one Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards for his role,^[9][13] before ending in 2001.^[14] That same year, he became the character of Lord Farquaad in the animated fantasy-comedy film Shrek (2001).^[15][16]

Other roles Lithgow appeared in during the 2000s were The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) with Geoffrey Rush, where he portrayed the famed director, screenwriter and producer Blake Edwards,^[17] Kinsey (2004), and Dreamgirls (2006).^[1] Lithgow also starred in the short-lived sitcom Twenty Good Years (2006).^[18][19] In 2009, he joined the cast of crime show Dexter as Arthur Mitchell, a family man who lives a double life as a serial killer.^[20] He appeared in a total of twelve episodes as the main antagonist on the fourth season, and for his performance, he won his second Golden Globe and fifth Emmy Award.^[21][22][23] Lithgow's later roles during the 2010s includes the science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011),^[24] the political comedy The Campaign (2012), the comedy-drama This Is 40 (2012), the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–14), where he performed as a guest star in four episodes in the role as the father of executive Barney Stinson, as the voice of Percy the White Rabbit in ABC's fantasy-drama and spin-off program Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013–14),^[25] and the 2014 films Love Is Strange, alongside fellow co-star Alfred Molina,^[26] The Homesman,^[27] and Interstellar.^[28] Other films include Daddy's Home 2 (2017), Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), a new adaptation of Stephen King's novel, Pet Sematary (2019), and Bombshell (2019). Lithgow can be seen as Winston Churchill in the television drama series The Crown (2016).^[29] Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter series.^[30][31]

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
1972	Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues	John		[32]
1976	Obsession	Robert LaSalle		[33]
1978	The Big Fix	Sam Sebastian		[34]
1979	Rich Kids	Paul Philips		[35]
	All That Jazz	Lucas Sergeant		[36]
1981	Blow Out	Burke		[37]
1982	I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can	Mr. Brunner		[38]
	The World According to Garp	Roberta Muldoon		[4]
1983	Terms of Endearment	Sam Burns		[4]
	Twilight Zone: The Movie	John Valentine	Segment: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet"	[8]
1984	Footloose	Reverend Shaw Moore		[39]
	The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension	Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin		[40]
	2010: The Year We Make Contact	Dr. Walter Curnow		[41]
1985	Santa Claus: The Movie	B.Z.		[42]
1986	Mesmerized	Oliver Thompson		[43]
	The Manhattan Project	John Mathewson		[44]
1987	Harry and the Hendersons	George Henderson		[45]
1988	Distant Thunder	Mark Lambert		[46]
1989	Out Cold	Dave Geary		[47][48]
1990	Memphis Belle	Lt. Col. Bruce Derringer		[49][50]
1991	L.A. Story	Harry Zell	Scenes deleted	[51][52]
	At Play in the Fields of the Lord	Leslie Huben		[53]
	Ricochet	Earl Talbot Blake		[54]
1992	Raising Cain	Carter / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo		[55]
1993	The Wrong Man	Phillip Mills		[56]
	The Pelican Brief	Smith Keen		[57]
	Love, Cheat & Steal	Paul Harrington		[58]
	Cliffhanger	Eric Qualen		[59]
1994	Silent Fall	Dr. Rene Harlinger		[60]
	Princess Caraboo	Professor Wilkinson		[61]
	A Good Man in Africa	Arthur Fanshawe		[62]
1996	Hollow Point	Thomas Livingston		[63]
1998	Homegrown	Malcolm / Robert Stockman		[64]
	Johnny Skidmarks	Sergeant Larry Skovik		[65]
	A Civil Action	Judge Walter J. Skinner		[66]
2000	Rugrats in Paris: The Movie	Jean-Claude	Voice role	[67]
2001	Shrek	Lord Maximus Farquaad		[68]
2002	Orange County	Bud Brumder		[69]
2004	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	Blake Edwards		[17]
	Kinsey	Alfred Seguine Kinsey		[70]
2006	Dreamgirls	Jerry Harris		[71][72]
2009	Confessions of a Shopaholic	Edgar West		[73]
2010	Leap Year	Jack Brady		[74][75]
2011	Rise of the Planet of the Apes	Charles Rodman		[76][77]
	New Year's Eve	Jonathan Cox		[78][79]
	The Jungle Bunch: The Movie	Maurice	Voice role English dub; direct-to-video	[80][81][82]
2012	The Campaign	Glenn Motch		[83]
	This Is 40	Oliver		[84]
	Casting By	Himself	Documentary
2014	Love Is Strange	Benjamin Arthur Hull		[85][86]
	The Homesman	Reverend Alfred Dowd		[27]
	Interstellar	Donald		[28]
2015	Best of Enemies	Gore Vidal	Voice role; documentary	[87]
2016	The Accountant	Lamar Blackburn		[88]
	Miss Sloane	Senator Ron M. Sperling		[89]
2017	Beatriz at Dinner	Doug Strutt		[90]
	Daddy's Home 2	Don Whitaker		[91]
	Pitch Perfect 3	Fergus Hobart		[92]
2019	Late Night	Walter Newbury		[93]
	The Tomorrow Man	Ed Hemsler		[94]
	Pet Sematary	Jud Crandall		[95]
	Bombshell	Roger Ailes		[96]
2022	The Bubble	Tom the Studio Chairman	Cameo	[97]
2023	Sharper	Richard Hobbes		[98]
	Killers of the Flower Moon	Prosecutor Peter Leaward		[99]
2024	Cabrini	Mayor Gould		[100]
	Conclave	Cardinal Tremblay		[101]
	The Rule of Jenny Pen	Dave Crealy		[102]
	Spellbound	Minister Bolinar	Voice role	[103]
2025	Jimpa	Jimpa		[104]

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes	Ref(s)
1974	The Country Girl	Paul Unger	Television film	[105]
1977	Great Performances	Captain Thorne	Episode: "Secret Service"	[106][107]
1980	The Oldest Living Graduate	Clarence Sickenger	Television film	[108][109]
	Mom, the Wolfman and Me	Wally		[110][111]
	Big Blonde	Herbie Morse		[112]
1982	Not In Front of the Children	Richard Carruthers		[113][114]
1983	The Day After	Professor Joe Huxley		[115][116][117]
1984	Faerie Tale Theatre	Goldilocks' father	Episode: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears"	[118][119][120]
	The Glitter Dome	Sergeant Marty Wellborn	Television film	[121][122]
1985–1988	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Host; 3 episodes	[123]
1986	Amazing Stories	John Walters	Episode: "The Doll"	[124][125]
	Resting Place	Major Kendall Laird	Television film	[126]
1987	Baby Girl Scott	Neil Scott		[127]
1989	Traveling Man	Ben Cluett		[128]
1990	Ivory Hunters	Robert Carter		[129][130]
1991	The Boys	Artie Margulies		[131][132]
1993	The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale	Alexander	Voice role; animated television special	[133]
1994	World War II: When Lions Roared	Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt	Television film	[134]
1995	Tales from the Crypt	Dr. Oscar Charles	Episode: "You, Murderer"	[135][136]
	My Brother's Keeper	Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley	Television film	[137]
	Frasier	Madman Martinez	Voice role; episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me"	[138][139]
	Redwood Curtain	Laird Riordan	Television film	[140]
	The Tuskegee Airmen	Senator Conyers		[141]
1996–2001	3rd Rock from the Sun	Dick Solomon	139 episodes	[12][142]
1999	Cosby	Himself	Episode: "Superstar"	[143]
2000	Don Quixote	Don Quixote de la Mancha Alonso Quijano	Television film	[144][145]
2003	Freedom: A History of Us	Benjamin Rush / Roger Williams Henry Billings Brown / Ward Hunt	Voice role; 4 episodes	[146]
2006	Twenty Good Years	John Mason	13 episodes[a]	[18]
2009	Dexter	Arthur Mitchell	12 episodes	[20][21]
	30 Rock	Himself	Episode: "Goodbye, My Friend"	[149][150]
2011	Prohibition	H. L. Mencken	Voice role; 3 episodes	[151][152]
2011–2014	How I Met Your Mother	Jerome "Jerry" Whitaker	4 episodes	[153][154][155]
2013	Timms Valley	Ol' Gregory Timms	Voice role; pilot	[156][157]
2013–2014	Once Upon a Time in Wonderland	Percy the White Rabbit	Voice role; 13 episodes	[25][158]
2014	Drunk History	William Randolph Hearst George Washington	2 episodes	[159][160]
2015	Louie	Funny Man	Episode: "Sleepover"	[161][162]
2016–2019	The Crown	Winston Churchill	Main role (Season 1); supporting role (Seasons 2–3) 11 episodes	[29]
2017	Trial & Error	Professor Larry Henderson	13 episodes	[163]
2019, 2022	The Simpsons	Himself (voice) Augustus "Gus" Redfield	Episodes: "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" "Meat Is Murder"	[164][165]
2019–2022	The Late Show with Stephen Colbert	Rudy Giuliani	4 episodes
2020	Perry Mason	Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan	5 episodes	[166]
2021	Wolfboy and the Everything Factory	Professor Chronopher (voice)	Episode: "Losing Track Of Time / Chaos Comes To Class"	[167]
	Live in Front of a Studio Audience	Phillip Drummond	Episode: "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life"	[168]
	Dexter: New Blood	Arthur Mitchell	Episode: "Skin of Her Teeth"	[169]
2022–2024	The Old Man	Harold Harper	Main cast	[170]
2026	Harry Potter	Professor Albus Dumbledore	Main cast[171]

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Director(s)	Venue	Ref(s)
1973	The Changing Room	Kenny Kendal	Michael Rudman	Morosco Theatre	[172][173]
1974	My Fat Friend	James	Robert Moore	Brooks Atkinson Theatre	[174][175]
1975	Hamlet	Laertes / Player King	Michael Rudman	Delacorte Theater	[176][177]
	Trelawny of the 'Wells'	Mr. Ferdinand Gadd	A. J. Antoon	Vivian Beaumont Theatre	[178]
1976	A Memory of Two Mondays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton	Kenneth	Arvin Brown	Playhouse Theatre	[179][180]
	Secret Service	Captain Thorne	Daniel Freudenberger	Playhouse Theatre	[181]
	Boy Meets Girl		Himself	Playhouse Theatre	[181]
1976–1977	Comedians	Ged Murray	Mike Nichols	Music Box Theatre	[182]
1977	Anna Christie	Mat Burke	José Quintero	Imperial Theatre	[183]
1978	Once in a Lifetime	George Lewis	Tom Moore	Circle in the Square Theatre	[184]
1979	Spokesong	Frank	Kenneth Frankel	Circle in the Square Theatre	[185]
1980	Salt Lake City Skyline	Joe Hill	Robert Allan Ackerman	The Public Theater	[186][187]
	Division Street	Chris	Tom Moore	Ambassador Theatre	[188][189]
1981–1982	Kaufman at Large	George S. Kaufman	Himself Steven Robman	Marymount Manhattan Theatre	[190][191]
1982	Beyond Therapy	Bruce	John Madden	Brooks Atkinson Theatre	[192]
1985	Requiem for a Heavyweight	Harlan "Mountain" McClintock	Arvin Brown	Martin Beck Theatre	[193]
1986–1987	The Front Page	Walter Burns	Jerry Zaks	Vivian Beaumont Theatre	[194][195]
1988–1990	M. Butterfly	Rene Gallimard	John Dexter	Eugene O'Neill Theatre	[196][197]
2002	Sweet Smell of Success	J. J. Hunsecker	Nicholas Hytner	Martin Beck Theatre	[198]
2003–2004	The Retreat from Moscow	Edward	Daniel Sullivan	Booth Theatre	[199][200]
2005–2006	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels	Lawrence Jameson	Jack O'Brien	Imperial Theatre	[201][202]
2007	Twelfth Night	Malvolio	Neil Bartlett	Courtyard Theatre	[203]
2008–2009	All My Sons	Joe Keller	Simon McBurney	Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre	[204][205]
2010	Mr. & Mrs. Fitch	Mr. Fitch	Scott Ellis	Second Stage Theatre	[206]
2011	8	Theodore Olson	Joe Mantello	Eugene O'Neill Theatre	[207]
2012	The Columnist	Joseph Alsop	Daniel Sullivan	Samuel J. Friedman Theatre	[208]
2012–2013	The Magistrate	Aeneas Posket	Timothy Sheader	Royal National Theatre	[209][210]
2014	King Lear	Leir of Britain	Daniel Sullivan	Delacorte Theater	[211]
2014–2015	A Delicate Balance	Tobias	Pam MacKinnon	John Golden Theatre	[212][213]
2018	John Lithgow: Stories by Heart	Himself	Daniel Sullivan	American Airlines Theatre	[214]
	Candide	Voltaire / Dr. Pangloss	Gary Griffin	Carnegie Hall	[215]
2019	Hillary and Clinton	Bill Clinton	Joe Mantello	John Golden Theatre	[216]
2024	Giant	Roald Dahl	Nicholas Hytner	Royal Court Theatre	[217]
2025				Harold Pinter Theatre	[218]

Narrator

Year	Title	Notes	Ref(s)
1985	The Amazing Bone	Story
1992	Dr. Seuss Video Classics: Yertle the Turtle
1993	Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
1996	Special Effects: Anything Can Happen	Documentary
1998	The Gold Rush		[219][220]
1999	Adventures in Time: The National Geographic Millennium Special		[221]
2000	Culture Shock	Episode: "The Shock of the Nude: Manet's Olympia"	[222][223]
2001	95 Worlds and Counting	Documentary	[224][225]
2001–2010	Nova	6 episodes	[226][227][228] [229][230][231]
2011	Truly California: Our State, Our Stories	Episode: "Miracle in a Box"	[232]
2014	Projections of America	Documentary	[233]

Audio drama

Year	Title	Role	Author	Production company	Notes	Ref(s)
2021	The Sandman: Act II	Joshua Norton	Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs	Audible		[234]

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1981, 1983	Star Wars	Yoda	Radio drama	[235]

See also

• List of awards and nominations received by John Lithgow

Notes

1. Although only four episodes were broadcast by NBC before the series was removed from the schedule, 13 were produced.^[147][148]