JL
John Lithgow
Actor, Producer, WriterBorn October 19, 1945 (79 years)
John Arthur Lithgow 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).
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).
Movies & Shows on Plex
Known For
Featured Videos
Filmography
| 2025 | Jimpa · as Jimpa |
| 2025 | Dexter: Resurrection (TV Series) · as Arthur Mitchell |
| 2024 | The Rule of Jenny Pen · as Dave Crealy |
| 2024 | Spellbound · as Bolinar (voice) |
| 2024 | Conclave · as Tremblay |
| 2024 | Cabrini · as Mayor Gould |
| 2023 | Killers of the Flower Moon · as Prosecutor Peter Leaward |
| 2023 | Sharper · as Richard Hobbes |
| 2022 | The Old Man (TV Series) · as Harold Harper |
| 2022 | The Bubble · as Tom The Studio Chairman |
| 2021 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience: 'The Facts of Life' and 'Diff'rent Strokes' · as Philip Drummond |
| 2021 | Dexter: New Blood (TV Series) · as Arthur Mitchell |
| 2021 | Wolfboy and the Everything Factory (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 2021 | Emily @ the Edge of Chaos · as Sir Isaac Newton (voice) |
| 2020 | Perry Mason (2020) (TV Series) · as Elias Birchard 'e.b.' Jonathan |
| 2019 | Bombshell · as Roger Ailes |
| 2019 | The Tomorrow Man · as Ed Hemsler |
| 2019 | The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts · as President Donald J. Trump |
| 2019 | Late Night · as Walter Lovell |
| 2019 | Live in Front of a Studio Audience (TV Series) · as Phillip Drummond |
| 2019 | Pet Sematary · as Jud Crandall |
| 2018 | Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (TV Series) |
| 2017 | Pitch Perfect 3 · as Fergus |
| 2017 | Daddy's Home 2 · as Don |
| 2017 | Beatriz at Dinner · as Doug Strutt |
| 2017 | Trial & Error (TV Series) · as Larry Henderson |
| 2017 | |
| 2016 | Miss Sloane · as Senator Ronald Sperling |
| 2016 | The Crown (TV Series) · as Winston Churchill |
| 2016 | The Accountant · as Lamar Blackburn |
| 2016 | Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 · as Narrator |
| 2016 | PBS Special - Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 · as Narrator |
| 2014 | 9 Kisses · as Man In Club |
| 2014 | Interstellar · as Donald |
| 2014 | Love Is Strange · as Ben |
| 2014 | The Roosevelts: An Intimate History (TV Series) · as James Roosevelt (voice) |
| 2014 | The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest · as Maurice (voice) |
| 2014 | The Homesman · as Reverend Alfred Dowd |
| 2014 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (TV Series) · as The Stinkbug |
| 2013 | Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (TV Series) · as The White Rabbit (voice) |
| 2013 | Shrek Stories · as Lord Farquaad (voice) |
| 2013 | Drunk History (TV Series) · as George Washington |
| 2013 | National Theatre Live: The Magistrate · as Posket |
| 2012 | This Is 40 · as Oliver |
| 2012 | Shrek's Thrilling Tales · as Lord Farquad |
| 2012 | The Campaign · as Glen Motch |
| 2011 | The Jungle Bunch: Back to the Ice Floe · as Maurice |
| 2011 | New Year's Eve · as Jonathan Cox (uncredited) |
| 2011 | Prohibition (TV Series) · as Reader / H.l. Mencken (voice) |
| 2011 | Rise of the Planet of the Apes · as Charles Rodman |
| 2011 | Our Footloose Remake · as Reverend Shaw Moore |
| 2010 | Louie (2010) (TV Series) · as Funny Man |
| 2010 | Leap Year · as Jack Brady |
| 2009 | The National Parks: America's Best Idea (TV Series) · as Reader |
| 2009 | Confessions of a Shopaholic · as Edgar West |
| 2006 | Dreamgirls · as Jerry Harris |
| 2006 | Twenty Good Years (TV Series) |
| 2006 | Dexter (TV Series) · as Arthur Mitchell |
| 2005 | The Colbert Report (TV Series) |
| 2005 | The Apprentice - Martha Stewart (TV Series) |
| 2005 | How I Met Your Mother (TV Series) · as Jerry Whittaker |
| 2005 | Einstein's Big Idea · as Narrator (voice) U.s. Edition |
| 2005 | Saturday Night Live: The Best of Jon Lovitz · as Baudelaire |
| 2004 | Kinsey · as Alfred Seguine Kinsey |
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers · as Blake Edwards |
| 2004 | The Making of the Life and Death of Peter Sellers · as Blake Edwards |
| 2003 | Freedom: A History of Us (TV Series) · as Benjamin Rush |
| 2003 | Shrek 4-D · as Ghost Of Farquaad (voice) |
| 2003 | DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection (TV Series) · as Ghost Of Farquaad (voice) |
| 2003 | |
| 2002 | Orange County · as Bud Brumder |
| 2001 | Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party · as Lord Farquaad (singing Voice) |
| 2001 | Shrek · as Lord Farquaad (voice) |
| 2000 | Rugrats in Paris · as Jean-Claude (voice) |
| 2000 | Don Quixote · as Don Quixote De La Mancha / Alonso Quixano |
| 2000 | 95 Worlds and Counting · as Narrator |
| 1999 | Saturday Night Live 25 · as Baudelaire |
| 1998 | A Civil Action · as Judge Walter J. Skinner |
| 1998 | Johnny Skidmarks · as Sergeant Larry Skovik |
| 1998 | |
| 1997 | Officer Buckle and Gloria · as Narrator (voice) |
| 1996 | Hollow Point · as Thomas Livingston |
| 1996 | 3rd Rock from the Sun (TV Series) · as Dick Solomon |
| 1995 | The Tuskegee Airmen · as Senator Conyers |
| 1995 | American Cinema (TV Series) |
| 1995 | Redwood Curtain · as Laird Riordan |
| 1995 | My Brother's Keeper · as Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley |
| 1995 | American Cinema · as Narrator |
| 1994 | Silent Fall · as Dr. Rene Harlinger |
| 1994 | Princess Caraboo · as Professor Wilkinson |
| 1994 | A Good Man in Africa · as Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner |
| 1994 | World War II: When Lions Roared (TV Series) · as Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
| 1993 | The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale · as Alexander (voice) |
| 1993 | Love, Cheat & Steal · as Paul Harrington |
| 1993 | The Pelican Brief · as Smith Keen |
| 1993 | Frasier (TV Series) · as Madman Martinez (voice) |
| 1993 | The Wrong Man · as Phillip Mills |
| 1993 | Cliffhanger · as Eric Qualen |
| 1993 | Sylvester and the Magic Pebble · as Narrator |
| 1992 | Raising Cain · as Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo |
| 1991 | At Play in the Fields of the Lord · as Leslie Huben |
| 1991 | Ricochet · as Earl Talbott Blake |
| 1991 | The Boys · as Artie Margulies |
| 1990 | Memphis Belle · as Bruce Derringer |
| 1990 | Ivory Hunters · as Robert Carter |
| 1989 | The Simpsons (TV Series) · as John Lithgow (voice) |
| 1989 | Traveling Man · as Ben Cluett |
| 1989 | Tales from the Crypt (TV Series) · as Dr. Oscar Charles |
| 1989 | Out Cold · as Dave |
| 1988 | Distant Thunder · as Mark Lambert |
| 1987 | Harry and the Hendersons · as George Henderson |
| 1987 | Baby Girl Scott · as Neil Scott |
| 1986 | The Manhattan Project · as John Mathewson |
| 1986 | Resting Place · as Maj. Kendall Laird |
| 1985 | Santa Claus · as B.z. |
| 1985 | Mesmerized · as Oliver Thompson |
| 1985 | Amazing Stories (1985) (TV Series) · as John Walters |
| 1985 | The Amazing Bone · as Narrator |
| 1984 | 2010: The Year We Make Contact · as Dr. Walter Curnow |
| 1984 | The Glitter Dome · as Sgt. Marty Wellborn |
| 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension · as Lord John Whorfin |
| 1984 | Footloose · as Rev. Shaw Moore |
| 1983 | Terms of Endearment · as Sam Burns |
| 1983 | The Day After · as Joe Huxley |
| 1983 | Twilight Zone: The Movie · as Valentine |
| 1982 | Not in Front of the Children · as Richard Carruthers |
| 1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre (TV Series) · as Goldilocks' Father |
| 1982 | The World According to Garp · as Roberta Muldoon |
| 1982 | I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can · as Mr. Brunner |
| 1981 | Blow Out · as Burke |
| 1980 | Mom, the Wolfman and Me · as Wally |
| 1980 | The Oldest Living Graduate · as Clarence |
| 1979 | All That Jazz · as Lucas Sergeant |
| 1979 | Rich Kids · as Paul Philips |
| 1978 | The Big Fix · as Sam Sebastian |
| 1976 | Obsession · as Robert Lasalle |
| 1974 | NOVA (TV Series) · as Narrator |
| 1972 | |
| 1971 | Great Performances (TV Series) · as Capt. Thorne |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Paul Unger |