John Lithgow

A versatile character player who has been a familiar face in theater, film and TV since the early 1970s, John Lithgow has proven adept with a wide range of material spanning drama, comedy, sci-fi, family fare and thrillers. He won a Tony for his Broadway debut as a rugby player in 1973's "The Changing Room" and appeared in several films before gaining acclaim and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his sympathetic and dignified performance as Roberta Muldoon, a transsexual ex-pro football player in 1982's "The World According to Garp".

Lithgow's strapping physique lends authenticity to his portrayals of athletes gone slightly to seed as was demonstrated by his roles in "Changing Room", "Garp" and his Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway production of Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1985). Yet when he slumps his shoulders and slouches a bit, his weak chin and amazingly expressive features can conspire to make him appear meek and nervous. On the other hand, when his eyes harden and his mouth becomes set, the actor can be an extremely effective villain.

Lithgow's film career blossomed in the 80s and continued full tilt through the 90s. He earned additional kudos and another supporting Oscar nomination for his role as the hapless lawyer who has an affair with Debra Winger in "Terms of Endearment" (1983). He has played an extraordinary variety of roles: spectacularly nervous guys (e.g., "Twilight Zone - The Movie" 1983; "2010" 1984); full-fledged psychotics (notably in two Brian De Palma-directed efforts "Blow Out" 1981 and "Raising Cain" 1992); repressive patriarchs (i.e., "Footloose" 1984; "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" 1991); and broad cartoonish villains ("The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai" 1984). Lithgow has approached more conventionally villainous roles with particular relish in several genre films like "Ricochet" (1991), opposite Denzel Washington and "Cliffhanger" (1993), wherein he menaces Sylvester Stallone.

Having devoted much time to theater (including originating the role of the diplomat in 1988's "M. Butterfly") and high-toned TV-movies and specials, Lithgow opted for a change of pace, headlining his first TV series, the NBC sitcom "3rd Rock From the Sun" (1996-2001). Playing the leader of a band of aliens who assume human form, he displayed superb comic timing and earned the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 1996, 1997 and 1999. Lithgow took a short break from comedy in 2000 to appear as the titular romantic hero in the TNT production "Don Quixote". Adding yet another eccentric character to his overflowing gallery, he garnered excellent reviews for his performance as he introduced the classic story to a new generation. After that, Lithgow returned to more light-hearted fare, lending his distinctive voice to the animated feature films "Rugrats in Paris--The Movie" (2000) and "Shrek" (2001), playing the diminutive but arrogant villain Lord Farquaad in the latter. In 2004 Lithgow scored in a pair of biopics, first in the feature film "Kinsey" playing the stern, devout and disapproving father of famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey; then as film director Blake Edwards in the HBO telepic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

Lithgow also kept in touch with his stage roots, headlining a 2000 workshop of "Sweet Smell of Success," assuming Burt Lancaster's film role of J.J. Hunsecker when the production went to Broadway in 2002, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Leading Actor in a Musical. In 2003 he joined Eileen Atkins in the William Nicholson drama "The Retreat from Moscow," at the Booth Theatre. In 2005 the actor starred as the sophisticated con artist Lawrence Jameson, the Michael Caine role in the musical stage production based on the hit film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" at New York's Imperial Theatre (earning another Tony nomination), as well as headlining the Flea Theater production of A.R. Gurney's "Mrs. Farnsworth," opposite Sigourney Weaver.

Lithgow also authored several popular childrens' books, including Micawber (2002), I'm a Manatee (2003) and Carnival of the Animals (2004).

• Also Credited As:
  John Arthur Lithgow
• Born:
  John Arthur Lithgow on October 19, 1945 in Rochester, New York, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Director, Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Playwright

Family

• Daughter: Phoebe McCurtain Lithgow. Born June 28, 1982; mother, Mary Yeager
• Father: Arthur W Lithgow. Managed the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey; died of heart failure in 2004
• Mother: Sarah Jane Lithgow.
• Sister: Robin Lithgow.
• Son: Ian Lithgow. Born c. 1971; mother, Jean Taynton; had a recurring role on NBC s 3rd Rock From the Sun as Leon, a particularly slow student in Prof. Solomon s class
• Son: Nathan George Lithgow. Born Sept. 13, 1983; mother, Mary Yeager

Education

• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1967
• London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, London, England

Milestones

• 1951 Made stage debut at age six, in his father s production of Henry VI, Part III
• 1967 Won a Fulbright Scholarship to study drama in England
• 1969 Began stage career as a director with the McCarter Theatre (operated by his father)
• 1972 Feature acting debut, Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
• 1973 Debuted on Broadway in David Storey s The Changing Room ; won both the Tony and Drama Desk Awards
• 1974 Starred on Broadway opposite Lynn Redgrave in My Fat Friend and opposite Meryl Streep in Arthur Miller s A Memory of Two Mondays
• 1976 First collaboration with Brian De Palma, Obsession
• 1982 Breakthrough role, playing the transsexual football player, in The World According to Garp ; earned first Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination
• 1983 Earned second Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his turn as a lawyer who enters into an affair with Debra Winger s character in Terms of Endearment
• 1983 First leading role in a feature, the George Miller-directed remake of the classic Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet in Twilight Zone: The Movie
• 1984 Played the moralistic anti-dancing, anti-rock pastor in Footloose
• 1985 Earned a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in the Broadway production of Requiem for a Heavyweight
• 1986 Delivered an Emmy-winning turn as a bachelor whose life is altered when he buys The Doll ; a segment of the NBC anthology series Amazing Stories
• 1986 Played Walter Burns in the Lincoln Center Broadway revival of The Front Page
• 1988 Originated the lead role of a French diplomat in love with a Chinese opera singer in the Broadway production of M. Butterfly ; earned a Tony Award nomination for Featured Actor in a Play
• 1990 Appeared (also sang and wrote music) in a music video for children, John Lithgow s Kid-Size Concert
• 1990 Played Colonel Bruce Derringer in the World War II drama Memphis Belle
• 1992 Offered a brilliant dual performance in the psychological thriller Raising Cain
• 1993 Was the villain who hunted Sylvester Stallone in the action-thriller Cliffhanger
• 1996 Cast as Dr. Dick Solomon, an extraterrestrial scientist and the High Commander in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun ; received Golden Globe (1998, 1999), Emmy (1998, 2000, 2001) and SAG (2001) nominations for his role
• 2000 Executive produced and had title role in the TNT production Don Quixote
• 2001 Voiced Lord Farquaad in the animated feature, Shrek
• 2002 Acted in the teen comedy Orange County
• 2002 Played the role of J.J. Hunsecker in the Broadway production of Marvin Hamlisch s Sweet Smell of Success
• 2004 Cast in the Broadway production of The Retreat from Moscow
• 2004 Portrayed Blake Edwards in the HBO movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
• 2004 Portrayed the title character s moralistic, rigid father, opposite Liam Neeson in Bill Condon s Kinsey
• 2004 Received a Grammy nomination for Best Spoken word for The World According to Mr. Rogers and Carnival of the Animals
• 2005 Starred in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, the Broadway musical adapted from the 1988 movie starring Michael Caine and Steve Martin; received a Tony nomination for his role
• Raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio
• Starred as George S Kaufman in a one-man Off-Broadway show, Kaufman at Large
• Will star in a revival of Arthur Miller s All My Sons (fall 2008)