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).

Filmography

• 2026Giant — Roald Dahl
• Harry Potter — Albus Dumbledore
• 2026Jimpa — Jimpa
• Dexter: Resurrection — Arthur Mitchell
• 2025The Rule of Jenny Pen — Dave Crealy, Executive Producer
• 2024Art Happens Here with John Lithgow — Self, Executive Producer
• 2024Cabrini — Mayor Gould
• 2024Conclave — Tremblay
• 2024Spellbound — Bolinar (voice)
• 2023Killers of the Flower Moon — Prosecutor Peter Leaward
• 2023Sharper — Richard Hobbes
• 2022Chez Bob
• 2022The Bubble — Tom the Studio Chairman
• The Old Man — Harold Harper
• Dexter: New Blood — Arthur Mitchell
• 2021Emily @ the Edge of Chaos — Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
• 2021Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes — Philip Drummond
• 2021Myths and Hymns
• 2021Show of Titles — "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
• Perry Mason — Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
• 2019Bombshell — Roger Ailes
• 2019Late Night — Walter Lovell
• 2019Pet Sematary — Jud Crandall
• 2019The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts — President Donald J. Trump
• 2019The Tomorrow Man — Ed Hemsler
• Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
• 2018Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy Baterman — Jud Crandall
• 2017Beatriz at Dinner — Doug Strutt
• 2017Daddy's Home 2 — Don
• 2017Pitch Perfect 3 — Fergus
• 2017They All Saw a Cat
• Trial & Error — Larry Henderson
• 2016Miss Sloane — Senator Ronald Sperling
• 2016Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 — Narrator
• 2016The Accountant — Lamar Blackburn
• The Crown — Winston Churchill
• 2015Best of Enemies — Voice of Gore Vidal
• 2015Lord John
• 20149 Kisses — Man in Club
• 2014Interstellar — Donald
• 2014Love Is Strange — Ben
• 2014The Homesman — Reverend Alfred Dowd
• 2014The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure Quest — Maurice (voice)
• The Roosevelts: An Intimate History — James Roosevelt (voice)
• 2013National Theatre Live: The Magistrate — Posket
• Once Upon a Time in Wonderland — The White Rabbit (voice)
• 2013Shrek Stories — Lord Farquaad (voice)
• 2013Timms Valley — Ol' Gregory Timms
• 2012The Campaign — Glen Motch
• 2012This Is 40 — Oliver
• 2011New Year's Eve — Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
• Prohibition — Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
• 2011Rise of the Planet of the Apes — Charles Rodman
• 2010Leap Year — Jack Brady
• 2009Confessions of a Shopaholic — Edgar West
• 2009Miracle in a Box: A Piano Reborn — Narrator
• 2009The Macabre World of Lavender Williams — God
• 2008Car of the Future — Narrator
• 30 Rock — John Lithgow
• Dexter — Arthur Mitchell
• 2006Dreamgirls — Jerry Harris
• 2006Sangre — Cafe chef and owner
• 2006The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays — René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
• 2006The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand Challenge — Narrator
• Twenty Good Years — John Mason
• 2005Einstein's Big Idea — Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
• How I Met Your Mother — Jerry Whittaker
• The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
• The Colbert Report
• 2004Dogs and More Dogs — Narrator
• 2004Footloose: A Modern Musical — Self, Thanks
• 2004Kinsey — Alfred Seguine Kinsey
• 2004Shrek 3-D — Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
• 2004The Life and Death of Peter Sellers — Blake Edwards
• 2003Bark, George
• DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection — Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
• VH1 Goes Inside
• 2002Orange County — Bud Brumder
• 2001Shrek — Lord Farquaad (voice)
• 2001Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party — Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
• 200095 Worlds and Counting — Narrator
• 2000Don Quixote — Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano, Executive Producer
• 2000Rugrats in Paris: The Movie — Jean-Claude (voice)
• 1999Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special — (archive footage)
• 1999Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis Collection — Dr. Oscar Charles
• 1998A Civil Action — Judge Walter J. Skinner
• 1998Homegrown — Malcolm / Robert Stockman
• 1998Johnny Skidmarks — Sergeant Larry Skovik
• 1997Officer Buckle and Gloria — Narrator (voice)
• 3rd Rock from the Sun — Dick Solomon
• Cosby — John Lithgow
• 1996Hollow Point — Thomas Livingston
• 1996Special Effects: Anything Can Happen — Narrator
• 1995My Brother's Keeper — Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
• 1995Redwood Curtain — Laird Riordan
• 1995The Tuskegee Airmen — Senator Conyers
• 1994A Good Man in Africa — Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
• 1994Princess Caraboo — Professor Wilkinson
• 1994Silent Fall — Dr. Rene Harlinger
• World War II: When Lions Roared — Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• 1993Cliffhanger — Qualen
• Frasier — Madman Martinez (voice)
• 1993Love, Cheat & Steal — Paul Harrington
• 1993Sylvester and the Magic Pebble — Narrator
• 1993The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale — Alexander (voice)
• 1993The Pelican Brief — Smith Keen
• 1993The Wrong Man — Phillip Mills
• 1992Raising Cain — Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
• 1991At Play in the Fields of the Lord — Leslie Huben
• 1991Ricochet — Earl Talbott Blake
• 1991The Boys — Artie Margulies
• 1990Amazing Stories: The Movie II — John Walters
• 1990Ivory Hunters — Robert Carter
• 1990John Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
• 1990Memphis Belle — Bruce Derringer
• 1989Out Cold — Dave
• Tales from the Crypt — Dr. Oscar Charles
• The Simpsons — Gus (voice), John Lithgow (voice)
• 1989Traveling Man — Ben Cluett
• 1988Distant Thunder — Mark Lambert
• 1987Baby Girl Scott — Neil Scott
• 1987Harry and the Hendersons — George Henderson
• 1987The Amazing Bone — Narrator
• 1986Resting Place — Maj. Kendall Laird
• 1986The Manhattan Project — John Mathewson
• Amazing Stories — John Walters
• 1985Mesmerized — Oliver Thompson
• 1985Santa Claus: The Movie — B.Z.
• 19842010 — Dr. Walter Curnow
• 1984Footloose — Rev. Shaw Moore
• 1984Goldilocks and the Three Bears — Goldilocks' Father
• 1984The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension — Lord John Whorfin
• 1984The Glitter Dome — Sgt. Marty Wellborn
• 1983Terms of Endearment — Sam Burns
• 1983The Day After — Joe Huxley
• 1983Twilight Zone: The Movie — Valentine
• Faerie Tale Theatre — Goldilocks' Father
• 1982I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can — Mr. Brunner
• 1982Not in Front of the Children — Richard Carruthers
• 1982The World According to Garp — Roberta Muldoon
• 1981Blow Out — Burke
• 1980Big Blonde — Herbie Morse
• 1980Mom, the Wolfman and Me — Wally
• 1980The Oldest Living Graduate — Clarence
• 1979All That Jazz — Lucas Sergeant
• 1979Rich Kids — Paul Philips
• 1978The Big Fix — Sam Sebastian
• 1977Secret Service — Capt. Thorne
• 1976Obsession — Robert Lasalle
• NOVA — Narrator
• 1974The Country Girl — Paul Unger
• 1972Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues — John
• Great Performances — Capt. Thorne
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Paul Unger, Major Kendall Laird, Laird Riordan

Appearances as themselves (57)

• 2026Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic — Self
• SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night — Self
• 2023Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic — Self
• Liv Ullmann: A Road Less Travelled — Self
• Sherri — Self - Guest
• 2020Give My Regards to Broadway — Self
• Stars in the House — Self - Special Guest
• 2019On Broadway — Self
• The Kelly Clarkson Show — Self
• James Cameron's Story of Science Fiction — Self
• 2018Mister Rogers: It's You I Like — Self
• The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer — Self - Guest
• 2017Hickory Dickory Doc — Himself
• 2017The Pulitzer At 100 — Self
• 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSC — Self - Performer
• Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter — Self
• 2015Inside 'Interstellar' — Self
• 2015Projections of America — Self - Narrator (voice)
• The Late Late Show with James Corden — Self - Guest
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self - Guest
• Late Night with Seth Meyers — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self - Guest
• Variety Studio: Actors on Actors — Self
• 2013Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For Love — Self
• 2012Casting By — Self
• Finding Your Roots — Self
• 2011Shrek: Once Upon a Time — Self
• Conan — Self
• Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen — Self - Guest
• 2007ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway — Self
• The Graham Norton Show — Self
• The One Show — Self
• The Tony Danza Show — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self - Guest
• 2002Buckaroo Banzai Declassified — Self
• Live from E! — Self
• The Early Show — Self
• The View — Self, Self - Guest
• The Daily Show — Self
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show — Self - Guest
• The West — Self, Self / Uriah Oblinger (voice)
• American Cinema — Self - Host
• 1994Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special Effects — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• 1993Stallone on the Edge: The Making of Cliffhanger — Self
• 1990Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years — Self
• 1990Night of 100 Stars III — Self
• 1985Santa Claus: The Making of the Movie — Self
• 19842010 : The Odyssey Continues — Himself
• Saturday Night Live — Self - Host
• Film '72 — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Winner, Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Nominee / Performer
• The Oscars — Self - Presenter
• Today — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Winner
• Broadway: The Next Generation — Self