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John Lithgow
Born October 19, 1945
Place of birth: Rochester, New York, USA

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 Fil...
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Filmography
Actor (215 credits)
Movies
The Rule of Jenny PenDave Crealy
2025
JimpaJimpa
2025
CabriniMayor Gould
2024
SpellboundBolinar (voice)
2024
Art Happens Here with John LithgowSelf
2024
ConclaveTremblay
2024
SharperRichard Hobbes
2023
Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of MagicSelf
2023
Killers of the Flower MoonProsecutor Peter Leaward
2023
Chez Bob
2022
The BubbleTom the Studio Chairman
2022
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent StrokesPhilip Drummond
2021
Myths and Hymns
2021
Emily @ the Edge of ChaosSir Isaac Newton (voice)
2021
Show of Titles"There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
2021
Give My Regards to BroadwaySelf
2020
Late NightWalter Lovell
2019
Pet SemataryJud Crandall
2019
BombshellRoger Ailes
2019
The Tomorrow ManEd Hemsler
2019
The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten ActsPresident Donald J. Trump
2019
On BroadwaySelf
2019
Mister Rogers: It's You I LikeSelf
2018
Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy BatermanJud Crandall
2018
They All Saw a Cat
2017
Broadway: The Next GenerationSelf
2017
Beatriz at DinnerDoug Strutt
2017
Daddy's Home 2Don
2017
The Pulitzer At 100Self
2017
Pitch Perfect 3Fergus
2017
Hickory Dickory DocHimself
2017
The AccountantLamar Blackburn
2016
Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9Narrator
2016
Miss SloaneSenator Ronald Sperling
2016
Shakespeare Live! From the RSCSelf - Performer
2016
Inside 'Interstellar'Self
2015
Projections of AmericaSelf - Narrator (voice)
2015
Lord John
2015
Best of EnemiesVoice of Gore Vidal
2015
InterstellarDonald
2014
Love Is StrangeBen
2014
The HomesmanReverend Alfred Dowd
2014
The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure QuestMaurice (voice)
2014
Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For LoveSelf
2013
National Theatre Live: The MagistratePosket
2013
Shrek StoriesLord Farquaad (voice)
2013
Timms ValleyOl' Gregory Timms
2013
Casting BySelf
2012
The CampaignGlen Motch
2012
This Is 40Oliver
2012
Rise of the Planet of the ApesCharles Rodman
2011
New Year's EveJonathan Cox (uncredited)
2011
Shrek: Once Upon a TimeSelf
2011
Leap YearJack Brady
2010
Confessions of a ShopaholicEdgar West
2009
Miracle in a Box: A Piano RebornNarrator
2009
The Macabre World of Lavender WilliamsGod
2009
Car of the FutureNarrator
2008
ShowBusiness: The Road to BroadwaySelf
2007
SangreCafe chef and owner
2006
DreamgirlsJerry Harris
2006
The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand ChallengeNarrator
2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The PlaysRené Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
2006
Einstein's Big IdeaNarrator (voice) U.S. edition
2005
The Life and Death of Peter SellersBlake Edwards
2004
KinseyAlfred Seguine Kinsey
2004
Dogs and More DogsNarrator
2004
The Ghost of Lord FarquaadGhost of Farquaad (voice)
2003
Bark, George
2003
Orange CountyBud Brumder
2002
Buckaroo Banzai DeclassifiedSelf
2002
ShrekLord Farquaad (voice)
2001
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance PartyLord Farquaad (singing voice)
2001
Rugrats in Paris: The MovieJean-Claude (voice)
2000
95 Worlds and CountingNarrator
2000
Don QuixoteDon Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
2000
Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis CollectionDr. Oscar Charles
1999
A Civil ActionJudge Walter J. Skinner
1998
HomegrownMalcolm / Robert Stockman
1998
Johnny SkidmarksSergeant Larry Skovik
1998
Officer Buckle and GloriaNarrator (voice)
1997
Hollow PointThomas Livingston
1996
Special Effects: Anything Can HappenNarrator
1996
The Tuskegee AirmenSenator Conyers
1995
Redwood CurtainLaird Riordan
1995
My Brother's KeeperTom Bradley / Bob Bradley
1995
A Good Man in AfricaArthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
1994
Princess CarabooProfessor Wilkinson
1994
Silent FallDr. Rene Harlinger
1994
Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special EffectsSelf
1994
The Pelican BriefSmith Keen
1993
CliffhangerEric Qualen
1993
The Wrong ManPhillip Mills
1993
Love, Cheat & StealPaul Harrington
1993
Sylvester and the Magic PebbleNarrator
1993
The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas TaleAlexander (voice)
1993
Raising CainCarter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
1992
RicochetEarl Talbott Blake
1991
At Play in the Fields of the LordLeslie Huben
1991
The BoysArtie Margulies
1991
Memphis BelleBruce Derringer
1990
Ivory HuntersRobert Carter
1990
Night of 100 Stars IIISelf
1990
Amazing Stories: The Movie IIJohn Walters (archive footage)
1990
John Lithgow's Kid-Sized Concert
1990
Out ColdDave
1989
Traveling ManBen Cluett
1989
Distant ThunderMark Lambert
1988
Harry and the HendersonsGeorge Henderson
1987
Baby Girl ScottNeil Scott
1987
The Amazing BoneNarrator
1987
The Manhattan ProjectJohn Mathewson
1986
Resting PlaceMaj. Kendall Laird
1986
Santa Claus: The MovieB.Z.
1985
MesmerizedOliver Thompson
1985
Santa Claus: The Making of the MovieSelf
1985
FootlooseRev. Shaw Moore
1984
2010Dr. Walter Curnow
1984
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th DimensionLord John Whorfin
1984
The Glitter DomeSgt. Marty Wellborn
1984
Goldilocks and the Three BearsGoldilocks' Father
1984
2010 : The Odyssey ContinuesHimself
1984
Terms of EndearmentSam Burns
1983
The Day AfterJoe Huxley
1983
Twilight Zone: The MovieValentine
1983
The World According to GarpRoberta Muldoon
1982
I'm Dancing as Fast as I CanMr. Brunner
1982
Not in Front of the ChildrenRichard Carruthers
1982
Blow OutBurke
1981
The Oldest Living GraduateClarence
1980
Big BlondeHerbie Morse
1980
Mom, the Wolfman and MeWally
1980
All That JazzLucas Sergeant
1979
Rich KidsPaul Philips
1979
The Big FixSam Sebastian
1978
Secret ServiceCapt. Thorne
1977
ObsessionRobert Lasalle
1976
The Country GirlPaul Unger
1974
Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag BluesJohn
1972
Sequestered - Inside ConclaveSelf
Tv
SNL50: Beyond Saturday NightSelf
2025
Dexter: ResurrectionArthur Mitchell
2025
Liv Ullmann: A Road Less TravelledSelf
2023
SherriSelf - Guest
2022
The Old ManHarold Harper
2022
Dexter: New BloodArthur Mitchell
2021
Perry MasonElias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
2020
Stars in the HouseSelf - Special Guest
2020
The Kelly Clarkson ShowSelf
2019
The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To CancerSelf - Guest
2018
James Cameron's Story of Science FictionSelf
2018
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
2018
Trial & ErrorLarry Henderson
2017
The CrownWinston Churchill
2016
The Late Show with Stephen ColbertSelf - Guest
2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Close Up with The Hollywood ReporterSelf
2015
The Late Show with Stephen ColbertSelf
2015
Late Night with Seth MeyersSelf
2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy FallonSelf
2014
The Roosevelts: An Intimate HistoryJames Roosevelt (voice)
2014
Variety Studio: Actors on ActorsSelf
2014
Once Upon a Time in WonderlandThe White Rabbit (voice)
2013
Finding Your RootsSelf
2012
ProhibitionReader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
2011
ConanSelf
2010
Watch What Happens Live with Andy CohenSelf - Guest
2009
The Graham Norton ShowSelf
2007
Twenty Good Years
2006
30 RockJohn Lithgow
2006
DexterArthur Mitchell
2006
The One ShowSelf
2006
How I Met Your MotherJerry Whittaker
2005
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
2005
The Colbert Report
2005
The Tony Danza ShowSelf
2004
VH1 Goes Inside
2003
DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories CollectionGhost of Farquaad (voice)
2003
Live from E!Self
2002
The Early ShowSelf
1999
The ViewSelf
1997
The ViewSelf - Guest
1997
3rd Rock from the SunDick Solomon
1996
CosbyJohn Lithgow
1996
The WestSelf
1996
The Daily ShowSelf
1996
The Rosie O'Donnell ShowSelf - Guest
1996
The WestSelf / Uriah Oblinger (voice)
1996
American CinemaSelf - Host
1994
World War II: When Lions RoaredFranklin Delano Roosevelt
1994
FrasierMadman Martinez (voice)
1993
Late Night with Conan O'BrienSelf - Guest
1993
Tales from the Crypt - Uncut
1992
Tales from the CryptDr. Oscar Charles
1989
The SimpsonsGus (voice)
1989
The SimpsonsJohn Lithgow (voice)
1989
Amazing StoriesJohn Walters
1985
Faerie Tale TheatreGoldilocks' Father
1982
Saturday Night LiveSelf - Host
1975
NOVANarrator
1974
Great PerformancesCapt. Thorne
1971
Tony AwardsSelf - Presenter
1956
Tony AwardsSelf - Nominee / Performer
1956
Tony AwardsSelf - Winner
1956
Tony AwardsSelf - Nominee
1956
Tony AwardsSelf - Nominee/Performer
1956
The OscarsSelf - Presenter
1953
TodaySelf
1952
Hallmark Hall of FamePaul Unger
1951
Hallmark Hall of FameMajor Kendall Laird
1951
Hallmark Hall of FameLaird Riordan
1951
Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Nominee
1944
Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Presenter
1944
Harry PotterAlbus Dumbledore
Golden Globe AwardsSelf - Winner
1944