John Lithgow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Lithgow
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Lithgow in 2008
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John Arthur Lithgow
October 19, 1945 Rochester, New York, U.S.
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| Education | Harvard University (BA) London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
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| Years active | 1972–present |
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Works
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Full list |
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| Children | 3, including Ian Lithgow |
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| Awards | Full list |
John Arthur Lithgow, born on October 19, 1945, is a talented American actor. He is known for his many different roles in movies, TV shows, and plays. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Lithgow has won many important awards for his acting. These include six Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and two Tony Awards. He has also been nominated for two Academy Awards.
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A Star on Stage
John Lithgow has had a very successful career in theater. He has won two Tony Awards, which are like the Oscars for Broadway plays.
Broadway Success
His first Tony Award was for his very first Broadway play, The Changing Room, in 1972. He won for Best Featured Actor in a Play. His second Tony was for Best Actor in a Musical for Sweet Smell of Success in 2002.
He has also been nominated for Tony Awards for other plays like Requiem for a Heavyweight (1985) and M. Butterfly (1988). More recently, he appeared in Broadway shows such as The Columnist (2012) and A Delicate Balance (2014).
West End Performances
In London's West End, he played the famous author Roald Dahl in the play Giant in 2024. For this role, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, another very important theater award.
Television Roles
John Lithgow is also well-known for his many roles on television. He has won several Emmy Awards for his work on different TV series.
Comedy and Drama Hits
He starred as Dick Solomon in the popular NBC comedy show 3rd Rock from the Sun from 1996 to 2001. He won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for this role. His real-life son, Ian, also appeared on the show as one of his students.
Lithgow also won an Emmy for his role as Arthur Mitchell in the drama series Dexter in 2009. He won another Emmy for playing Winston Churchill in the Netflix drama The Crown from 2016 to 2019.
More recently, he starred in the HBO drama series Perry Mason (2020) and the FX thriller series The Old Man (2022).
Film Career
John Lithgow has appeared in many memorable films throughout his career.
Oscar Nominations
He was nominated for two Academy Awards (Oscars) early in his film career. The first was for playing a transgender ex-football player in The World According to Garp (1982). The second was for his role as a lonely banker in Terms of Endearment (1983).
Other Notable Films
Lithgow has been in many other popular movies. These include Footloose (1984), where he played a pastor who didn't like dancing. He also starred in the family comedy Harry and the Hendersons (1987), about a family who finds Bigfoot.
He voiced the villain Lord Farquaad in the animated film Shrek (2001). Other films he appeared in include Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), Interstellar (2014), and Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). In 2024, he starred in the film Conclave, about cardinals choosing a new Pope.
Early Life and Education
John Lithgow was born on October 19, 1945, in Rochester, New York. His mother, Sarah Jane, was a retired actress. His father, Arthur Lithgow, was a theater producer and director. Because of his father's job, his family moved around a lot when he was a child.
He spent some of his childhood in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where the famous activist Coretta Scott King was his babysitter! He also lived in Akron and Lakewood, Ohio, and Princeton, New Jersey.
School Days
Lithgow graduated from Princeton High School in 1963. He then went to Harvard College, where he studied history and English literature. He discovered his love for acting while performing in a play at Harvard.
After graduating from Harvard in 1967, he received a special scholarship called a Fulbright Scholarship. This allowed him to study acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in England.
Other Interests
Besides acting, John Lithgow has many other talents and interests.
Works for Children
John Lithgow has created many wonderful things for children, including books and music albums. He has written several children's books, such as Marsupial Sue and The Remarkable Farkle McBride.
He has also released music albums for children, like Singin' in the Bathtub (1999) and Farkle and Friends (2002). His album The Sunny Side of the Street (2006) features classic songs. He sometimes performs these songs on stage, playing his guitar.
Satirical Works
John Lithgow has also used his talents for comedy and satire. He has played famous political figures in plays and on TV shows, often in a funny way. For example, he played a former US President in a special live reading of a report. He also played a former New York City mayor in skits on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
In 2019, he published a book of poems and illustrations called Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse. He also contributed his voice to the audiobook of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a children's book that was a parody of another book.
Personal Life
John Lithgow married Jean Taynton in 1966, and they had one son, Ian Lithgow. They later divorced in 1980. In 1981, Lithgow married Mary Yeager, a history professor. They have a son and a daughter together.
Awards and Recognition
John Lithgow has received many honors for his long and successful career. He has won two Tony Awards, six Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Laurence Olivier Award. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2019, he was elected to the American Philosophical Society, a very old and respected organization.
Discography
- Singin' in the Bathtub (1999, Sony Wonder)
- Farkle & Friends (2002, Kid Rhino)
- The Sunny Side of the Street (2006, Razor & Tie)
