John Lithgow is an American actor. He made his film debut in the comedy-drama Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972). He has since then appeared in over 50 films, countless television projects and on stage. Lithgow's first appearance on stage came in 1973, in a Broadway production of The Changing Room by David Storey, for which he won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play and a Drama Desk Award. Some of his other theater work he performed in were My Fat Friend (1974), Trelawny of the 'Wells' (1975) and the 1976 plays A Memory of Two Mondays / 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, Secret Service and Boy Meets Girl. Lithgow subsequently acted in films such as Obsession (1976), The Big Fix (1978), the 1979 films All That Jazz with Roy Scheider and Rich Kids, Blow Out (1981) starring John Travolta, and I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982).
Lithgow's film breakthrough came after playing a transgender woman, Roberta Muldoon, who was a former football player, in a supporting role in the comedy-drama The World According to Garp (1982) with Robin Williams. Lithgow was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role. He then portrayed an airplane passenger who suffers from aviophobia in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983). Later the same year, Lithgow went on to play a science professor in the television disaster film The Day After, which won him an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special. As 1983 came to a close, he also featured in Terms of Endearment, where he played the role of a banker with Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson, thus earning Lithgow his second Academy Award nomination in the same category. In addition, Lithgow had a string of main and supporting roles during the 1980s, notably in the 1984 films Footloose, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, 2010, Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), The Manhattan Project (1986), and Harry and the Hendersons (1987).
The 1990s saw Lithgow continue to appear in various Hollywood films, namely Ricochet (1991) opposite Denzel Washington, Raising Cain (1992), Cliffhanger (1993) starring Sylvester Stallone and The Pelican Brief (1993), where he was reunited with Washington. He was cast in a main role in the 1996 television sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, where he played a high-ranking commander of an alien unit of four who have been sent to Earth to retrieve information under the disguise as a university professor. The show spanned over 100 episodes, during which Lithgow won one Golden Globe and three Emmy Awards for his role, before ending in 2001. That same year, he became the character of Lord Farquaad in the animated fantasy-comedy film Shrek (2001).
Other roles Lithgow appeared in during the 2000s were The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) with Geoffrey Rush, where he portrayed the famed director, screenwriter and producer Blake Edwards, Kinsey (2004), and Dreamgirls (2006). Lithgow also starred in the short-lived sitcom Twenty Good Years (2006). In 2009, he joined the cast of crime show Dexter as Arthur Mitchell, a family man who lives a double life as a serial killer. He appeared in a total of twelve episodes as the main antagonist on the fourth season, and for his performance, he won his second Golden Globe and fifth Emmy Award. Lithgow's later roles during the 2010s includes the science fiction film Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011), the political comedy The Campaign (2012), the comedy-drama This Is 40 (2012), the sitcom How I Met Your Mother (2005–14), where he performed as a guest star in four episodes in the role as the father of executive Barney Stinson, as the voice of Percy the White Rabbit in ABC's fantasy-drama and spin-off program Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013–14), and the 2014 films Love Is Strange, alongside fellow co-star Alfred Molina, The Homesman, and Interstellar. Other films include Daddy's Home 2 (2017), Pitch Perfect 3 (2017), a new adaptation of Stephen King's novel, Pet Sematary (2019), and Bombshell (2019). Lithgow can be seen as Winston Churchill in the television drama series The Crown (2016). Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore in HBO's forthcoming Harry Potter television series.
Acting credits Film Year Title Role(s) Notes 1972 Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues John 1976 Obsession Robert LaSalle 1978 The Big Fix Sam Sebastian 1979 Rich Kids Paul Philips All That Jazz Lucas Sergeant 1981 Blow Out Burke 1982 I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Mr. Brunner The World According to Garp Roberta Muldoon 1983 Terms of Endearment Sam Burns Twilight Zone: The Movie John Valentine Segment: "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" 1984 Footloose Reverend Shaw Moore The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin 2010: The Year We Make Contact Dr. Walter Curnow 1985 Santa Claus: The Movie B.Z. 1986 Mesmerized Oliver Thompson The Manhattan Project John Mathewson 1987 Harry and the Hendersons George Henderson 1988 Distant Thunder Mark Lambert 1989 Out Cold Dave Geary 1990 Memphis Belle Lt. Col. Bruce Derringer 1991 L.A. Story Harry Zell Scenes deleted At Play in the Fields of the Lord Leslie Huben Ricochet Earl Talbot Blake 1992 Raising Cain Carter / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo 1993 The Wrong Man Phillip Mills The Pelican Brief Smith Keen Love, Cheat & Steal Paul Harrington Cliffhanger Eric Qualen 1994 Silent Fall Dr. Rene Harlinger Princess Caraboo Professor Wilkinson A Good Man in Africa Arthur Fanshawe 1996 Hollow Point Thomas Livingston 1998 Homegrown Malcolm / Robert Stockman Johnny Skidmarks Sergeant Larry Skovik A Civil Action Judge Walter J. Skinner 2000 Rugrats in Paris: The Movie Jean-Claude Voice role 2001 Shrek Lord Farquaad 2002 Orange County Bud Brumder 2004 The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Blake Edwards Kinsey Alfred Seguine Kinsey 2006 Dreamgirls Jerry Harris 2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic Edgar West 2010 Leap Year Jack Brady 2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes Charles Rodman New Year's Eve Jonathan Cox The Jungle Bunch: The Movie Maurice Voice role; English dub; direct-to-video 2012 The Campaign Glenn Motch This Is 40 Oliver Casting By Himself Documentary 2014 Love Is Strange Benjamin Arthur Hull The Homesman Reverend Alfred Dowd Interstellar Donald 2015 Best of Enemies Gore Vidal Voice role; documentary 2016 The Accountant Lamar Blackburn Miss Sloane Senator Ron M. Sperling 2017 Beatriz at Dinner Doug Strutt Daddy's Home 2 Don Whitaker Pitch Perfect 3 Fergus Hobart 2019 Late Night Walter Newbury The Tomorrow Man Ed Hemsler Pet Sematary Jud Crandall Bombshell Roger Ailes John Lithgow to Play Roger Ailes in Fox News Movie (EXCLUSIVE) 2022 The Bubble Tom the Studio Chairman Cameo 2023 Sharper Richard Hobbes Killers of the Flower Moon Prosecutor Peter Leaward 2024 Cabrini Mayor Gould Conclave Cardinal Tremblay The Rule of Jenny Pen Dave Crealy Spellbound Minister Bolinar Voice role 2025 Jimpa Jimpa
Television Year Title Role(s) Notes 1974 The Country Girl Paul Unger Television film 1977 Great Performances Captain Thorne Episode: "Secret Service" 1980 The Oldest Living Graduate Clarence Sickenger Television film Mom, the Wolfman and Me Wally Big Blonde Herbie Morse 1982 Not In Front of the Children Richard Carruthers 1983 The Day After Professor Joe Huxley 1984 Faerie Tale Theatre Goldilocks' father Episode: "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" The Glitter Dome Sergeant Marty Wellborn Television film 1985–1988 Saturday Night Live Himself Host; 3 episodes 1986 Amazing Stories John Walters Episode: "The Doll" Resting Place Major Kendall Laird Television film 1987 Baby Girl Scott Neil Scott 1989 Traveling Man Ben Cluett 1990 Ivory Hunters Robert Carter 1991 The Boys Artie Margulies 1993 The Country Mouse and the City Mouse: A Christmas Tale Alexander Voice role; animated television special 1994 World War II: When Lions Roared Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt Television film 1995 Tales from the Crypt Dr. Oscar Charles Episode: "You, Murderer" My Brother's Keeper Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley Television film Frasier Madman Martinez Voice role; episode: "Someone to Watch Over Me" Redwood Curtain Laird Riordan Television film The Tuskegee Airmen Senator Conyers 1996–2001 3rd Rock from the Sun Dick Solomon 139 episodes 1999 Cosby Himself Episode: "Superstar" 2000 Don Quixote Don Quixote de la Mancha / Alonso Quijano Television film 2003 Freedom: A History of Us Benjamin Rush / Roger Williams / Henry Billings Brown / Ward Hunt Voice role; 4 episodes 2006 Twenty Good Years John Mason 13 episodes 2009 Dexter Arthur Mitchell "The Trinity Killer" 12 episodes 30 Rock Himself Episode: "Goodbye, My Friend" 2011 Prohibition H. L. Mencken Voice role; 3 episodes 2011–2014 How I Met Your Mother Jerome "Jerry" Whitaker 4 episodes 2013 Timms Valley Ol' Gregory Timms Voice role; pilot 2013–2014 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Percy the White Rabbit Voice role; 13 episodes 2014 Drunk History William Randolph Hearst / George Washington 2 episodes 2015 Louie Funny Man Episode: "Sleepover" 2016–2019 The Crown Winston Churchill Main role (Season 1); supporting role (Seasons 2–3); 11 episodes 2017 Trial & Error Professor Larry Henderson 13 episodes 2019, 2022 The Simpsons Himself (voice) / Augustus "Gus" Redfield Episodes: "I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say D'oh" and "Meat Is Murder" 2019–2022 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Rudy Giuliani 4 episodes 2020 Perry Mason Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan 5 episodes 2021 Wolfboy and the Everything Factory Professor Chronopher (voice) Episode: "Losing Track of Time / Chaos Comes to Class" Live in Front of a Studio Audience Phillip Drummond Episode: "Diff'rent Strokes" and "The Facts of Life" Dexter: New Blood Arthur Mitchell "The Trinity Killer" Episode: "Skin of Her Teeth" 2022–2024 The Old Man Harold Harper Main cast 2024 Art Happens Here with John Lithgow Himself Television film 2025 Dexter: Resurrection Arthur Mitchell "The Trinity Killer" Episode: "A Beating Heart..." 2026–present Professor Albus Dumbledore Main cast; Post-production
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