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Actor
John Lithgow
John Lithgow’s screen credits include Donald in Interstellar, Lord Farquaad (voice) in Shrek, and Charles Rodman in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
Born October 19, 1945 Rochester, New York, USA5 movies on MoviHero
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THE PERSON BEHIND THE ROLES
About John Lithgow
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). …
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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).
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MOVIHERO CREDITS
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Movies on MoviHero 5
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More film credits 95 additional titles
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- 2026GiantRoald DahlUpcoming
- 2026Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the MagicSelf
- 2026JimpaJimpa
- 2025The Rule of Jenny PenProducer · Dave Crealy
- 2024SpellboundBolinar (voice)
- 2024ConclaveTremblay
- 2024Art Happens Here with John LithgowProducer · Self
- 2024CabriniMayor Gould
- 2023Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of MagicSelf
- 2023Killers of the Flower MoonProsecutor Peter Leaward
- 2023SharperRichard Hobbes
- 2022Chez BobActor
- 2022The BubbleTom the Studio Chairman
- 2021Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent StrokesPhilip Drummond
- 2021Show of Titles"There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
- 2021Emily @ the Edge of ChaosSir Isaac Newton (voice)
- 2021Myths and HymnsActor
- 2020Give My Regards to BroadwaySelf
- 2019BombshellRoger Ailes
- 2019On BroadwaySelf
- 2019The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten ActsPresident Donald J. Trump
- 2019The Tomorrow ManEd Hemsler
- 2019Pet SemataryJud Crandall
- 2019Late NightWalter Lovell
- 2018Pet Sematary: The Tale of Timmy BatermanJud Crandall
- 2018Mister Rogers: It's You I LikeSelf
- 2017Pitch Perfect 3Fergus
- 2017Daddy's Home 2Don
- 2017The Pulitzer At 100Self
- 2017Beatriz at DinnerDoug Strutt
- 2017Hickory Dickory DocHimself
- 2017They All Saw a CatActor
- 2016Miss SloaneSenator Ronald Sperling
- 2016Shakespeare Live! From the RSCSelf - Performer
- 2016Ode to Joy: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9Narrator
- 2015Best of EnemiesVoice of Gore Vidal
- 2015Lord JohnActor
- 2015Inside 'Interstellar'Self
- 2015Projections of AmericaSelf - Narrator (voice)
- 2014The Jungle Bunch 2: The Great Treasure QuestMaurice (voice)
- 2014Love Is StrangeBen
- 2014The HomesmanReverend Alfred Dowd
- 20149 KissesMan in Club
- 2013Timms ValleyOl' Gregory Timms
- 2013Marvin Hamlisch: What He Did For LoveSelf
- 2013Shrek StoriesLord Farquaad (voice)
- 2013National Theatre Live: The MagistratePosket
- 2012This Is 40Oliver
- 2012Casting BySelf
- 2012The CampaignGlen Motch
- 2011Shrek: Once Upon a TimeSelf
- 2011New Year's EveJonathan Cox (uncredited)
- 2010Leap YearJack Brady
- 2009Miracle in a Box: A Piano RebornNarrator
- 2009The Macabre World of Lavender WilliamsGod
- 2009Confessions of a ShopaholicEdgar West
- 2008Car of the FutureNarrator
- 2007ShowBusiness: The Road to BroadwaySelf
- 2006DreamgirlsJerry Harris
- 2006The Best of The Tony Awards: The PlaysRené Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
- 2006The Great Robot Race: The DARPA Grand ChallengeNarrator
- 2006SangreCafe chef and owner
- 2005Einstein's Big IdeaNarrator (voice) U.S. edition
- 2004The Life and Death of Peter SellersBlake Edwards
- 2004Footloose: A Modern MusicalSelf
- 2004KinseyAlfred Seguine Kinsey
- 2004Shrek 3-DGhost of Farquaad (voice)
- 2004Dogs and More DogsNarrator
- 2003Bark, GeorgeActor
- 2002Orange CountyBud Brumder
- 2002Buckaroo Banzai DeclassifiedSelf
- 2001Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance PartyLord Farquaad (singing voice)
- 2000Rugrats in Paris: The MovieJean-Claude (voice)
- 2000Don QuixoteProducer · Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
- 200095 Worlds and CountingNarrator
- 1999Saturday Night Live: 25th Anniversary Special(archive footage)
- 1999Tales from the Crypt: The Robert Zemeckis CollectionDr. Oscar Charles
- 1998A Civil ActionJudge Walter J. Skinner
- 1998HomegrownMalcolm / Robert Stockman
- 1998Johnny SkidmarksSergeant Larry Skovik
- 1997Officer Buckle and GloriaNarrator (voice)
- 1996Hollow PointThomas Livingston
- 1996Special Effects: Anything Can HappenNarrator
- 1995The Tuskegee AirmenSenator Conyers
- 1995Redwood CurtainLaird Riordan
- 1995My Brother's KeeperTom Bradley / Bob Bradley
- 1994Silent FallDr. Rene Harlinger
- 1994Princess CarabooProfessor Wilkinson
- 1994A Good Man in AfricaArthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
- 1994Masters of Illusion: The Wizards of Special EffectsSelf
- 1993The Country Mouse & the City Mouse: A Christmas TaleAlexander (voice)
- 1993Love, Cheat & StealPaul Harrington
- 1993The Wrong ManPhillip Mills
- 1993CliffhangerQualen
- 1993Stallone on the Edge: The Making of CliffhangerSelf
CHARACTER GUIDES
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Charles Rodman
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Open character guideLord Farquaad
Shrek
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Director
Alan J. Pakula
1 shared film on MoviHeroActor
Alison Wright
1 shared film on MoviHeroDirector
Andrew Adamson
1 shared film on MoviHeroActor