“resonates so much with our historical moment, even though it”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Figure timeline
John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow 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 seven Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and three Tony Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Awar…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
entertainment · American actor (born 1945) · television actor · film actor · musician · poet · voice actor · stage actor · actor · banjoist · writer · also John Lithgow, John Arthur Lithgow, Lithgow
Born 19 October 1945 · Q311271
76 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
8 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 5 entries
“telling a story that needs to be told”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Public attention spiked: 45,675 Wikipedia readers in one day, 14.5× the usual 3,141, with 24 article edits. Coverage that week: “Tony awards 2026: Death of a Salesman triumphs, as Lesley Manville and John Lithgow also win” (The Guardian).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #attention
- #spike
- #pageviews
The Guardian: Tony awards 2026: Death of a Salesman triumphs, as Lesley Manville and John Lithgow also win
- #news
- #headline
The Guardian: Jimpa review – Olivia Colman and John Lithgow show up for indulgent queer family drama
- #news
- #headline
2023· 1 entry
Snopes.com rated the claim “Civil rights activist Coretta Scott King babysat actor John Lithgow when he was a child.” True.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
- #fact-check
- #rated
- #claim-about-figure
2019· 2 entries
Lithgow performed in Emily Chadwick Weiss's audio play If You Win, released by Playing on Air in spring 2020
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow co-starred in Mindy Kaling's comedy Late Night
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2018· 2 entries
At the American Airlines Theatre, written by Lithgow
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2017· 3 entries
Lithgow coauthored the New York Times daily crossword puzzle
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for The Crown (2017).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Lithgow starred in the first season of Trial & Error as a professor who becomes implicated in the murder of his wife
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2016· 1 entry
Lithgow appeared in the first season of The Crown (2016) portraying Winston Churchill
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2015· 2 entries
Lithgow made a cameo on Louis C
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow did the voiceover work for Gore Vidal in the documentary film Best of Enemies, with Kelsey Grammer
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2014· 1 entry
Returned to Manhattan and Central Park at the Delacorte Theater and Shakespeare in the Park for the 2014 summer season in the title role of Shakespeare's King Lear, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2012· 2 entries
And the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2019
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow returned to Broadway in David Auburn's play The Columnist, which played at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2010· 3 entries
Lithgow appeared on Doug Benson's podcast Doug Loves Movies, with fellow guests Paul F
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Dexter (2010).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Lithgow starred in the off-Broadway production of Douglas Carter Beane's comedy, Mr
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2009· 1 entry
Lithgow made a cameo on NBC's 30 Rock acting in the episode "Goodbye, My Friend" with several references to his role in Harry and the Hendersons
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2008· 2 entries
With a return performance at Lincoln Center for April to May 2019
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Through 2009, Lithgow played Joe Keller in a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons directed by Simon McBurney
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2007· 2 entries
And the Pennsylvania Ballet production of it in 2008
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow played Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Twelfth Night, at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in the United Kingdom
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2006· 2 entries
Released album “The Sunny Side of the Street”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
Lithgow had a small role in the Academy Award-winning film, Dreamgirls, as Jerry Harris, a film producer offering Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) a film role
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2005· 3 entries
Awarded honorary doctor of Harvard University (2005).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Lithgow became the first ever actor to deliver a commencement speech at Harvard University, his alma mater, and they awarded him an honorary Doctor of Arts
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Starred on Broadway in the musical-comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels alongside Norbert Leo Butz at the Imperial Theatre
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2004· 1 entry
Portrayed the moralistic, rigid father of Alfred Kinsey in that year's biopic Kinsey, in which Liam Neeson also starred
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2003· 1 entry
Lithgow wrote the narrations for the Christopher Wheeldon ballet Carnival of the Animals and appeared as the elephant character—nurse Mabel Buntz—with the New York City Ballet
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2002· 3 entries
Released album “Farkle & Friends”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
Awarded Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (2002).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Narrated Life's Greatest Miracle, a documentary about human embryonic development
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2001· 1 entry
Lithgow gained recognition for voicing Lord Farquaad in the Academy Award-winning DreamWorks Animation film Shrek, alongside Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1999· 2 entries
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1999).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Released album “Singin' in the Bathtub”.
- #musicbrainz
- #release
- #work
1998· 1 entry
Appeared in the film, A Civil Action, as Judge Walter J
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1997· 2 entries
Won Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #trophy
- #achievement
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1997).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1996· 1 entry
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1995· 1 entry
Was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for My Brother's Keeper, portraying Tom Bradley, an HIV-positive teacher, and Bob Bradley, his twin broth
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1994· 2 entries
Lithgow played Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the NBC miniseries World War II: When Lions Roared (also known as Then There Were Giants) directed by Joseph Sargent, and starring alongside Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“World War II: When Lions Roared”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
1993· 2 entries
“The Country Mouse and the City Mouse”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
Starred in Renny Harlin's film Cliffhanger opposite Sylvester Stallone as terrorist leader Eric Qualen, and he reunited with Washington in Alan J
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1992· 1 entry
Starred as a man with multiple personality disorder in Brian De Palma's film Raising Cain
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1991· 3 entries
“At Play in the Fields of the Lord”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
Played missionary Leslie Huben in the film adaptation of Peter Matthiessen's novel At Play in the Fields of the Lord
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Starred in the movie Ricochet opposite Denzel Washington as Earl Talbot Blake, a criminal seeking revenge against the policeman who sent him to prison
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1988· 1 entry
Returned to Broadway and starred in David Henry Hwang's M
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1987· 1 entry
Lithgow starred in the Bigfoot-themed family comedy Harry and the Hendersons
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1986· 4 entries
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for Amazing Stories (1986).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for Resting Place, portraying Major Kendall Laird, a charismatic but morally compromised Southern lawman entangled in
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Starred in The Manhattan Project, directed by Marshall Brickman
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his appearance in the episode "The Doll" of the Amazing Stories anthology series
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1985· 3 entries
Starred in Santa Claus: The Movie alongside Dudley Moore
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Starred opposite Jodie Foster in Mesmerized
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
At the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway, he starred in Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1984· 3 entries
Starred in the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension as Dr
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
- #corroborated
Starred in 2010: The Year We Make Contact and played a pastor who condemns dancing and rock music in Footloose
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1983· 3 entries
Lithgow appeared in a remake of the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in Twilight Zone: The Movie as the paranoid passenger made famous on the television show by William Shatner
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Played lonely small-town banker Sam Burns in Terms of Endearment, receiving his second consecutive Oscar nomination
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Lithgow appeared in a minor role as University of Kansas science professor Joe Huxley in the nuclear apocalypse television film The Day After, receiving a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supportin
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1982· 2 entries
“I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
Lithgow was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as transsexual ex-football player Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1976· 1 entry
Starred in a pivotal role in Brian De Palma's Obsession with Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold as Robertson's long time business partner, Robert Lasalle
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1973· 2 entries
Awarded Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (1973).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Lithgow debuted on Broadway in David Storey's The Changing Room at the Morosco Theatre, playing English rugby player Kenny Kendal
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1972· 2 entries
“Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues”
- #wikiquote
- #quote
- #trusted-source
- #www.washingtonpost.com
- #corroborated
Lithgow made his film debut in Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1945· 1 entry
Born 1945-10-19.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth