John Lithgow's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) Dexter Arthur Mitc… 3rd Rock from the Sun Dr. Dick So… NOVA Narrator (5) Twenty Good Years John Mason The Apprentice: Martha Stewart John Lithgow

Main Movie Roles 2010 - Leap Year 2009 - Confessions of a Shopaholic 2006 - Dreamgirls 2004 - Kinsey 2004 - The Life and Death of Peter Sellers 2003 - Shrek 4-D 2002 - Orange County 2001 - Shrek 2000 - Rugrats in Paris: The Movie - Rugrats II 1998 - Homegrown 1998 - A Civil Action 1994 - Princess Caraboo 1994 - Silent Fall 1994 - A Good Man in Africa 1993 - The Pelican Brief 1993 - Cliffhanger 1992 - Raising Cain 1991 - Ricochet 1991 - L.A. Story 1990 - Memphis Belle 1987 - Harry and the Hendersons 1986 - The Manhattan Project 1985 - Santa Claus: The Movie 1984 - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension 1984 - 2010: The Year We Make Contact 1984 - Footloose 1983 - Terms of Endearment 1983 - Twilight Zone: The Movie 1982 - The World According to Garp 1981 - Blow Out 1979 - All That Jazz 1978 - The Big Fix 1976 - Obsession

BIOGRAPHY:

If "born to the theater" has meaning in determining a person's life path, then John Lithgow is a prime example of this truth. Son of a retired actress and a father who was both a theatrical producer and director, he moved frequently as a child while his father founded and managed local and college theaters and Shakespeare festivals throughout the midwest of the United States. Not until he was 16, and his father became head of the McCarter Theater in Princeton New Jersey, did the family settle down. But for John, the theater was still not a career. He won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he finally caught the acting bug (as well as found a wife). Harvard was followed by a Fulbright scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Returning from London, his rigorous dramatic training stood him in good stead, and a distinguished career on Broadway gave him one Tony award for "The Changing Room", a second nomination in 1985 for "Requiem for a Heavyweight", and a third in 1988 for "M. Butterfly". But with critical acclaim came personal confusion, and in the mid '70s he and his wife divorced. He entered therapy, and in 1982 his life started in a new direction, the movies - he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp (1982). A second Oscar nomination followed for Terms of Endearment (1983), and he met a UCLA economics professor who became his second wife. As the decade of the '90s came around he found that he was spending too much time on location, and another career move brought him to television in the hugely successful series "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996). This production also played a role in bringing him back together with the son from his first marriage, Ian Lithgow (I), who has a regular role in the series as a dim-witted student.


TRIVIA:

• Studied at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
• Was the voice of Yoda in the NPR adaptations of the Star Wars Trilogy.
• Graduated from Harvard University, with a BA in history and literature. Daughter, Phoebe (b. 1982).
• Hosted the Welcoming Reception for UCLA's new Chancellor Carnesale.
• Is member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS).
• Graduated from Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ.
• Graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University (1967).
• Was called in to replace another actor in _Terms of Endearment (1983)_ (qv), and his role was filmed in 3 days during a break from filming _Footloose (1984)_ (qv).