John Lithgow is an award-winning stage and screen actor, who has also authored a number of bestselling books and recorded music albums for children.
Lithgow made his acting debut at age 6 in a production of “Henry VI,” part of a series of Shakespeare festivals in Ohio produced by his father, who also ran Princeton’s McCarter Theater. Lithgow graduated from Harvard University and received a Fulbright scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, and while there he performed with the Royal Shakespeare Co. and the Royal Court Theatre.
Upon his return to the States, he established himself as one of the preeminent Broadway actors of his time. He won a Tony Award for “The Changing Room” in 1973, later nominations for “Requiem for a Heavyweight” and “M. Butterfly,” and boasted work in at least one play per year for much of the '70s and early '80s. He later won another Tony Award for his portrayal of J.J. Hunsecker in “Sweet Smell of Success” in 2005 and in that same year was elected into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Lithgow’s breakthrough film role came in 1982 when he was cast as the football player-turned woman Roberta Muldoon in “The World According to Garp,” which earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. A year later, he memorably played a terrified airplane passenger in “Twilight Zone – The Movie” and scored a second Oscar nomination for his work in “Terms of Endearment.” His other notable film performances span a diverse range of movies including “The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai,” “Ricochet,” “Footloose,” “Harry and the Hendersons” and the CG-animated “Shrek.”
On TV, Lithgow starred as an alien studying the human race in NBC’s “3rd Rock From the Sun.” The show ran from 1996 to 2001, and earned the actor several Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
Outside of acting, Lithgow has recorded several children’s albums and written a number of books including “Marsupial Sue,” “Lithgow Party Paloozas!” “I’m a Manatee” and “The Remarkable Farkle McBride.”
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Year | Category | Work | |
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1982 | Best Supporting Actor | The World According to Garp | Nomination |
1983 | Best Supporting Actor | Terms of Endearment | Nomination |
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