Lithgow is a native New Yorker born October 19, 1945 in Rochester NY. He is a distinguished actor of stage, television, and movies who is at home playing everything from menacing villains, big-hearted transsexuals, and loopy aliens. John Lithgow is also a composer and performer of children’s songs, a Harvard graduate, a talented painter, and a devoted husband and father.
He attended Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1967. He lived in Dunster House as an undergraduate, across the hall from roommates former Vice President Al Gore and actor Tommy Lee Jones. Lithgow later served on its Board of Overseers. Lithgow credits a performance at Harvard of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Utopia Limited with helping him decide to become an actor. After graduation, Lithgow won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Lithgow is known for his roles as the Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose, Dick Solomon on the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, the voice of Lord Farquaad in Shrek, and Arthur Mitchell on Showtime’s Dexter for which he just won an Emmy for best Actor in a drama and a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. He appeared in the films The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983), receiving the Academy Award nomination for best actor in a supporting role for each.
On the stage, he appeared in the musical adaptation of Sweet Smell of Success, winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical. He again appeared in a musical, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, receiving the Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Musical.
He has also recorded music, such as the 1999 album of children’s music, Singin’ in the Bathtub, and has written poetry and short stories for children, such as Marsupial Sue.
Mr. Lithgow is a true Renaissance man. We are honored to have him as our chair for Rocks Against Cancer.
