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John Lithgow
★ Acting

John Lithgow

Born 1945 · Rochester, New York, USA · Active 1944–2026

Born in 1945, John Lithgow is an American actor whose extensive career spans stage and screen. He brings a unique intensity to his roles, as seen in Obsession (1976), where he navigates a complex web of desire and betrayal, and Blow Out (1981), where he delivers a chilling performance as a manipulative antagonist. Lithgow's versatility is further showcased in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), where he embodies the eccentricity of cult cinema. With a background in prestigious institutions like Harvard and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Lithgow's contributions to the genre are both profound and memorable.

▶ Watch on SassyFlix 5 films available
Mesmerized

Mesmerized

1985 ★ 4.7
as Oliver Thompson

An orphaned New Zealand girl married to an older, wealthy businessman learns to deal with his strange sexual desires.

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Career Highlights Top 6 by popularity · TMDB

Filmography

229 credits
2020s 30 credits
2026
Jimpa as Jimpa
Movie ★ 7.2
2026
GIANT - The Play as Roald Dahl
Movie
2026
Giant as Roald Dahl
Movie
2026
Shrek 25 Aniversario as Lord Farquaad (voice)
Movie
2026
Harry Potter as Albus Dumbledore
TV
2025
Movie ★ 6.2
2025
Dexter: Resurrection as Arthur Mitchell
TV ★ 8.6
2025
TV ★ 8.0
2024
Cabrini as Mayor Gould
Movie ★ 7.8
2024
Spellbound as Bolinar (voice)
Movie ★ 6.6
2024
Conclave as Tremblay
Movie ★ 7.2
2023
Sharper as Richard Hobbes
Movie ★ 6.8
2023
Movie ★ 7.8
2023
Killers of the Flower Moon as Prosecutor Peter Leaward
Movie ★ 7.4
2023
TV ★ 7.7
2022
Movie
2022
The Bubble as Tom the Studio Chairman
Movie ★ 4.6
2022
Sherri as Self - Guest
TV ★ 2.7
2022
The Old Man as Harold Harper
TV ★ 7.2
2021
Emily @ the Edge of Chaos as Sir Isaac Newton (voice)
Movie
2021
Show of Titles as "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
Movie
2021
Dexter: New Blood as Arthur Mitchell
TV ★ 7.9
2020
Perry Mason as Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan
TV ★ 7.2
2020
Stars in the House as Self - Special Guest
TV
2010s 58 credits
2019
Late Night as Walter Lovell
Movie ★ 6.4
2019
Pet Sematary as Jud Crandall
Movie ★ 5.7
2019
Bombshell as Roger Ailes
Movie ★ 6.8
2019
The Tomorrow Man as Ed Hemsler
Movie ★ 5.7
2019
Movie ★ 7.6
2019
Movie ★ 8.7
2019
TV ★ 6.4
2018
Movie ★ 7.9
2018
Movie ★ 7.0
2017
Beatriz at Dinner as Doug Strutt
Movie ★ 5.8
2017
Movie ★ 6.3
2017
Movie ★ 6.0
2017
Movie ★ 6.5
2017
Movie
2017
Trial & Error as Larry Henderson
TV ★ 7.1
2016
The Accountant as Lamar Blackburn
Movie ★ 7.1
2016
Miss Sloane as Senator Ronald Sperling
Movie ★ 7.4
2016
Movie ★ 7.2
2016
The Crown as Winston Churchill
TV ★ 8.2
2015
Movie ★ 6.9
2015
Projections of America as Self - Narrator (voice)
Movie ★ 5.0
2015
Movie
2015
Best of Enemies as Voice of Gore Vidal
Movie ★ 7.2
2015
TV ★ 6.1
2015
TV ★ 6.1
2015
TV ★ 5.2
2014
Interstellar as Donald
Movie ★ 8.5
2014
Movie ★ 6.3
2014
The Homesman as Reverend Alfred Dowd
Movie ★ 6.5
2014
Movie ★ 5.7
2014
9 Kisses as Man in Club
Movie ★ 5.0
2014
TV ★ 5.2
2014
The Roosevelts: An Intimate History as James Roosevelt (voice)
TV ★ 7.7
2014
TV ★ 4.5
2014
TV ★ 5.8
2013
Movie ★ 9.0
2013
Movie ★ 6.0
2013
Shrek Stories as Lord Farquaad (voice)
Movie ★ 8.1
2013
Timms Valley as Ol' Gregory Timms
Movie ★ 6.2
2013
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland as The White Rabbit (voice)
TV ★ 6.8
2012
Casting By as Self
Movie ★ 6.9
2012
The Campaign as Glen Motch
Movie ★ 5.8
2012
This Is 40 as Oliver
Movie ★ 5.9
2012
TV ★ 6.2
2011
Movie ★ 7.3
2011
New Year's Eve as Jonathan Cox (uncredited)
Movie ★ 5.9
2011
Movie ★ 7.5
2011
Prohibition as Reader / H.L. Mencken (voice)
TV ★ 7.9
2010
Leap Year as Jack Brady
Movie ★ 6.9
2010
Conan as Self
TV ★ 7.2
2000s 37 credits
2009
Movie ★ 6.5
2009
Movie
2009
TV ★ 5.0
2008
Movie ★ 6.0
2007
Movie ★ 7.2
2007
TV ★ 7.2
2006
Sangre as Cafe chef and owner
Movie
2006
Dreamgirls as Jerry Harris
Movie ★ 6.7
2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays as René Gallimard (segment "M. Butterfly")
Movie
2006
Twenty Good Years as John Mason
TV ★ 8.5
2006
30 Rock as John Lithgow
TV ★ 7.5
2006
Dexter as Arthur Mitchell
TV ★ 8.2
2006
TV ★ 4.4
2005
Einstein's Big Idea as Narrator (voice) U.S. edition
Movie ★ 7.3
2005
How I Met Your Mother as Jerry Whittaker
TV ★ 8.1
2005
TV ★ 6.9
2004
Movie ★ 6.6
2004
Kinsey as Alfred Seguine Kinsey
Movie ★ 6.6
2004
Shrek 3-D as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
Movie ★ 6.0
2004
Movie ★ 5.2
2004
TV ★ 6.4
2003
Movie
2003
TV ★ 8.5
2003
DreamWorks 6 Spooky Stories Collection as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)
TV ★ 7.0
2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live! as Self - Guest
TV ★ 5.4
2002
Orange County as Bud Brumder
Movie ★ 6.0
2002
Movie ★ 8.5
2002
TV ★ 3.7
2001
Shrek as Lord Farquaad (voice)
Movie ★ 7.8
2001
Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party as Lord Farquaad (singing voice)
Movie ★ 6.4
2000
Rugrats in Paris: The Movie as Jean-Claude (voice)
Movie ★ 6.7
2000
Movie ★ 7.0
2000
Don Quixote as Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano
Movie ★ 6.3
1990s 42 credits
1999
Movie ★ 8.7
1999
TV ★ 6.3
1998
A Civil Action as Judge Walter J. Skinner
Movie ★ 6.5
1998
Homegrown as Malcolm / Robert Stockman
Movie ★ 5.6
1998
Johnny Skidmarks as Sergeant Larry Skovik
Movie ★ 5.5
1997
Officer Buckle and Gloria as Narrator (voice)
Movie ★ 8.5
1997
The View as Self
TV ★ 4.4
1997
The View as Self - Guest
TV ★ 4.4
1996
Hollow Point as Thomas Livingston
Movie ★ 5.1
1996
Movie ★ 10.0
1996
3rd Rock from the Sun as Dick Solomon
TV ★ 7.5
1996
Cosby as John Lithgow
TV ★ 6.0
1996
The West as Self
TV ★ 8.4
1996
TV ★ 6.4
1996
TV ★ 4.1
1996
The West as Self / Uriah Oblinger (voice)
TV ★ 8.4
1995
The Tuskegee Airmen as Senator Conyers
Movie ★ 7.1
1995
Redwood Curtain as Laird Riordan
Movie ★ 6.5
1995
My Brother's Keeper as Tom Bradley / Bob Bradley
Movie ★ 1.0
1994
A Good Man in Africa as Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner
Movie ★ 5.0
1994
Princess Caraboo as Professor Wilkinson
Movie ★ 5.6
1994
Silent Fall as Dr. Rene Harlinger
Movie ★ 5.3
1994
American Cinema as Self - Host
TV ★ 8.3
1994
World War II: When Lions Roared as Franklin Delano Roosevelt
TV ★ 6.8
1993
The Pelican Brief as Smith Keen
Movie ★ 6.6
1993
Cliffhanger as Qualen
Movie ★ 6.5
1993
The Wrong Man as Phillip Mills
Movie ★ 5.1
1993
Love, Cheat & Steal as Paul Harrington
Movie ★ 4.4
1993
Movie ★ 10.0
1993
Movie ★ 8.0
1993
Frasier as Madman Martinez (voice)
TV ★ 7.7
1993
TV ★ 7.3
1992
Raising Cain as Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo
Movie ★ 6.1
1991
Ricochet as Earl Talbott Blake
Movie ★ 6.1
1991
Movie ★ 6.5
1991
The Boys as Artie Margulies
Movie ★ 7.0
1990
Memphis Belle as Bruce Derringer
Movie ★ 6.7
1990
Ivory Hunters as Robert Carter
Movie ★ 4.9
1990
Movie ★ 4.0
1990
Amazing Stories: The Movie II as John Walters (archive footage)
Movie
1980s 32 credits
1989
Out Cold as Dave
Movie ★ 5.9
1989
Traveling Man as Ben Cluett
Movie ★ 4.0
1989
Tales from the Crypt as Dr. Oscar Charles
TV ★ 8.0
1989
The Simpsons as Gus (voice)
TV ★ 8.0
1989
The Simpsons as John Lithgow (voice)
TV ★ 8.0
1988
Distant Thunder as Mark Lambert
Movie ★ 5.7
1987
Harry and the Hendersons as George Henderson
Movie ★ 6.1
1987
Baby Girl Scott as Neil Scott
Movie ★ 7.5
1987
The Amazing Bone as Narrator
Movie
1986
The Manhattan Project as John Mathewson
Movie ★ 6.2
1986
Resting Place as Maj. Kendall Laird
Movie ★ 6.3
1985
Movie ★ 6.3
1985
Mesmerized as Oliver Thompson
Movie ★ 4.8
1985
Movie ★ 5.4
1985
Amazing Stories as John Walters
TV ★ 7.5
1984
Footloose as Rev. Shaw Moore
Movie ★ 6.7
1984
2010 as Dr. Walter Curnow
Movie ★ 6.7
1984
The Glitter Dome as Sgt. Marty Wellborn
Movie ★ 4.5
1984
Goldilocks and the Three Bears as Goldilocks' Father
Movie ★ 6.7
1984
Movie ★ 10.0
1983
Movie ★ 7.1
1983
The Day After as Joe Huxley
Movie ★ 6.8
1983
Movie ★ 6.5
1982
Movie ★ 6.7
1982
Movie ★ 7.3
1982
Not in Front of the Children as Richard Carruthers
Movie ★ 7.5
1982
Faerie Tale Theatre as Goldilocks' Father
TV ★ 8.1
1981
Blow Out as Burke
Movie ★ 7.4
1980
Movie ★ 4.0
1980
Big Blonde as Herbie Morse
Movie ★ 6.0
1980
Movie ★ 7.0
1970s 10 credits
1979
All That Jazz as Lucas Sergeant
Movie ★ 7.5
1979
Rich Kids as Paul Philips
Movie ★ 4.9
1978
The Big Fix as Sam Sebastian
Movie ★ 5.8
1977
Secret Service as Capt. Thorne
Movie ★ 9.0
1976
Obsession as Robert Lasalle
Movie ★ 6.7
1975
Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
TV ★ 6.9
1974
The Country Girl as Paul Unger
Movie ★ 10.0
1974
NOVA as Narrator
TV ★ 7.0
1971
Great Performances as Capt. Thorne
TV ★ 6.1
1960s 1 credit
1950s 9 credits
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Winner
TV
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Nominee
TV
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Presenter
TV
1956
Tony Awards as Self - Nominee / Performer
TV
1953
The Oscars as Self - Presenter
TV ★ 7.0
1952
Today as Self
TV ★ 5.7
1951
TV ★ 8.8
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame as Major Kendall Laird
TV ★ 8.8
1951
Hallmark Hall of Fame as Laird Riordan
TV ★ 8.8
1940s 3 credits
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
TV ★ 7.2
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
TV ★ 7.2
1944
Golden Globe Awards as Self - Winner
TV ★ 7.2
Crew Credits
2020s 2 credits
2025
The Rule of Jenny Pen Executive Producer
Movie ★ 6.2
2024
Movie
2000s 2 credits
2000
Don Quixote Executive Producer
Movie ★ 6.3