The bestJohn Lithgowmovies and TV shows include highly rated series and critically acclaimed classic and modern-day films. Born in New York, he studied acting at Harvard and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) before making his debut in movies and on TV shows. Over his career, Lithgow has been incredibly successful, with six Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards. He also has two Oscar nominations, one BAFTA nomination, and four Grammy Award nominations.
His career has included a mix of properties. He has appeared in cult films likeRaising Cainand beloved classics likeFootloose. He has been a major television star in popular sitcoms like3rd Rock from the Sunand crime thrillers likeDexter, where he played two completely different character types. However, most recently, he proved his drama chops with theOscar-nominated and critically acclaimed religious thrillerConclave. Every step of the way, Lithgow proved he can do almost anything on the screen - big or small.
John Lithgow has delivered some great villain performances over his career, including in 1992 when he starred in the cult classic horror filmRaising Cain. Brian De Palma cast a young Lithgow in his 1981 thrillerBlow Out and in 1992, they teamed up again; this time, Lithgow was in the lead role. Lithgow played Carter Nix,a child psychologist who has a psychological breakwhen he learns his wife Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) is cheating on him. This breakdown causes multiple personalities to emerge.
One of these personalities is a merciless killer named Cain, who starts tormenting Jenny and the man she is sleeping with. Lithgow had a great chance to stretch his acting chops, portraying the killer Cain, the psychologist Carter, the child-like Josh, and the middle-aged woman Margo. His performance was similar to James McAvoy’s inSplitbut came out decades earlier. Lithgow received high praise for his performance and earned a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actor.
Kevin Bacon became a major star thanks to the 1984 filmFootloose, where he played Ren McCormack, a young man who moves into a small town in Utah to live with his aunt and uncle. He meets the local church minister’s daughter, Ariel (Lori Singer), and falls for her, but he angers the minister when he triggers Ariel to act out more often.The town council has also banned dancing and rock musicwithin the town’s boundaries, and both Ren and Ariel try to find a way around that ban.
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John Lithgow plays Reverend Shaw Moore, Ariel’s father and the man who helped ban rock music and dancing after his son died in a drinking and driving accident after a night of dancing. He is the antagonist, but Lithgow plays the character with pathos, making his stance understandable. After relenting to allow Ariel to go to the dance outside the city limits, he almost redeems himself when he delivers his sermon at the end. While receiving low reviews, it earned two Oscar nominations and is a beloved classic.
John Lithgow took on a villain role inBombshellwhen he played a real-life person. In the film,Lithgow plays Roger Ailes, the disgraced head of Fox Newswho ends up facing sexual harassment charges by several women at the network.Bombshellis a showcase for its three lead actresses, with Charlize Theron playing Megyn Kelly, Nicole Kidman playing Gretchen Carlson, and Margot Robbie as a composite character named Kayla, who all work together to get the ball rolling to bring down Ailes.
Critics gaveBombshellmixed reviews but praised the cast’s performances, including Lithgow’s as the creepy and antagonistic powerful man who used and abused the women who worked for him. Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie earned Oscar nominations for their performances, and the movie also received a Best Makeup and Hairstyling nomination. Lithgow also earned an AACTA Award nomination for Best International Supporting Actor.
For many people growing up in the 1990s, John Lithgow’s most popular performance might have beenfrom the NBC sitcom3rd Rock from the Sun. The series follows a family from a planet in another galaxy who travel to Earth and decide to live there by posing as an average human family in Ohio. The humor mostly sees the aliens struggle to act human as they study society and the human condition.Lithgow is Dick, posing as the father but in actuality the High Commander, and most of the early episodes focus on his misadventures.
John Lithgow won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in 1996, 1997, and 1999.
The film was also a breakout for a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who stars as Tommy, and French Stewart as Harry. Kristen Johnson rounds out the cast as Sally. The series lasted for six seasons and 139 episodes, while remaining highly entertaining and earning high ratings from NBC. It was also the most popular show in 1997, earning eight Primetime Emmy nominations. John Lithgow was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, winning three.
In 2011, John Lithgow signed on to the reboot of thePlanet of the Apesfranchise. The first film,Rise of the Planet of the Apes,tells the story of a world where humans are still the ruling classbefore the ape rebellion and the rise of Caesar (Andy Serkis). James Franco is the lead character, Will Rodman, a chemist who wants to find a cure for his father’s Alzheimer’s disease by testing ALZ-112 on chimpanzees. It works, but it also improves the intelligence of the chimps, which starts the rebellion.
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John Lithgow plays Will’s father, Charles Rodman, a former music teacher whose Alzheimer’s improves thanks to the ALZ-112 and a man who develops a close relationship with Caesar. The film splits between the apes, with Caesar helping give his fellow chimps the drug for greater intelligence, and the humans, where Charles learns that the drug is no longer helping him and dies. The film earned one Oscar nomination while critics praised it as a return to form for the long-running franchise.
In 2023, Martin Scorsese directed the crime dramaKillers of the Flower Moon, a film based on David Grann’s nonfiction novel.The story is about the series of Osage murders in Oklahomato steal tribal land and mineral rights from the Native Americans who had the rights to it. The film also shows how far up the ladder the corruption went, as an FBI agent was sent in the organization’s early days to prove its worth to new chief J. Edgar Hoover. Robert De Niro stars as William Hale, the wealthy man behind the murders.
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John Lithgow plays a supporting role as Peter Leaward, the lead prosecutor in the criminal case against William Hale and his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio). His role is smaller as he goes up against Brendan Fraser’s defense attorney, W.S. Hamilton, who represents Hale, which becomes a great back-and-forth courtroom battle.Killers of the Flower Moonreceived great reviews, with a 93% fresh score, and it received 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.
In 2024, John Lithgow took on a complicated role in the political thrillerConclave. The film starts by revealing that the pope died of a heart attack and theCollege of Cardinals convenes to elect his successor. This leads to a political battle, where the leading candidates include Aldo Bellini, a progressive (Stanley Tucci); Joshua Adeyemi, a social conservative (Lucien Msamati); Joseph Tremblay, a moderate (John Lithgow); and Goffredo Tedesco, a staunch traditionalist (Sergio Castellitto).
While Lithgow didn’t receive any nominations, his role was one of the film’s most important.
This is all seen through the eyes of Ralph Fiennes, a liberal who is tasked with presiding over the votes. However, there is treachery behind the scenes, and someone is clearly maneuvering the votes in their favor. The film also has a wicked twist that changes everything that had been shown to that point.Conclavereceived eight Oscar nominations, winning for Best Adapted Screenplay. While Lithgow didn’t receive any nominations, his role was one of the film’s most important.
In 1983, John Lithgow earned his second Oscar nomination for his role in the tragicomedyTerms of Endearment. Directed by James L. Brooks and based on the Larry McMurtry novel of the same name, it covers 30 years in the relationship of Aurora Greenway (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter Emma Greenway-Horton (Debra Winger). Aurora is a widow who refuses to commit to any of her suitors throughout her life, preferring instead to keep a close, controlling relationship with her daughter.
The film also stars Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Jeff Daniels, and John Lithgow. Daniels plays Emma’s husband, butLithgow plays Sam Burns, a man who enters a relationship with herwhile Emma is pregnant with her third child, which changes everything. This is a tragedy at heart, and Lithgow plays an important part in Emma’s life, earning him a lot of praise for the performance. Four actors received nominations, with McClaine and Nicholson winning, while Winger and Lithgow were nominees.
In 1982, John Lithgow earned his first Oscar nomination in what might be his breakout performance. Directed by George Roy Hill and based on the novel by John Irving, Robin Williams stars as T.S. Garp, the son of an unwed feminist icon mother (Glenn Close) who himself grows up to be a successful author. John Lithgow takes on the role ofRoberta Muldoon, a transgender ex-football playerwho lives at the center that his mother runs to help victims of abuse.
Sadly, Hill used Roberta as mostly a source of humor in the movie, which was something that John Irving disagreed with (viaGay City News). “John Lithgow, who was cast as Roberta in the film, could have played her as I wrote her,” Irving said. “Roberta is a force of normality in an otherwise extreme world.” Despite that controversy, Lithgow impressed critics and earned an Oscar nomination while also taking home awards from critics' groups in Los Angeles and New York.
Dexter Morgan is a serial killer who kills other serial killers. He was a villain who believed he was helping save the world from worse villains than himself.The worst of the worst was the Trinity Killer, played by John Lithgow. Arthur Mitchell was also an enigma to Dexter because he was someone who could live a normal life by day and not allow it to cross over with his life as a serial killer. This is something Dexter wanted above all else, and he befriended Arthur to learn more about how he did it.
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That makes the Trinity Killer one of the most unique ofDexter’svillains. Instead of killing him right away, Dexter studied him, which means the audience studied him. Lithgow delivered a terrifying performance, proving that the most dangerous serial killer could be the kind man next door or the father who dotes over his family. Discovering his final murder - after Arthur’s own death - changed Dexter’s life forever. Lithgow won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his role inDexter.
