Age, Biography & Wiki
- Full Name: John Arthur Lithgow
- Date of Birth: October 19, 1945
- Place of Birth: Rochester, New York, USA
- Age: 79 years (as of 2025)
- Parents: Arthur Lithgow (father, theatrical producer/director), Sarah Lithgow (mother, retired actress)
- Significant Family Details: Descendant of eight Mayflower passengers; moved frequently as a child due to his father’s career, settling in Ohio and later Princeton, NJ.
- Early Influences: Babysat by activist Coretta Scott King during childhood in Yellow Springs, Ohio.
| Occupation | Voice Actors |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 19 October 1945 |
| Age | 79 Years |
| Birth Place | Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: Approximately 6’4” (193 cm)
- Weight: Estimated around 187 lbs (85 kg)
- Measurements: Details of specific body measurements are not widely publicized.
Note: While exact measurements are not officially documented, Lithgow is known for his tall stature and commanding presence on screen.
| Height | 193 cm |
| Weight | 187 lbs |
| Body Measurements | |
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Dating & Relationship Status
- Marital Status: Married (to Mary Yeager, professor and writer)
- Children: Three (Phoebe Lithgow, Ian Lithgow, and Nathan Lithgow)
- Relationship History: Lithgow has maintained a private personal life, and there is no public record of previous marriages or notable romantic controversies.
His mother, Sarah Jane, was a retired actress. His father, Arthur Lithgow, was a theatrical producer and director who ran McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. He is the third of four children and his siblings are an older brother David Lithgow, an older sister Robin Lithgow, and a younger sister Sarah Jane Bokaer.
Because of his father's job, the family moved frequently during Lithgow's childhood. He spent his childhood years in Yellow Springs, Ohio, where activist Coretta Scott King was his babysitter. He spent his teenage years in Akron (living at Stan Hywet Hall) and Lakewood, Ohio, followed by Princeton, New Jersey.
In 2004, he portrayed the moralistic, rigid father of Alfred Kinsey in that year's biopic Kinsey, in which Liam Neeson also starred. In 2006, Lithgow had a small role in the Academy Award-winning film, Dreamgirls, as Jerry Harris, a film producer offering Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) a film role.
Lithgow starred with Jeffrey Tambor in the NBC sitcom Twenty Good Years. On March 5, 2009, Lithgow made a cameo on NBC's 30 Rock acting in the episode "Goodbye, My Friend" with several references to his role in Harry and the Hendersons. In September 2009, Lithgow joined the cast of Dexter as Arthur Mitchell, a serial killer and Dexter Morgan's nemesis. He won a Golden Globe Award for this role and won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series. He guest starred on How I Met Your Mother in the role of Barney Stinson's father, Jerry. In 2008 through 2009, Lithgow played Joe Keller in a Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons directed by Simon McBurney. Lithgow starred alongside Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes in her Broadway debut at the Schoenfeld Theatre. He hosted Paloozaville, a children's Video on demand program on Mag Rack based on his bestselling children's books. Lithgow also appears in Books By You, a children's computer game that guides them through the steps to personalize a predesigned book.
In 2010, Lithgow starred in the off-Broadway production of Douglas Carter Beane's comedy, Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, alongside Jennifer Ehle at the Second Stage Theater that ran from February 22, 2010, to April 4, 2010. The same year, he appeared briefly in the romantic comedy, Leap Year, playing Amy Adams' father. On October 1, 2010, Lithgow appeared on Doug Benson's podcast Doug Loves Movies, with fellow guests Paul F. Tompkins and Jimmy Pardo. He appeared on Chris Hardwick's show The Nerdist Podcast in 2012 and the WTF with Marc Maron podcast in 2019. In September 2011, Lithgow was featured in a one-night-only production of Dustin Lance Black's play 8, a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Proposition 8 ban on same-sex marriage—as Attorney Theodore Olson to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. In 2015, Lithgow did the voiceover work for Gore Vidal in the documentary film Best of Enemies, with Kelsey Grammer.
In 2017, Lithgow starred in the first season of Trial & Error as a professor who becomes implicated in the murder of his wife. In 2018, Lithgow was one of the actors who voiced the audiobook of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo. In 2019, Lithgow performed in Emily Chadwick Weiss's audio play If You Win, released by Playing on Air in spring 2020. Lithgow starred as Bill Clinton opposite Laurie Metcalf as Hillary Clinton in the Lucas Hnath play Hillary and Clinton, on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre. The play opened on April 18, 2019, and closed on June 23, 2019. In 2019, Lithgow co-starred in Mindy Kaling's comedy Late Night. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on June 7, 2019. The same year, he portrayed Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in the film Bombshell, which starred Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, and Nicole Kidman.
A follow-up book entitled Trumpty Dumpty Wanted a Crown was released on September 29, 2020, by Chronicle Books. Lithgow contributed voiceover work for the audio book version of A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo, a 2018 children's book written by Jill Twiss, a comedy writer for HBO's television show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The book is a loose parody of Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President, a children's book written by Charlotte Pence, the daughter of then–Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, and illustrated by her mother, Karen Pence.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Jean Taynton (m. 1966-1980) Mary Yeager (m. 1981) |
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Net Worth and Salary
- Net Worth (2025): $50 million
- Primary Sources of Income: Film, television, theater, voice acting, and book authorship
- Notable Earnings: Annual salary details are not public, but Lithgow’s long-standing career in major films and TV series, including award-winning roles, has contributed to his substantial wealth.
Career, Business & Investments
Career Highlights
- Film: “The World According to Garp,” “Footloose,” “Love is Strange,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “Pitch Perfect 3,” “Daddy’s Home 2,” among others
- Television: “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “The Crown,” “Perry Mason”
- Voice Acting: Lord Farquaad in the “Shrek” franchise
- Stage: Tony Award-winning performances in “The Changing Room” and “The Sweet Smell of Success”
- Total Acting Projects: Over 141 credited roles
- Upcoming Projects: “Harry Potter,” “Dexter: Resurrection” (as of 2025)
In 1972, Lithgow made his film debut in Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues. In 1976, he starred in a pivotal role in Brian De Palma's Obsession with Cliff Robertson and Genevieve Bujold as Robertson's long time business partner, Robert Lasalle. In 1973, Lithgow debuted on Broadway in David Storey's The Changing Room at the Morosco Theatre, earning him his first Tony nomination for Featured Actor in a Play and his first win. He also won a Drama Desk Award. The following year, he starred again on Broadway in the comedy play My Fat Friend, opposite Lynn Redgrave at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre. He starred in several plays, such as 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, A Memory of Two Mondays, and Secret Service, with Meryl Streep at The Public Theatre and with Tom Hulce at the Playhouse Theatre. Lithgow acted in Bob Fosse's semiautobiographical movie All That Jazz (1979), playing a character loosely based on real-life Broadway director and choreographer Michael Bennett. Between 1978 and 1980, Lithgow appeared in ten episodes of the radio drama revival series CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Lithgow voiced the character of Yoda in the National Public Radio adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
In 1982 and 1983, Lithgow was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as Roberta Muldoon in The World According to Garp and as Sam Burns in Terms of Endearment. Both films were screen adaptations of popular novels. In 1983, Lithgow appeared in a remake of the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in Twilight Zone: The Movie as the paranoid passenger made famous on the television show by William Shatner. In an interview with Bill Moyers, Lithgow revealed this role as his favorite of his film career. Also in 1983, Lithgow appeared in a minor role in the nuclear apocalypse television film The Day After. In 1984, he starred in the film The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension as Dr. Emilio Lizardo / Lord John Whorfin. Also in 1984, he starred in 2010: The Year We Make Contact and played a pastor who condemns dancing in Footloose. In 1985, he starred opposite Jodie Foster in Mesmerized. Also in 1985, he starred in Santa Claus: The Movie alongside Dudley Moore. In 1986, he starred in The Manhattan Project, directed by Marshall Brickman. In 1987, Lithgow starred in the Bigfoot-themed family comedy Harry and the Hendersons. At the Martin Beck Theatre in 1985, he starred in Requiem for a Heavyweight, written by Rod Serling. In 1988, he starred in David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly alongside BD Wong, at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
In 2007, Lithgow played Malvolio in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Twelfth Night, at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in the United Kingdom. He was featured at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 4–6, 2009 for performances of Mozart's Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In certain parts of the performance, he narrated some letters written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, some poems, and sections from the Book of Revelation.
Social Network
- Official Website: None widely publicized; Lithgow maintains a relatively low public profile online.
- Social Media: Limited presence—John Lithgow does not have verified, widely recognized social media profiles, reflecting his preference for privacy.
- Public Appearances: Engages with fans through interviews, talk shows, and occasional public events.
In 2020, Lithgow portrayed the attorney Elias Birchard "E.B." Jonathan in season one of the HBO reboot of Perry Mason. In the story, Mr. Birchard starts out as the employer of Mason, who is his investigator. On June 28, 2021, Showtime confirmed that Lithgow would reprise his role of Arthur Mitchell in the ten-episode Dexter limited series, with Clyde Phillips returning as the head writer. The series premiered on November 7, 2021. In 2022, Lithgow portrayed Harold Harper in the Hulu series The Old Man, opposite Jeff Bridges. For his performance, he received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film.
In May 2024, Lithgow was announced to be starring alongside Olivia Colman in the film Jimpa, directed by Australian director Sophie Hyde and filmed in South Australia, Amsterdam, and Helsinki. That same year, he starred in the conspiracy thriller Conclave (2024), directed by Edward Berger. The film revolves around a fictional story about cardinals who are tasked in finding a successor to a deceased Pope. Lithgow starred opposite Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, and Isabella Rossellini. Also in 2024, he participated in the Netflix-released animated movie Spellbound, with Rachel Zegler, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, and Nathan Lane.
Lithgow launched into a career as a recording artist with Singin' in the Bathtub, a 1999 album of music for children. In June 2002, Lithgow released his second album for children Farkle and Friends; however, Waylon Jennings died four months before its release, and it was dedicated to his memory. It was the musical companion to his book, The Remarkable Farkle McBride, which tells the story of a young musical genius. Farkle and Friends features the vocal talents of Lithgow and Bebe Neuwirth, backed by the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra, as well.
Education
- High School: Princeton High School, Princeton, NJ
- College: Harvard College
- Degree: Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in History and Literature (graduated 1967)
- Postgraduate: Fulbright Scholarship recipient, studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American actor. He studied at Harvard University and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before becoming known for his diverse work on stage and screen. He has received numerous accolades including six Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Laurence Olivier Award, and two Tony Awards, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, four Grammy Awards, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Lithgow is a 1963 graduate of Princeton High School. He then studied history and English literature at Harvard College. Lithgow lived in Adams House as an undergraduate and later served on the Harvard Board of Overseers. He credits a performance at Harvard of Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia Limited with helping him decide to become an actor. He was a pupil of dramatist Robert Chapman who was the director of Harvard's Loeb Drama Center. Lithgow was graduated from Harvard in 1967 with an A.B. magna cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Upon graduation from Harvard, Lithgow won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. After graduation from the academy, he served as the director of the Arts and Literature Department at WBAI, the Pacifica radio station in New York City.
In 2005, Lithgow became the first ever actor to deliver a commencement speech at Harvard University, his alma mater, and they awarded him an honorary Doctor of Arts.
Lithgow has done extensive work for children, including several books and albums. While he was the conductor of the orchestra of Brahms Hungarian Dance Ballet and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, he took children to some of the performances. The titles of his books for children include, Marsupial Sue, Marsupial Sue Presents "The Runaway Pancake", Lithgow Party Paloozas!: 52 Unexpected Ways to Make a Birthday, Holiday, or Any Day a Celebration for Kids, Carnival of the Animals, A Lithgow Palooza: 101 Ways to Entertain and Inspire Your Kids, I'm a Manatee, Micawber, The Remarkable Farkle McBride, Mahalia Mouse Goes to College, and I Got Two Dogs. He also appeared as a guest on Ants in Your Pants, a Canadian program for children.
Lithgow married Jean Taynton, a teacher, in 1966. They had one son together, Ian Lithgow. The couple separated following an affair he had with actress Liv Ullmann and they divorced in 1980. Lithgow subsequently married UCLA history professor, Mary Yeager, and they had a son and daughter together.
