John Lithgow has long been regarded as one of America's most distinguished performers. He has made an indelible impression on audiences with his work in film, television and the theater, receiving two Tonys, six Emmys, two Golden Globes, four SAG Awards and two Oscar nominations. Lithgow has appeared in a long list of critically acclaimed films, as far back as The World According to Garp and as recent as Conclave. He most recently starred in TheRule of Jenny Pen with Geoffrey Rush, and in the title role of JIMPA with Olivia Colman, which debuted at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Lithgow has starred in the hit TV shows 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dexter, The Crown, and the recent The Old Man on FX. On stage, he has appeared on Broadway twenty-five times, including award-winning appearances in The Changing Room, M. Butterfly, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and the musicals Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Sweet Smell of Success. Upcoming, Lithgow will be seen as Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series for HBO. In November, Lithgow concluded a sold-out run of Giant at London’s Royal Court Theatre, where he starred as Roald Dahl. The production then transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre on the West End for a limited run in Spring 2025. Lithgow won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance, with Giant also earning the award for Best New Play. For children, Lithgow has written several best-selling children’s picture books for Simon & Schuster. His recordings for kids have landed him four Grammy nominations , and he has appeared with a dozen major American orchestras in children’s concerts that feature many of his own songs. He wrote the narration for the New York City Ballet’s Carnival of the Animals in 2003 and danced the role of The Elephant. In 2011, a warm reception greeted Lithgow’s memoir Drama: An Actor’s Education, published by Harper Collins. Since 2019, he has written and illustrated the Dumpty Trilogy, three books of political satire from Chronicle Prism which achieved the remarkable feat of landing Lithgow on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list for three consecutive years. Mr. Lithgow recently completed his term as co-chair of the Commission on the Arts of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, producing authoritative reports on America’s creative workforce and arts in education. The Commission’s deliberations also spawned Art Happens Here, a PBS documentary which highlights the importance of all the arts in the lives of young people.
