Sign in Sign up

Acting

John Lithgow

Career: Active from 1972 to 2026, busiest in 1984 and 1993 with 5 main titles each.

Leading roles: 64
top three billing

Average score: 61/100

Highest rated: Special Effects: Anything Can Happen
86/100

What stands out

Compared with the average well-known movie, over 104 of their titles. Select a trait to filter titles.

John Lithgow Catalog average

Rarely in their work

Adrenaline
4.1, average 4.8
Coming of Age
2.4, average 3.0
Violence
3.5, average 4.1
Scare
2.0, average 2.6

Main genres

Select a genre to see those titles.

Recurring tags

Social Commentary 7
Character Study 7
Character-Driven 6
Historical Setting 6
Political Intrigue 6
Biographical Drama 5
Family-Friendly 5
Psychological Thriller 5
Eccentric Characters 4
Class Conflict 3
Nostalgic 3
Sharp Dialogue 3

Works often with

People in at least two of their main titles.

Movies and TV shows

149

Type

Role

Score

Decade

Genre

Group by

2020s

18 titles · average score 67

Jimpa

45

as Jimpa

The Rule of Jenny Pen

64

as Dave Crealy

Dexter: Resurrection

83

TV show · as Arthur Mitchell

Conclave

80

as Tremblay

Cabrini

73

as Mayor Gould

Killers of the Flower Moon

83

as Prosecutor Peter Leaward

Sharper

66

as Richard Hobbes

The Old Man

72

TV show · as Harold Harper

Dexter: New Blood

67

TV show · as Arthur Mitchell

Emily @ the Edge of Chaos

as Sir Isaac Newton (voice)

Live in Front of a Studio Audience: The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes

76

as Philip Drummond

Perry Mason

73

TV show · as Elias Birchard 'E.B.' Jonathan

2010s

33 titles · average score 65

Pet Sematary

53

as Jud Crandall

Bombshell

66

as Roger Ailes

Trial & Error

77

TV show · as Larry Henderson

Beatriz at Dinner

64

as Doug Strutt

Daddy's Home 2

41

as Don

The Accountant

62

as Lamar Blackburn

Love Is Strange

76

as Ben

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland

64

TV show · as The White Rabbit (voice)

This Is 40

56

as Oliver

The Campaign

57

as Glen Motch

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

78

as Charles Rodman

Leap Year

44

as Jack Brady

2000s

28 titles · average score 65

Confessions of a Shopaholic

46

as Edgar West

Twenty Good Years

37

TV show · as John Mason

Dexter

78

TV show · as Arthur Mitchell

30 Rock

79

TV show · as John Lithgow

How I Met Your Mother

75

TV show · as Jerry Whittaker

The Colbert Report

72

TV show

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

69

as Blake Edwards

Shrek 3-D

60

as Ghost of Farquaad (voice)

Kinsey

76

as Alfred Seguine Kinsey

Orange County

54

as Bud Brumder

Shrek

84

as Lord Farquaad (voice)

Don Quixote

62

as Don Quixote de La Mancha / Alonso Quixano

1990s

31 titles · average score 59

A Civil Action

64

as Judge Walter J. Skinner

Johnny Skidmarks

45

as Sergeant Larry Skovik

3rd Rock from the Sun

65

TV show · as Dick Solomon

Hollow Point

55

as Thomas Livingston

A Good Man in Africa

29

as Arthur Fanshawe, British High Commissioner

Silent Fall

39

as Dr. Rene Harlinger

Cliffhanger

63

as Qualen

Love, Cheat & Steal

40

as Paul Harrington

The Wrong Man

51

as Phillip Mills

Raising Cain

54

as Carter Nix / Cain / Dr. Nix / Josh / Margo

Ricochet

61

as Earl Talbott Blake

At Play in the Fields of the Lord

68

as Leslie Huben

1980s

29 titles · average score 62

The Simpsons

83

TV show · as John Lithgow (voice) / Gus (voice)

Distant Thunder

49

as Mark Lambert

Harry and the Hendersons

53

as George Henderson

The Manhattan Project

57

as John Mathewson

Resting Place

65

as Maj. Kendall Laird

Santa Claus: The Movie

42

as B.Z.

Footloose

58

as Rev. Shaw Moore

2010

63

as Dr. Walter Curnow

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension

66

as Lord John Whorfin

Twilight Zone: The Movie

56

as Valentine

Terms of Endearment

77

as Sam Burns

Blow Out

82

as Burke

1970s

9 titles · average score 67

Rich Kids

61

as Paul Philips

All That Jazz

80

as Lucas Sergeant

The Big Fix

73

as Sam Sebastian

Secret Service

as Capt. Thorne

Obsession

66

as Robert Lasalle

NOVA

79

TV show · as Narrator

The Country Girl

as Paul Unger

Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues

41

as John

Great Performances

70

TV show · as Capt. Thorne

1950s

1 title · average score 84

Hallmark Hall of Fame

84

TV show · as Paul Unger / Laird Riordan