John Lithgow

John Lithgow is an American actor known for his work in feature films, on television and in the theater. Lithgow has won six Emmys throughout his career, three times for his role on the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. Lithgow was nominated for two Oscars for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in The World According to Garp (1982) and Terms of Endearment (1983).

In addition to his on-screen work, Lithgow has also been a singer. He’s made three albums for children, and has been nominated for four Grammy Awards.

Born on October 19, 1945 in Rochester, New York, John’s middle name is Arthur. His zodiac sign is Libra.

John Lithgow – His Religion

He isn’t religious, so we’re placing John Lithgow in the atheist camp.

Many fans of the original Footloose will remember John playing the role of a reverend of a small town who helped ban dancing. To get into the skin of a man of faith, Lithgow needed to immerse himself into the world of someone who had faith.

“I’m not a man who’s grown up religious, and I had to find some sort of spine of reality there so I literally went and sought spiritual counseling — quite cynically, I must say — from, I think, an Assembly of God minister that I found in the Yellow Pages,” the actor said. “I literally said ‘I’m very lonely here on location, and I find that people with faith have someone that they can turn to. Can you talk to me about Jesus?’

“It was an incredibly valuable thing to do. I did feel like a total hypocrite, a snake in the grass, but without that — this man was extremely kind and very persuasive. That’s what I needed to play that part and deliver those sermons.” (1)

John Lithgow – His Politics

Lithgow campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, so we’re guessing that he’s a Democrat. (2)

He’s not a fan of Donald Trump as a leader of the Republican party either, as evidenced by this tweet:

Face facts, #GOP: He’s not a Republican! He’s a #Trumpocrat

— John Lithgow (@JohnLithgow) February 15, 2017

John Lithgow – His Relationships

Lithgow has been married twice. His first marriage was from 1966 to 1980 with Jean Taynton, a teacher. The relationship ended after John had an affair with actress Liv Ullman. In 1981 Lithgow remarried, this time to Mary Yeager, a history professor.

His is father to three children: son Ian from his first marriage; and son Nathan and daughter Phoebe from his second marriage.

“I have three children and two grandchildren. I’m probably a better granddad than dad because your role as a grandfather is to be fun, and I’m fun.” (3)

“My dad was a Shakespeare fanatic. He created Shakespeare festivals and produced them in Ohio when I was growing up. And he was also a great storyteller and a reader of stories to all of us kids,” Lithgow once remarked.

John Lithgow – Trivia & Miscellaneous Facts

His all-time favorite role was playing the manic airline passenger in 1982’s Twilight Zone: The Movie. It was also his most challenging role because he admits that he was afraid of what the monster outside his plane looked like to him, in his imagination. (4)

He was almost cast in the role of Doc Brown in Back to the Future, and Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. (4)

“‘My worst job? Cab driver in New York. It almost crippled me. There are no 6ft 4in cabbies in New York.” (5)

Sources:

1: Huffington Post

2: The Post

3: AARP

4: International Business Times

5: The Guardian

Photo by Rubenstein. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 International License.

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