Christopher Lloyd is an American actor with a remarkable career spanning many decades. Born on October 22, 1938, in Stamford, Connecticut, he is the son of lawyer Samuel R. Lloyd and singer Ruth Lapham. His maternal uncle was politician Roger Lapham, Mayor of San Francisco, and his maternal grandfather was businessman Lewis Henry Lapham, co-founder of Texaco Oil Company.
Lloyd is a distant descendant of indentured servant John Howland, one of the passengers of the ship Mayflower and signers of the Mayflower Compact. He was raised in Westport, Connecticut, a town that transformed from a community of farmers to a suburban development during the 20th century. Many artists and writers from New York City settled in the town, and Lloyd was educated at Staples High School, where he was a co-founder of the school's theatre company, the Staples Players.
Lloyd's interest in an acting career led him to pursue summer theater apprenticeships in Mount Kisco, New York, and Hyannis, Massachusetts. He then enrolled in acting classes in New York City, studying at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre under the guidance of Sanford Meisner, creator of the Meisner technique.
Lloyd made his New York theatrical debut in 1961 and his Broadway debut in 1969. Until the mid-1970s, he primarily performed in theatrical productions, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway. He made his film debut in 1975 and his first major television role in 1978 as drug-using taxicab driver Jim Ignatowski in the sitcom Taxi. Lloyd won two Primetime Emmy Awards for his performance.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Lloyd played many notable film roles, including Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, the evil Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and deranged Uncle Fester in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values. He also performed as a voice actor, voicing the evil sorcerer Merlock in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp and historical figure Grigori Rasputin in Anastasia.
Lloyd continued to appear in films and television shows throughout the 1990s and 2000s, including the sci-fi series Deadly Games and the sitcom Stacked. In the 2010s, he returned to the role of Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in cameo appearances and as the protagonist of the short film Back to the Future: Doc Brown Saves the World. By 2020, Lloyd had never retired from acting and continued to appear in various roles.
