John Lithgow's life path was shaped by his birth into a family deeply rooted in the theater. Born in Rochester, New York, he was the son of Sarah Jane (Price),an actress, and Arthur Washington Lithgow III, a theatrical producer and director who was born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, where the Anglo-American Lithgow family had resided for generations.
As a child, John moved frequently, following his father's endeavors to establish and manage local and college theaters, as well as Shakespeare festivals, throughout the Midwest of the United States. It wasn't until he was 16 years old and his father became the head of the McCarter Theater in Princeton, New Jersey, that the family finally settled down.
John's initial interest in the theater was not as a career, but rather as a hobby. He won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he discovered his passion for acting and found a wife. Harvard was followed by a Fulbright scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Upon returning from London, John's rigorous dramatic training prepared him for a distinguished career on Broadway. He received a Tony Award for "The Changing Room" and two additional nominations for "Requiem For a Heavyweight" and "M. Butterfly".
However, John's personal life was marked by turmoil. He and his wife divorced in the mid-1970s, and he entered therapy. In 1982, he began a new chapter in his life, transitioning to film, and received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Roberta Muldoon in "The World According to Garp" (1982). A second Oscar nomination followed for "Terms of Endearment" (1983),and he met his second wife, a UCLA economics professor.
As the 1990s approached, John found himself spending too much time on location and made the decision to transition to television. This led to the creation of the hugely successful series "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996),which also played a significant role in reuniting him with his son, Ian Lithgow, who had a regular role in the series as a dimwitted student.
