A versatile character player who has been a familiar face in theater, film and TV since the early 1970s, John Lithgow has proven adept with a wide range of material spanning drama, comedy, sci-fi, family fare and thrillers. He won a Tony for his Broadway debut as a rugby player in 1973's "The Changing Room" and appeared in several films before gaining acclaim and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his sympathetic and dignified performance as Roberta Muldoon, a transsexual ex-pro football player in 1982's "The World According to Garp".

Lithgow's strapping physique lends authenticity to his portrayals of athletes gone slightly to seed as was demonstrated by his roles in "Changing Room", "Garp" and his Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway production of Rod Serling's "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1985). Yet when he slumps his shoulders and slouches a bit, his weak chin and amazingly expressive features can conspire to make him appear meek and nervous. On the other hand, when his eyes harden and his mouth becomes set, the actor can be an extremely effective villain.

Lithgow's film career blossomed in the 80s and continued full tilt through the 90s. He earned additional kudos and another supporting Oscar nomination for his role as the hapless lawyer who has an affair with Debra Winger in "Terms of Endearment" (1983). He has played an extraordinary variety of roles: spectacularly nervous guys (e.g., "Twilight Zone - The Movie" 1983; "2010" 1984); full-fledged psychotics (notably in two Brian De Palma-directed efforts "Blow Out" 1981 and "Raising Cain" 1992); repressive patriarchs (i.e., "Footloose" 1984; "At Play in the Fields of the Lord" 1991); and broad cartoonish villains ("The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai" 1984). Lithgow has approached more conventionally villainous roles with particular relish in several genre films like "Ricochet" (1991), opposite Denzel Washington and "Cliffhanger" (1993), wherein he menaces Sylvester Stallone.

Having devoted much time to theater (including originating the role of the diplomat in 1988's "M. Butterfly") and high-toned TV-movies and specials, Lithgow opted for a change of pace, headlining his first TV series, the NBC sitcom "3rd Rock From the Sun" (1996-2001). Playing the leader of a band of aliens who assume human form, he displayed superb comic timing and earned the Emmy Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series in 1996, 1997 and 1999. Lithgow took a short break from comedy in 2000 to appear as the titular romantic hero in the TNT production "Don Quixote". Adding yet another eccentric character to his overflowing gallery, he garnered excellent reviews for his performance as he introduced the classic story to a new generation. After that, Lithgow returned to more light-hearted fare, lending his distinctive voice to the animated feature films "Rugrats in Paris--The Movie" (2000) and "Shrek" (2001), playing the diminutive but arrogant villain Lord Farquaad in the latter. In 2004 Lithgow scored in a pair of biopics, first in the feature film "Kinsey" playing the stern, devout and disapproving father of famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey; then as film director Blake Edwards in the HBO telepic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

Lithgow also kept in touch with his stage roots, headlining a 2000 workshop of "Sweet Smell of Success," assuming Burt Lancaster's film role of J.J. Hunsecker when the production went to Broadway in 2002, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Leading Actor in a Musical. In 2003 he joined Eileen Atkins in the William Nicholson drama "The Retreat from Moscow," at the Booth Theatre. In 2005 the actor starred as the sophisticated con artist Lawrence Jameson, the Michael Caine role in the musical stage production based on the hit film "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" at New York's Imperial Theatre (earning another Tony nomination), as well as headlining the Flea Theater production of A.R. Gurney's "Mrs. Farnsworth," opposite Sigourney Weaver.

Lithgow also authored several popular childrens' books, including Micawber (2002), I'm a Manatee (2003) and Carnival of the Animals (2004).