John Lithgow Net Worth

John Lithgow's Quotes

• [on the constant time-slot changes and ultimate cancellation of 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996)] If NBC had set out to ruin it, they couldn't have done a better job. They kept trying to use us as a weapon instead of a show to be taken care of. It would have been nice to have stayed a big hit, but I'd rather be a great show that nobody was watching than a lousy show that was a big hit, which is the case for most of the others.
• In general, my basic rule of thumb is just act in things you would want to see yourself in. I have a taste for all kinds of movies. Usually, it's a question of whether it will be fun, whether I respect the people behind it, whether I would like to work with them. I'm sure I'm a serious-minded actor, but I still value the frivolity of acting. It's a real exuberant, entertaining thing to do. I never lose track of that.
• I've had parallel careers in the theatre and in movies. In the theatre, I often play characters with a strong sense of innocence who aren't as intelligent as I am. The reason: my size. I seem sort of big and good-natured on stage. It would be too much for a big man to play a forbidding character on stage. So I play big people who are fairly gentle. It's a wonderful thing to build a career on. What I offer to movie-makers is that I can put a tremendous amount of theatrical background and technical equipment at their disposal. I can make believable the over-the-top characters.
• [from a 1984 interview] My career just happened to me. I didn't manage it. My plate is full all the time, but I never have the opportunity to choose from ten parts. I do turn down junk. I've played important parts in movies but I haven't yet played the person the story is about. The joy is in the work. You can get too hung up on where you are. I'm not preoccupied with the desire to be top banana, but I do want to play bigger parts.
• We deal in very volatile chemicals. We're in the business of using real emotions to bring pretend emotions to life. We all have our secrets and we all have our deceptions. Acting, at its best, is all about deceiving people, and that makes it all the more interesting to us.

Interesting Facts about John Lithgow

1. He attended and graduated from Princeton High School in Princeton, New Jersey.
2. He attended Harvard College and graduated with a Bachelor's degree magna cum laude in history and literature (1967). He lived in Adams House as an undergraduate. Lithgow later served on Harvard's Board of Overseers.
3. He studied at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
4. He was named a Fulbright scholar.
5. He is the parent of Ian Lithgow with Jean Taynton, and Phoebe Lithgow and Nathan Lithgow with Mary Yeager.
6. He hosted the Welcoming Reception for UCLA's new Chancellor Carnesale.
7. He claims that his most difficult performance was in Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) because he had to portray fear of the monster, although he could not really see it.
8. He was the original voice of Hades in Disney's Hercules (1997) and recorded all the dialogue, but his performance was then replaced by the performance of James Woods.
9. He was considered for the role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which went to Anthony Hopkins.
10. In May 2002, he won both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award as Best Actor in a Broadway musical for his performance in "Sweet Smell of Success".
11. His wife Mary Yeager is an economics professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
12. His father ran a Shakespearian Acting company in the 1950s which included David Carradine.
13. His parents are Sarah Jane Price (born 1917) and theater director/producer Arthur Lithgow (1915-2004).
14. Biography in: "Contemporary Authors". Volume 217, pg. 219-223. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2004.
15. He was considered for the role of Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in Terug naar de toekomst (1985), which went to Christopher Lloyd.
16. He has provided the voice of Yoda in the NPR radio dramatizations of "The Empire Strikes Back" (1983) and "Return of the Jedi" (1996).
17. He has won two Tony Awards: in 1973, as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for David Storey's "The Changing Room"; and in 2002, as Best Actor (Musical) for "Sweet Smell of Success." He has also been nominated on three occasions for Tonys -- two for Best Actor (Play): for "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1985) and "M. Butterfly." (1988), and once for Best Actor (Musical): for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (2005).
18. He was called in to replace another actor in Terms of Endearment (1983), and his role was filmed in three days during a break from filming Footloose (1984).
19. Three of his non-film roles have been based on movies involving Frank Oz and Ian McDiarmid. Most of Oz's and McDiarmid's collaborations are the Star Wars films, in which they play Yoda and Darth Sidious, respectively. Lithgow played Yoda on the radio. Oz also directed McDiarmid in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988). Lithgow appeared in the stage musical.
20. He is a registered pastor of Rose Ministries and has officiated the wedding of his goddaughter.