John Arthur Lithgow born October 19 1945 is an American actor Prolific in films television and on stage Lithgow is the recipient of numerous accolades including two Golden Globe Awards six Primetime Emmy Awards three Screen Actors Guild Awards two Tony Awards and nominations for two Academy Awards and four Grammy Awards He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame and has received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Lithgow studied at Harvard University winning a Fulbright scholarship and getting a chance to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art From there he focused his training on the New York stage beginning a distinguished career on Broadway In 1973 Lithgow received his first Tony Award for his performance in The Changing Room In 1976 Lithgow acted alongside Meryl Streep in three plays 27 Wagons Full of Cotton A Memory of Two Mondays and Secret Service In the 1980s he continued to receive Tony Awards nominations for his performances in Requiem for a Heavyweight 1985 and M Butterfly 1988 In 2002 Lithgow received his second Tony Award this time for a musical The Sweet Smell of Success and another nomination for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels 2005 In 2007 he made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Malvolio in Neil Bartletts production of Twelfth Night He has also appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed plays The Columnist 2012 and A Delicate Balance 2014 He portrayed Bill Clinton in Hillary and Clinton 2019 alongside Laurie Metcalf as Hillary Clinton Lithgow is also known for his television roles such as Dick Solomon in the sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun 19962001 winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance He also played Arthur Mitchell in the drama Dexter 2009 and he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama In 2004 Lithgow played Blake Edwards in the HBO television movie The Life and Death of Peter Sellers He has also appeared on 30 Rock How I Met Your Mother Louie and Drunk History Lithgow won great acclaim for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Peter Morgans historical drama The Crown 20162019 on Netflix For acting in The Crown he won a Primetime Emmy Award and Screen Actors Guild Award In 2020 he had a recurring role on the HBO period series Perry Mason He is also well known for his film roles His early screen roles included Bob Fosses All That Jazz 1979 and Brian De Palmas Blow Out 1981 He received his first Academy Award nomination for his breakout performance in The World According to Garp 1982 and received a second Academy Award nomination for Terms of Endearment 1983 He then starred in the films Footloose 1984 Harry and the Hendersons 1987 The Pelican Brief and Cliffhanger 1993 A Civil Action 1998 Rugrats in Paris The Movie 2000 Shrek 2001 Kinsey 2004 Dreamgirls 2006 Love Is Strange 2014 Miss Sloane 2016 and Beatriz at Dinner 2017 In 2019 he appeared in Mindy Kalings comedy Late Night and portrayed Roger Ailes in Bombshell