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John Lithgow
John Arthur Lithgow (pronounced "lith-go"; born October 19, 1945) is an American actor perhaps best-known for his starring role as Dr. Dick Solomon in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He has also achieved success on stage, film, and radio. He has earned multiple Emmy Awards and Tony Awards, as well as two Oscar nominations. He has also recorded music for children.
In the beginning:
Lithgow was born in Rochester, New York. His mother, Sarah Jane (née Price), was a retired actress, and his father, Arthur Lithgow, was a theatrical producer and director who ran the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey.[1][2] Because of his father's job, the family moved frequently during Lithgow's childhood.
Lithgow won a scholarship to Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1967. He was in the same dorm as former Vice President Al Gore and actor Tommy Lee Jones. Lithgow later served on its Board of Overseers. Lithgow credits a performance at Harvard of Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia Limited with helping him decide to become an actor.[3] After graduation, Lithgow won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
The Career:
In 1983 and 1984, Lithgow was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances as Roberta Muldoon in The World According To Garp and as Sam Burns in Terms of Endearment. Both films were screen adaptations of popular novels. Lithgow originated the character of Dr. Emilio Lizardo/Lord John Whorfin, a psychotic Italian physicist inhabited by an evil alien, which he played in the 1984 cult classic The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. In 1984, Lithgow also played the moralistic anti-dancing, anti-rock pastor in Footloose and later the role of American space engineer Walter Curnow in 2010, the sequel to the science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.
In 1983, Lithgow played John Valentine in a remake of the classic Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in the Twilight Zone: The Movie as the paranoid passenger once made famous on the television show by William Shatner. (This was referenced in an episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun in which William Shatner portrayed the Big Giant Head, the overseer of the Solomon’s' expedition to Earth.) In 1992, he starred as the main role in Brian De Palma's film Raising Cain, and in 1993, starred as Eric Qualen in the Stallone movie Cliffhanger.
In 1987, Lithgow starred in the Bigfoot-themed family comedy, Harry And The Hendersons. In 2001, Lithgow provided the voice acting for the villainous Lord Farquaad in the hit animated movie Shrek. In 2002, he narrated Life's Greatest Miracle, a sex education film, while in 2004, he portrayed the moralistic, rigid father of Alfred Kinsey in that year's biopic Kinsey. In 2006, Lithgow had a small role in the Academy Award-winning film, Dreamgirls, as Jerry Harris, a film producer offering Deena Jones (Beyoncé Knowles) a film role.
Lithgow is probably most widely known for his starring role as Dick Solomon in the 1996-2001 NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series" in each of the program's six seasons and won three times, in 1996, 1997, and 1999. In 1986, Lithgow received a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series" for his appearance in an episode of the Amazing Stories anthology show.
Additionally, Lithgow has been nominated for an "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Special" Emmy for The Day After (1983), two "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special" Emmys for " Resting Place" (1986) and "My Brother's Keeper" (1995). Lithgow was approached about playing Dr. Frasier Crane on Cheers, but turned it down. Lithgow starred with Jeffrey Tambor in the NBC sitcom Twenty Good Years.
Since 2006 he has starred in Campbell Soup Company's commercials advertising their "Campbell's Select" premium soup brand.
The other side of the camera:
Lithgow currently resides in Los Angeles. He has been married twice, to Jean Taynton from 1966 to 1980, and Mary Yeager since 1981. He is the father of three children, Ian (born in 1972) from his marriage to Taynton and Phoebe McCurtain (born in 1982) and Nathan George (born in 1983) from his marriage to Yeager. Ian made regular appearances on Third Rock from the Sun as Leon, a particularly slow student in Prof. Solomon's class.
Lithgow is a registered pastor of Rose Ministries,[4] and has officiated the wedding of his goddaughter.
He is a descendant of the poet Anne Bradstreet.
Third Rock from the Sun can be purchased or rented on Love Film.
Craig A Burton
What members say |
Filmography
John Lithgow - what members say
review by from London, UK
You're only as old as the movies you watch! 28 November 2003
review by from Dorset
Comedy genius 15 March 2005
review by MAXIMILIAN from
R.I.P. Dudley Moore 11 April 2011
John Lithgow - filmography
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Confessions of a Shopaholic - Blu-ray
(2009)
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack
Director: P.J. Hogan
Certificate: 
Watch now: Unavailable
In the glamorous world of New York City, Rebecca Bloomwood is a fun-loving girl who is really good at shopping--a little too good, perhaps. She dreams of working for her favorite fashion magazine, but can't quite get her foot in the door--until ironically, she snags a job as an advice columnist for ..read more »
 
62%
from 4,890 members
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Confessions of a Shopaholic
on DVD
(2009)
Starring: Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Joan Cusack
Director: P.J. Hogan
Certificate:
Watch now: Unavailable
In the glamorous world of New York City, Rebecca Bloomwood is a fun-loving girl who is really good at shopping--a little too good, perhaps. She dreams of working for her favorite fashion magazine, but can't quite get her foot in the door--until ironically, she snags a job as an advice columnist for ..read more »
65%
from 39,696 members
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Kinsey
on DVD
(2004)
Starring: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell
Director: Bill Condon
Certificate: 
The life story of Alfred Kinsey, a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the nation, and journey into the mystery of human behavior. In 1948, Kinsey irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation with his book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male." Using the technique ..read more »
60%
from 15,230 members
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Orange County
on DVD
(2002)
Starring: Jack Black, Colin Hanks, Catherine O'Hara
Director: Jake Kasdan
Certificate:
High school student, Shaun Brumder, has his sights set on gaining a place at Stanford University. His dreams are shattered when he receives a letter of rejection after his counsellor sends the wrong papers to Stanford. Now Shaun has just twenty-four hours to reach Stanford and put the record straight...
60%
from 4,716 members
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Shrek - 3D Blu-ray
(2001)
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Certificate: 
Set in a strange, colourful land populated by fairy tale characters, SHREK is a hilarious comedy that will win over audiences of children and adults alike. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cosy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and ..read more »
80%
from 184 members
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Third Rock From The Sun - Complete Season 6
(2 discs)
(2001)
Starring: John Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart
Director: none
Certificate:
So we bid farewell to a true sitcom classic. 3rd Rock's brilliant ensemble cast has made it one of television's most unique, original and outrageous sitcoms hailed by critics, adored by fans and honoured with Emmy Awards. Presented here are all 20 episodes of the final season containing some of 3rd ..read more »
73%
from 591 members
Not available for rental
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Shrek - Blu-ray
(2001)
Starring: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz
Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Certificate:
Set in a strange, colourful land populated by fairy tale characters, SHREK is a hilarious comedy that will win over audiences of children and adults alike. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cosy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and ..read more »
82%
from 597 members
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Shrek
on DVD
(2001)
Starring: John Lithgow, Mike Myers, Peter Dennis
Director: Andrew Adamson, Vicky Jenson
Certificate:
Set in a strange, colourful land populated by fairy tale characters, SHREK is a hilarious comedy that will win over audiences of children and adults alike. Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is a fearsome green ogre living in isolation in his own cosy little swamp. He is not receptive to visitors, and ..read more »
79%
from 69,754 members
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A Civil Action
on DVD
(1998)
Starring: John Travolta, Robert Duvall, Stephen Fry
Director: Steve Zaillain
Certificate:
Jan Schlichtmann, a tenacious young lawyer, is confronted with the litigation of a lifetime in this unbelievable real-life story. Several families in the small town of Woburn, Massachusetts, have suffered the tragic losses of their children to the rare cancer known as leukemia. After having their ..read more »
62%
from 1,367 member
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Third Rock From The Sun - The Complete S...
(4 discs)
(1997)
Starring: John Lithgow, Kristen Johnson, French Stewart
Director: none
Certificate: 
All 26 uncut episodes from season two. The set also contains promos, bloopes, "Behind the Scenes" of "Nightmare on Dick Street" and an unaired alternative season ending. Features the following episodes: See Dick Continue To Run - Part I, See Dick Continue To Run - Part II, Hotel Dick, Big Angry ..read more »
73%
from 907 members
Not available for rental
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Shadoan
on DVD
(1996)
Starring: French Stewart, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jane Curtin
Director: Robert Berlinger
Certificate: 
Explore the mysterious and intricate JRR Tolkien-type world of Shadoan. Gather the five lost pieces of an ancient amulet and discover its magical powers. Finally, you attempt to destroy the evil wizard Torlock, allowing Prince Lathan Kandor and the beautiful Princess Grace Delight to be reunited.
15%
from 7 members
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A Good Man in Africa
(1994)
Starring: Colin Friels, Joanne Whalley, Sean Connery
Director: Bruce Beresford
Certificate: 
Based on a novel by William Boyd (who also wrote the film's screenplay), this darkly witty drama explores the political, social, and sexual gamesmanship of a group of British and African politicians. Morgan Leafy (Colin Friels) is a British diplomat who, for the past three years, has been assigned ..read more »
31%
from 6 members
Currently unavailable
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When Lions Roared
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, John Lithgow
Director: Joseph Sargent
Certificate:
Featuring three powerhouse performers, this miniseries centres on three of the most important leaders of the 20th century. Oscar-winner Michael Caine is transformed into the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in an Emmy-nominated performance. Bob Hoskins plays British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, ..read more »
46%
from 33 members
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The Pelican Brief - Blu-ray
(1993)
Starring: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
Julia Roberts (ERIN BROCKOVICH) stars in THE PELICAN BRIEF as sharp law student Darby Shaw whose querying mind gets her into trouble. A faithful adaptation of John Grisham's (THE FIRM) best-selling novel, this taut thriller follows the travails that beset Shaw when her theory on the cause of the ..read more »
69%
from 695 members
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The Pelican Brief
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard
Director: Alan J. Pakula
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
Embroiled in an affair with Thomas Callahan (Sam Shephard), her alcoholic professor, precocious 24-year-old Tulane University law student Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) writes up an insightful theory about the recent murder of two Supreme Court justices, one of whom, Abraham Rosenberg (Hume Cronyn), ..read more »
67%
from 9,047 members
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Love, Cheat and Steal
(1993)
Starring: John Lithgow, Eric Roberts, Mädchen Amick
Director: William Curran
Certificate: 
Watch now: £2.49
Paul Harrington thinks he has the perfect wife, stunning, kind and ambitious. Yet behind Lauren's pretty face (played by Madchen Amick) lies a wicked person who sent her former boyfriend to jail by setting him up. Reno Adams has lost seven years of his life in Jail and wants revenge. After escaping,..read more »
37%
from 4 members
Currently unavailable
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Cliffhanger
on DVD
(1992)
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker
Director: Renny Harlin
Certificate:
After a ranger (Sylvester Stallone) fails to rescue his partner's girlfriend from a tragic death in the Rocky Mountains, he leaves the rescue team to wrestle with his guilt. When he returns to reconcile his relationship with his own girlfriend (Janine Turner), also a rescue ranger, he is drawn into ..read more »
62%
from 16,817 members
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Cliffhanger - Blu-ray
(1992)
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Michael Rooker
Director: Renny Harlin
Certificate:
After a ranger (Sylvester Stallone) fails to rescue his partner's girlfriend from a tragic death in the Rocky Mountains, he leaves the rescue team to wrestle with his guilt. When he returns to reconcile his relationship with his own girlfriend (Janine Turner), also a rescue ranger, he is drawn into ..read more »
67%
from 1,709 member
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Raising Cain
on DVD
(1992)
Starring: John Lithgow, Lolita Davidovich, Steven Bauer
Director: Brian De Palma
Certificate:
John Lithgow goes bananas in a crazed multiple role as a child psychologist haunted by his deranged twin in this film from Brian De Palma (who explored similar territory in his earlier feature SISTERS). Inspired by Hitchcock as well as Michael Powell's classic PEEPING TOM, this study in abnormality ..read more »
55%
from 748 members
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At Play In the Fields of the Lord
(1991)
Starring: Tom Berenger, Daryl Hannah, Aidan Quinn
Director: Hector Babenco
Certificate:
Martin and Hazel Quarrier are small-town fundamentalist missionaries sent to the jungles of South America to convert the Indians. Their remote mission was previously run by the Catholics, before the natives murdered them all. They are sent by the pompous Leslie Huben, who runs the missionary effort ..read more »
50%
from 30 members
Currently unavailable
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Ricochet
on DVD
(1991)
Starring: Denzel Washington, John Lithgow, Ice-T
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Certificate:
A cop (Denzel Washington) receives lots of media attention when he nabs an infamous, sadistic killer (John Lithgow) at an amusement park. The murderer stews in jail for seven years, obsessively following the rising career of his arresting officer, who becomes a DA with a promising future, a husband,..read more »
59%
from 1,697 member
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Memphis Belle
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Reed Edward Diamond, Tate Donovan, John Lithgow
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Certificate:
A human drama set against a World War II backdrop and focussing on the crew of a US Eighth Air Force B-17 bomber, stationed in England. They have completed 24 dangerous bombing missions and are about to set out for the one mission that will allow them to go back home to a heroes' welcome.
70%
from 4,326 members
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Harry And The Hendersons
on DVD
(1987)
Starring: John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Margaret Langrick
Director: William Dear
Certificate:
Returning from a hunting trip in the forest, the Henderson family's car hits an animal in the road. At first they fear it was a man, but when they examine the "body" they find it's a "bigfoot". They think it's dead so they decide to take it home (there could be some money in this..).
'Harry' the ..read more »
72%
from 726 members
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Resting Place
on DVD
(1986)
Starring: Morgan Freeman, John Lithgow, C.C.H. Pounder
Director: John Korty
Certificate:
Watch now: £2.49
When a black Army Lieutenant killed in Vietnam is prevented from being buried in his hometown's all-white cemetery, an Army Major investigates the situation. As he looks back upon the soldier's career, he discovers that he may not have been a victim of the war after all...
55%
from 268 members
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Amazing Stories - Season 1
(4 discs)
on DVD
(1985)
Starring: John Lithgow, Tim Robbins, Charlie Sheen
Director: Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese
Certificate:
Academy Award-winning writer/director Steven Spielberg presents AMAZING STORIES, the hit television series featuring a star-studded cast including John Lithgow, Kiefer Sutherland, Tim Robbins, Charlie Sheen, and Kevin Costner. The show's first groundbreaking series blends mystery, science fiction, ..read more »
55%
from 334 members
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Santa Claus - The Movie
on DVD
(1985)
Starring: Dudley Moore, John Lithgow, Burgess Meredith
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Certificate:
After introducing how Santa and Mrs. Claus came to the North Pole and began their work delivering toys at Christmas time, this routine children's film segues into a story about an evil corporate magnate (John Lithgow). One of Santa's elves (Dudley Moore) goes to work for the nasty tycoon and ..read more »
69%
from 3,147 members
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2010 - The Year We Make Contact
on DVD
(1984)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Keir Dullea, John Lithgow
Director: Peter Hyams
Certificate:
A team of American and Soviet astronauts travel in search of the lost ship "Discovery" as Cold War strife boils over back on Earth. A breathtaking if far less allegorical sequel to the sci-fi classic 2001 A SPACE ODYSSEY. Academy Award Nominations: 5.
63%
from 7,046 members
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The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai
on DVD
(1984)
Starring: Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin
Director: W.D. Richter
Certificate:
Despite mixed reviews and a disastrous initial release that dumped the film into theaters for a week in the midst of the 1984 Summer Olympics, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension went on to become one of the major cult films of the 1980s, developing a rabid following after ..read more »
53%
from 952 members
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Mesmerised
on DVD
(1984)
Starring: Jodie Foster, John Lithgow, Harry Andrews
Director: Michael Laughlin
Certificate:
An 18-year-old orphan is trapped in an arranged marriage to a cruel middle-aged man. While she initially hoped for a better life, she soon realised that she wants out of the arrangement. When he turns up murdered, she is the prime suspect, arousing the ire of a nation. Based on the true story of ..read more »
40%
from 196 members
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Footloose
on DVD
(1984)
Starring: Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Director: Herbert Ross
Certificate:
This classic tale of teen rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small midwestern town, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though ..read more »
67%
from 7,949 members
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Footloose - Blu-ray
(1984)
Starring: Lori Singer, John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest
Director: Herbert Ross
Certificate:
This classic tale of teen rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren (Kevin Bacon) and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small midwestern town, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though ..read more »
73%
from 136 members
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The Day After
on DVD
(1983)
Starring: Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg
Director: Nicholas Meyer
Certificate:
Steve Guttenberg and Jason Robards star in this Emmy Award winning made-for-TV movie about the aftermath of a total global thermonuclear war. Taking place in Lawrence, Kansas, THE DAY AFTER is a bleak look at the effects such a war would have on humanity by using the inhabitants of this small town ..read more »
59%
from 1,111 member
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Blow Out
on DVD
(1980)
Starring: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow
Director: Brian De Palma
Certificate:
Brian De Palma's homage to Michelangelo Antonioni's classic art movie Blow-Up (1966) blends suspense and political paranoia when a Philadelphia soundman inadvertently records a murder. Former police technician Jack Terri (John Travolta) makes his living doing sound for slasher flicks. While ..read more »
61%
from 1,892 member
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All That Jazz
on DVD
(1979)
Starring: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ben Vereen
Director: Bob Fosse
Certificate:
It's showtime! In this part film à clef, part musical phantasmagoria, director/choreographer Bob Fosse takes a Felliniesque look at the life of a driven entertainer. Joe Gideon (Roy Scheider, channeling Fosse) is the ultimate work (and pleasure)-aholic, as he knocks back a daily dose of ..read more »
58%
from 2,146 members
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Obsession
(1976)
Starring: Sylvia Kuumba Williams, Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold
Director: Brian De Palma
Certificate:
In one of director Brian DePalma's many cinematic tributes to Alfred Hitchcock (this one borrows from VERTIGO and employs Hitchcock's frequent collaborator, composer Bernard Herrmann), Cliff Robertson portrays an American businessman whose wife and child are killed in a botched kidnapping rescue ..read more »
58%
from 362 members
Not currently released
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Obsession - Blu-ray
(1976)
Starring: Cliff Robertson, Genevieve Bujold, John Lithgow
Director: Brian De Palma
Certificate:
In one of director Brian DePalma's (DRESSED TO KILL, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE) many cinematic tributes to Hitchcock (this one borrows from VERTIGO), Cliff Robertson portrays an American businessman whose wife and child are killed in a botched kidnap rescue effort. Years later, while in Italy, the still-..read more »
63%
from 106 members
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John Lithgow facts
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...g and old alike.
Of particular note are the performances from Eddie Murphy & John Lithgow - both bring their characters to life in such a way that you forget that they a...
