What is the best John Lithgow acting performance?

From serial killers to animated villains to Churchill himself, his range spans six decades of film, television, and the stage — including a Tony win at 80 that made history. Which Lithgow performance is the undisputed peak?

1. 1
   Roald Dahl – Giant (Broadway)

   Lithgow's 2026 Tony Award-winning performance as author Roald Dahl in the Broadway play Giant, making him the oldest man ever to win a competitive acting Tony Award.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Eric Qualen – Cliffhanger

   Lithgow's scenery-chewing turn as the ruthless international terrorist and main villain pursuing Sylvester Stallone across the Rocky Mountains in the 1993 action thriller.
   898pts
3. 3
   Arthur Mitchell – Dexter Season 4

   Lithgow's Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance as the Trinity Killer, a Sunday-school teacher and family man living a horrifying double life as a serial killer.
   897pts
4. 4
   Donald – Interstellar

   Lithgow's warm and understated performance as the elderly grandfather holding the family together while Cooper ventures into space in Christopher Nolan's 2014 epic.
   807pts
5. 5
   Sam Burns – Terms of Endearment

   Lithgow's second consecutive Oscar-nominated role as a shy, sweet banker who forms a romance with Debra Winger's character in James L. Brooks' 1983 tearjerker.
   692pts
6. 6
   Dick Solomon – 3rd Rock from the Sun

   Lithgow's Emmy-winning turn as an alien physicist hilariously adjusting to human life, anchoring the NBC sitcom for six seasons from 1996 to 2001.
   538pts
7. 7
   Sidney Falco – Sweet Smell of Success (Broadway)

   Lithgow's Tony Award-winning Broadway turn as the scheming press agent Sidney Falco in the 2002 musical adaptation of the 1957 film noir.
   538pts
8. 8
   Harry Henderson – Harry and the Hendersons

   Lithgow's lovable lead performance as a suburban dad who discovers and shelters a Bigfoot in this 1987 family comedy that ran for years as a TV series.
   323pts
9. 9
   Roberta Muldoon – The World According to Garp

   Lithgow's Oscar-nominated supporting performance as a transgender former NFL player and friend to T.S. Garp in George Roy Hill's 1982 adaptation.
   323pts
10. 10
    Lord Farquaad – Shrek

    Lithgow's delightfully megalomaniacal voice performance as the tiny-statured villain Lord Farquaad in DreamWorks' 2001 animated blockbuster.
    1pts
11. 11
    Winston Churchill – The Crown

    Lithgow's Emmy-winning portrayal of an aging Winston Churchill navigating his twilight political years in the first two seasons of Netflix's royal drama.
    1pts
12. 12
    Rev. Shaw Moore – Footloose

    Lithgow's commanding 1984 role as the repressive small-town preacher who has banned dancing and music, and proves surprisingly sympathetic as the story unfolds.
    1pts
13. 13
    John Valentine – Twilight Zone: The Movie

    Lithgow's frenzied, paranoid performance as an airline passenger convinced he sees a gremlin dismantling the plane's engine, his personal favorite of all his film roles.
    1pts