John Lithgow Quotes

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John Lithgow

Profession : Actor

Birth : October 19, 1945

I actually was very proud of 'Dexter' and had a wonderful time doing it, which must make me an extremely weird person.

John Lithgow

Next to the word 'luvvie' in the dictionary, there's a picture of me. At least in the American editions.

John Lithgow

I've said no to a lot of things I'd like to have done. My agent has never seen anything like it.

John Lithgow

My hairline is receding. So my days as a romantic lead - even though I've never had them - are behind me.

John Lithgow

What fascinated me most was Churchill as a young child. He had a kind of Dickensian childhood. The neglect. And he was a terrible student. His whole life is a study in trying to overcome your feelings of inadequacy.

John Lithgow

I went to Princeton High School when I was very serious about being an artist.

John Lithgow

You don't see many films about a long, long relationship.

John Lithgow

An artist is always thinking of something else. My father was like that. He had this feeling of abstraction, and I do, too.

John Lithgow

Churchill is so particular. He's as different from the rest of the population of Britain as he is from me.

John Lithgow

Money is just a low priority for me. I'm more interested in good work than a big bank account.

John Lithgow

As an actor ages north of 60, he tends to be in more father roles than anything else. It's generational. And it tends to be a relationship that fascinates people, the flawed relationships between parents and kids.

John Lithgow

Churchill faced his own diminishing capabilities and increasing irrelevance by maintaining the sense that he was the only one who could solve whatever problem was before him. He was very often wrong, of course, but then he had spent so much of his life overcoming appalling mistakes, disasters, and rejections.

John Lithgow

I am a storyteller, and the stories I tell are, when I'm lucky, really good ones. It's a very exciting thing to do with your life, and that's, I think, what keeps me hopeful.

John Lithgow

I auditioned for soap operas and commercials; I remember auditioning for Lays potato chips. It was a sort of 'Mutiny on the Bounty' sketch, where Captain Bligh was torturing the crew by saying, 'You can only have one Lays potato chip,' and they all rise up.

John Lithgow

I have a love/hate relationship with my height - I am 6 ft. 4 in.

John Lithgow

The essence of comedy, drama, and horror is surprise. I have an uncanny ability to surprise people because they look at my face, and they don't know where I'm going.

John Lithgow

My very first role was when I was 2 1/2 years old; I was one of Nora's children in 'A Doll's House,' with my father playing Torvald.

John Lithgow

I owe my whole career as a storyteller to my father. He was an actor/director/producer and teacher.

John Lithgow

Grown adults often tell me that they used to sit, as children with their parents, and watch '3rd Rock from the Sun,' and they would all enjoy it for completely different reasons. I think that's part of the magic of the show.

John Lithgow

I'm a very hopeful person. I mean, I'm an optimistic person, sometimes stupidly optimistic.

John Lithgow