John Lithgow

Born: 19 October 1945
Where: Rochester, New York

A versatile character player who has become a familiar face on 3rd Rock From The Sun, the 6ft4in Lithgow is as happy playing sportsmen as villains, has been twice nominated for Oscars and was considered for the role of Hannibal Lecter in Silence Of The Lambs.

John won a Tony for his Broadway debut as a rugby player in 1973's The Changing Room and appeared in several films before earning his first Oscar nomination for his performance as a transsexual ex-football player in 1982's The World According To Garp.

His career blossomed in the Eighties, with another supporting Oscar nod for playing a lawyer who has an affair with Debra Winger in Terms of Endearment.

After an extraordinary variety of roles in films such as Twilight Zone, 2010, Raising Cain, Footloose as well as Ricochet and Cliffhanger, where he played menacing villains, John opted for a change of pace with sci-fi sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun.

It won him the best actor Emmy three times and allowed him to work with son Ian, who had a regular role as a dim-witted student.

A father of three, John has also appeared in Harry And The Hendersons, Santa Claus and Princess Caraboo and lent his distinctive voice to animated films Rugrats in Paris - The Movie and Shrek.