A Conversation with John Lithgow
Sat. Sept. 23, 2023 at 8pm
Performance Sponsor
Mark Chapin Johnson Foundation
Artist Sponsor
Ellie Jaffy and Andy Vollero
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This performance is presented without an intermission.
Patti McCarthy: Moderator
John Lithgow has long been regarded as one of America's most distinguished performers. He has made an indelible impression on audiences with his work in film, television and the theater. He is a prolific actor with two Tonys, six Emmys, three SAG Awards and two Oscar nominations. Lithgow has appeared in a long list of critically acclaimed films such as All That Jazz, The World According to Garp, Terms of Endearment and Bombshell. He will next be seen in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Edward Berger’s Conclave.
Lithgow has starred in the hit TV shows 3rd Rock from the Sun, Dexter, The Crown, FX's The Old Man, and Perry Mason on HBO. On stage, he has appeared on Broadway twenty-five times, including award-winning appearances in The Changing Room, M. Butterfly, Requiem for a Heavyweight, and the musicals Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Sweet Smell of Success.
Mr. Lithgow has written several best-selling children’s picture books for Simon & Schuster. His recordings for kids have landed him four Grammy nominations. He wrote the narration for the New York City Ballet’s Carnival of the Animals in 2003 and even danced the role of The Elephant.
In 2011, a warm reception greeted Lithgow’s memoir Drama: An Actor’s Education, published by Harper Collins. Since 2019, he has written and illustrated the “Dumpty Trilogy,” three books of political satire from Chronicle Prism, which achieved the remarkable feat of landing Lithgow on The New York Times non-fiction bestseller list for three consecutive years.
Mr. Lithgow recently completed his term as co-chair of the Commission on the Arts of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Advancing the Commission’s recommendations, he continues to advocate on behalf of arts in education and the livelihood of America’s creative workforce.
Patti McCarthy received her M.F.A. and Ph.D. from USC Cinematic Arts and worked in the film industry at RASTAR Productions with producer Ray Stark on Harriet the Spy, To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, Random Hearts, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and American History X with the Turman-Morrissey Co. She also produced the documentary Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way with executive producer Clint Eastwood, and a series of short biographical films about George Lucas with Lucasfilm based on her book, The Lucas Effect: George Lucas and the New Hollywood. Most recently she produced the indie comedy, Carlos Through the Tall Grass, which is currently enjoying success on the festival circuit.
She is the author of numerous essays based on her research on "The Heroine’s Journey" and is in the process of writing Outlander: The Heroine’s Journey and The Heroine’s Journey for Screenwriters and Filmmakers for McFarland Press. She’s been a keynote speaker, judge, moderator and panelist at many well-known pop culture events and conferences and a frequent panel moderator and speaker at the University Film & Video Association. She currently teaches film production, film theory, history, aesthetics and screenwriting at Whittier College in the Los Angeles area.
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