“I’ll never forget my favorite scene in “Third Rock from the Sun.” Dick and Mary walk into the local pub after consummating their relationship. Dick reaches out to touch Mary who pushes him away because she doesn’t want anyone to know about their relationship. Dick, who is supposed to be a university professor, suddenly turns into a whining, pouty kid. He recites Dr. Seuss-style, “I can’t touch you here. I can’t touch you there. I can’t touch you anywhere.” Well, you had to see it.
Many thoughts entered my mind on the way to the CBS studio. I couldn’t help but wonder what John Lithgow would be like up close. Would he be a snob who couldn’t wait to get back to work or would he be zany like his character Dick Solomon? As I entered the dressing room I noticed it read “M. Butterfly,” the title of a 1988 play he starred in which earned him a third Tony nomination.
But what I saw was a regular ol’ joe. He was laid back in his comfortable jeans, low-top canvas Nikes and button-up shirt. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Mary, a history professor at UCLA, and their daughter Phoebe and son Nathan. He also has a son, Ian, from a previous marriage.
He said he really enjoys working on “Third Rock,” which is about a group of aliens who are sent to study human habits, even though it’s very silly at times. “I love the series of episodes called ‘Evil Dick’ and I think the baby episode was one of the our funniest. There are just so many that are delicious.”
He pointed out that the teenager on the show is actually the oldest, most experienced alien, which proves what we already know to be true—teens are smarter than adults.
I couldn’t help but wonder why he went from these serious roles like in movies like “Terms of Endearment,” “All That Jazz,” “Harry and the Hendersons” “Cliffhanger” and “Pelican Brief” to playing an alien on a TV sitcom.
“I always loved doing comedies. I’ve done a lot of comedy but most of it was in the theater so most people didn’t know I did comedy.”
One of the reasons the show works, in addition to Lithgow’s comic touch, is because of the talent of the two executive producers, Bonnie and Terry Turner, who put it together. Lithgow said they got backers interested, and then approached him.
“Bonnie and Terry said they wanted me. They wrote the part with me in mind.”
As I talked with him more, I started to realize it wouldn’t be too hard to play an alien. As he later commented, “We all sometimes feel like a fish out of water. I think most people spend a lot of their lives feeling like an outsider trying to fit in. There are a lot of areas of my life where I have felt a little odd. I’m a country boy who lives in the city. I attended a public high school, but went to Harvard University. I’m a theater person working in Hollywood. So there are a lot of incongruities in my life.”
At Harvard University, he majored in business and later won a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
John Lithgow is now working on an independent feature film called Homegrown. I asked if there was anything he would like to say to teens out there.
“Stay in school even if you want to be an actor. I think it’s very wise to go to a four year college just because it’s the only years that you have a chance to do that and if you don’t, you tend to regret it for the rest of your life.””
