John Arthur Lithgow (born October 19, 1945) is an American movie, stage, voice, television actor, poet, author, and musician. He began acting in 1972. He was in the movies "The World According to Garp", "Footloose", "Terms of Endearment", "Shrek", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", and in "The Campaign". Lithgow was nominated for an Academy Award for each movie.