“I was a sort of equal opportunity enthusiast, working all around campus,” Lithgow says. However, of all the theatrical organizations, Lithgow never once dabbled in the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

“I considered it beneath my dignity—and look at me now,” Lithgow says.

During his senior year, Lithgow suffered some setbacks when he directed a production of George Buchner’s “Voitzek” at the Loeb Drama Center that was met with scathing reviews.

“I’d say that was the low point, my last big production,” Lithgow says. “I liked it but nobody else did.”

But things looked up for his career when Lithgow was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Living in England afforded Lithgow the opportunity to intern with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Court Theatre.

“I think what I’ve done in my career has had a lot to do what I did at Harvard,” Lithgow says. “I think it made me a curious person and put me in the bait of learning.”

Lithgow pursued his stage career after returning to New York, winning a Tony for his first Broadway performance in “The Changing Room.” While accumulating clout in the world of theater, Lithgow also garnered national attention for his on-screen acting after his 1982 role in “The World According to Garp.”

“He’s hardly your typical actor in the movies,” says Ansen, now a movie critic and senior editor for Newsweek. “[Most movie actors] are really only themselves when they have someone else’s lines to speak, but John is not that way. He is very smart and very eloquent and has never let his celebrity turn his head.”

WHO’S THAT ELEPHANT?

Since his early Harvard days, Lithgow has diversified his resume—adding father of three, children’s book author, and dancer for the New York City Ballet to a long list of starring roles in blockbusters and hit musicals.

His children’s picture books, including “I’m A Manatee” and “Marsupial Sue,” are all New York Times best sellers and have spurred Lithgow to pen works for parents as well.

“I really started entertaining kids when my own kids were born,” Lithgow says. “That led to albums and concerts that gave in to children’s books.”

Recently Lithgow worked with New York City Ballet choreographer Christopher Wheeldon to animate his award-winning children’s book “Carnival for Animals.” Stomping out his mark in the world of classical dance, Lithgow made a center-stage cameo as an elephant in the ballet.

From the New York City stage to the Harvard podium, Lithgow shines in the spotlight.

As Ansen sums up, “It’s been wonderful seeing him conquer the world.”

—Staff writer Ying Wang can be reached at yingwang@fas.harvard.edu.