John Lithgow to Receive 13th Annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Theatre World Awards Board of Directors has named John Lithgow as the winner of the 13th Annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. In celebration of the landmark 80th Annual Theatre World Awards, a ‘new’ retro Theatre World Award Statue will make its Broadway debut at this year’s Theatre World Awards ceremony honoring Outstanding Debut Performances in a Broadway or Off-Broadway Production.

The 80th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony will be held Tuesday afternoon, June 2, 2026 at 2 p.m. at The Longacre Theatre, home of Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).

Hosted annually by well-known theater journalist, Peter Filichia, the 80th Annual Theatre World Awards Ceremony will be produced by Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors/Dale Badway with Executive Producer Karen Johnston.

The Theatre World Award honorees are chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), David Cote (The Observer), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News, Emeritus), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus), David Finkle (New York Stage Review), Elysa Gardner (USA Today, Emeritus), Cary Wong (Freelance), and Frank Scheck (The Hollywood Reporter).

The Theatre World Awards, Inc. Board of Directors is headed by Dale Badway (President) with Tom Lynch (Vice-President), Michael Kostel (Vice-President), Stephen Wilde (Secretary), Rozanne Scarpelli (Treasurer), James Sheridan, Karen Johnston, Jeffrey Grove and Arthur Makar.

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, receiving two Tonys, six Emmys, two Golden Globes, four SAG Awards and two Oscar nominations. Lithgow has appeared in a long list of critically acclaimed films, as far back as The World According to Garp and as recent as Conclave. He most recently starred in The Rule of Jenny Pen with Geoffrey Rush, and in the title role of JIMPA with Olivia Colman, which debuted at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Lithgow has starred in the hit TV shows “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “Dexter,” “The Crown,” and the recent “The Old Man” on FX.

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. Upcoming, Lithgow will be seen as ‘Dumbledore’ in the “Harry Potter” series for HBO. In November, Lithgow concluded a sold-out run of Giant at London’s Royal Court Theatre, where he starred as Roald Dahl. The production then transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre on the West End for a limited run in Spring 2025. Lithgow won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance, with Giant also earning the award for Best New Play. Giant opened on Broadway in March this year, and was just nominated for a Tony Award, as was John for his performance.

For children, Lithgow has written several best-selling children’s picture books for Simon & Schuster. His recordings for kids have landed him four Grammy nominations , and he has appeared with a dozen major American orchestras in children’s concerts that feature many of his own songs. He wrote the narration for the New York City Ballet’s “Carnival of the Animals” in 2003 and 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, producing authoritative reports on America’s creative workforce and arts in education. The Commission’s deliberations also spawned Art Happens Here, a PBS documentary which highlights the importance of all the arts in the lives of young people.