John Lithgow's acting life began at age two in a production of the theater run by his father, Arthur Lithgow. In this memoir John Lithgow chronicles growing up in the uncertain life of a theater family. The family moved around a lot as his father took on jobs as artistic director at colleges and small theaters around the east and midwest. The junior Lithgow had no intention of a career on the stage, planning instead to be an artist. But acting in plays at Harvard hooked him in and he went on to study in London and work his way up through summer stock and small theater companies before becoming a favorite on the Broadway stage, ultimately winning Tonys, Emmys, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, and other awards along with Oscar nominations.. Lithgow recounts his successes and failures, foibles and strengths without conceit. In fact it seems he writes more of his mistakes than his accomplishments. A large part of the book is an homage to his father and an acknowledgment that he is indebted to the theater education he received often through osmosis. The book mainly focuses on Lithgow's stage acting although there are brief mentions of some of the films he was in as well as the t.v. show "Third Rock from the Sun." I wish there had been more about his motion picture work and less about his affair with Liv Ullmann and the resulting break-up of his marriage.
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