At 80, John Lithgow Makes Tony History as Oldest Male Acting Winner and Sets a 53-Year Record

John Lithgow is only getting better with age.

With his latest Tony Awards win for actor in a play for “Giant,” Lithgow, 80, became the oldest man ever to win a competitive acting Tony. The record was previously held by Roy Dotrice at 77, for featured actor in a play in the 2000 “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” followed by two veteran performers. The late Dick Latessa won featured actor in a musical for “Hairspray” in 2003 at 73, while André De Shields tied it in 2019 for “Hadestown.” De Shields, himself 80 this year, was nominated again tonight in the featured actor in a musical category for his turn as Old Deuteronomy in the revival “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” but lost to Ali Louis Bourzgui from “The Lost Boys.”

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In “Giant,” a drama about Roald Dahl’s antisemitism, Lithgow also opened the longest gap between competitive acting Tony wins in the awards’ history at 53 years. His first came in 1973, for featured actor in a play in “The Changing Room,” a span that surpasses Angela Lansbury’s previous mark of 43 years — 1966 to 2009 — by a full decade, with Patti LuPone (42 years) and Frank Langella (41) close behind.

It was Lithgow’s third career Tony, and it came at the expense of Nathan Lane, who was chasing a fourth of his own for “Death of a Salesman,” alongside fellow nominees Mark Strong (“Oedipus”), Daniel Radcliffe (“Every Brilliant Thing”) and Will Harrison (“Punch”).

The victory also puts Lithgow in a rare club of four performers. With wins now for a featured play role (“The Changing Room”), a leading musical turn (“Sweet Smell of Success,” 2002) and a leading play performance (“Giant”), he is one of only four performers ever to win in three different acting categories — joining Kevin Kline and Boyd Gaines, also three-category winners, and Audra McDonald, the only performer to have triumphed in four.

“I’m such a lucky actor. This is my third Tony Award. My first one was 53 years ago at my Broadway debut in the American premiere of an English play, which by an amazing coincidence originated at London’s Royal Court Theatre, just like ‘Giant,’” Lithgow said while accepting the award. “Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them. In those years, I have worked with hundreds of just fantastic theatre artists. I’ve had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments on the stage, but I have to tell you right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”