Much of the rest of his time was spent exploring other forms of production.

“Those were the most creative years of my life,” Lithgow says. “You could do anything you wanted. It wasn’t a question of getting hired or paid.”

Lithgow sang on stage for the first time in a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, his first taste of musical drama foreshadowing future appearances on Broadway.

He designed sets and wrote scripts, gave dramatic readings of Shakespeare and Lord Byron and directed all kinds of performances—operas, house plays and even a ballet.

“In the real world you don’t get a chance to do that,” he says. “You have to pick something and specialize in it. That’s why when young people ask me how to become an actor, I say, ‘Go to college and try something else.’ You’ll never get that chance again.”

Lithgow says he began college without definite plans to pursue acting professionally.

“But halfway through Harvard, I realized I was going to be an actor whether I wanted to or not,” he says.

During his senior year, Lithgow won a Fulbright scholarship, and he used it to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where he immersed himself in Shakespeare.

Lithgow gained a formal, academic training in theater, learning to speak in verse, tumble and sword fight.

Returning home, he joined the repertory theater run by his father—and eventually decided to strike out on his own.

“The rude awakening was when I went to New York and was out of a job for two years,” Lithgow says.

He drove a taxicab and produced a radio show in between auditions, and he eventually began to get cast.

Lithgow worked his way up the theater circuit, winning a Tony Award for “The Changing Room,” his first Broadway performance in 1973.

During his early years as an actor, he says he kept it to himself that he’d gone to Harvard.

“You know, it’s a curious thing,” he says. “It wasn’t really an asset, auditioning for commercials or soap operas. They kind of assume you to be a dumb and docile actor.”