Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938)[1] is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portrayingEmmett "Doc" Brown in theBack to the Future trilogy (1985–1990) and "Reverend"Jim Ignatowski in the comedy seriesTaxi (1978–1983), for which he won twoEmmy Awards.
Lloyd was born on October 22, 1938, inStamford, Connecticut, the son of Ruth Lloyd (née Lapham; 1896–1984), a singer and sister of San Francisco mayorRoger Lapham,[1][2] and her lawyer husband Samuel R. Lloyd Jr. (1897–1959). He is the youngest of six siblings, with two brothers and three sisters.[3] Lloyd's maternal grandfather,Lewis Henry Lapham, was one of the founders of theTexaco oil company[4] and Lloyd is also a descendant ofMayflowerpassengerJohn Howland.[5] Lloyd was raised inWestport, Connecticut, where he attendedStaples High School and was involved in founding the high school's theater company, the Staples Players.[6]
In 1977, he said of his training at the Neighborhood Playhouse under Meisner, "My work up to then had been very uneven. I would be good one night, dull the next. Meisner made me aware of how to be consistent in using the best that I have to offer. But I guess nobody can teach you the knack, or whatever it is, that helps you come to life on stage."[14]
Lloyd portrayed the star character in the adventure gameToonstruck, released in November 1996. In 1999, he was reunited onscreen withMichael J. Fox in an episode ofSpin City entitled "Back to the Future IV — Judgment Day", in which Lloyd plays Owen Kingston, the former mentor of Fox's character,Mike Flaherty, who stopped by City Hall to see Kingston, only to proclaim himself God. That same year, Lloyd starred in thefilm remake of the 1960s seriesMy Favorite Martian. He starred on the television seriesDeadly Games in the mid-1990s and was a regular on the sitcomStacked in the mid-2000s. In 2003, he guest-starred in three of the 13 produced episodes ofTremors: The Series as the character Cletus Poffenburger. In November 2007, Lloyd was reunited onscreen with his formerTaxi co-starJudd Hirsch in the season-four episode "Graphic" of the television seriesNumb3rs as Ross Moore. He then played the role ofEbenezer Scrooge in a 2008 production ofA Christmas Carol at theKodak Theatre withJohn Goodman andJane Leeves.[17] In 2009, he appeared in a comedic trailer for a faux horror film version ofWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory entitledGobstopper, in which he playedWilly Wonka as a horror film-style villain.[18]
In 2010, the Vermont-basedWeston Playhouse, of which Lloyd's brother Sam was an active member, asked if there was a role Lloyd would be interested in taking on. Lloyd choseWilly Loman inDeath of a Salesman, which played at Weston and at other venues throughoutVermont that fall.[19] Also that September, he reprised his role asDr. Emmett "Doc" Brown inBack to the Future: The Game, an episodic adventure game series developed byTelltale Games.[20] That same month, the production company 3D Entertainment Films announced Lloyd would star as an eccentric professor who with his lab assistant explore the various dimensions inTime, the Fourth Dimension, an approximately 45-minuteImax3D film that was planned for release in 2012.[21][22]
On January 21, 2011, he appeared in "The Firefly" episode of theJ. J. Abrams television seriesFringe as Roscoe Joyce.[23] That August, he reprised the role of Dr.Emmett Brown (fromBack to the Future) as part of an advertising campaign for Garbarino,[24] anArgentine appliance company, and also as part of Nike's "Back For the Future" campaign for the benefit ofThe Michael J. Fox Foundation. In 2012 and 2013, Lloyd voiced Doc Brown in two episodes ofRobot Chicken. He was a guest star on the 100th episode of theUSA Network sitcomPsych as Martin Khan in 2013.
In May 2018, Lloyd made a cameo appearance in the episode titled "No Country for Old Women" ofRoseanne, where he played the role of Lou, the boyfriend to the mother of Roseanne and Jackie. He is set to reprise the role in an episode of its spin-off,The Conners, airing May 4, 2022.[27] In late 2019, he provided the voice ofXehanort in the "Re Mind" downloadable content ofKingdom Hearts III, taking over the role from the lateLeonard Nimoy andRutger Hauer, and reprised the role in the 2020 video gameKingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
By July 2020, Lloyd was cast as The Alchemist inMan & Witch, a family-friendly fantasy-adventure film directed byRob Margolies, withJim Henson's Creature Shop set to create the puppets for the film.[28]
In September 2021, Lloyd portrayedRick Sanchez in a series of promotional interstitials directed by Paul B. Cummings for the two-partfifth season finale ofRick and Morty, a character inspired by Lloyd's portrayal of Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown fromBack to the Future, alongsideJaeden Martell asMorty Smith.[30][31]
In April 2022, it was announced that Lloyd would star inSpirit Halloween: The Movie, a film produced in partnership with theSpirit Halloween retailer.[33][34] He plays Alec Windsor, a wealthy land developer who disappeared one Halloween night, and whose spirit is said to haunt the town in which the film is set each year on Halloween.[35][36] The film was released onvideo-on-demand (VOD) on October 11, 2022.[35][37]
In April 2023, Lloyd guest starred in an episode of thethird season ofThe Mandalorian, portraying the role of Commissioner Helgait.[38] In June 2023, Lloyd was announced to be starring in the live-actionKnuckles series, which premiered in April 2024.[39]
Personal life
Lloyd on the scoreboard of Dodger Stadium in 2014
Lloyd married Catharine Dallas Dixon Boyd on June 6, 1959.[7] They divorced in 1971.[40] He married actress Kay Tornborg in 1974, divorcing her circa 1987.[41] Lloyd's third marriage, to Carol Ann Vanek, had lasted more than two years when they were in the process of divorce in July 1991.[42] His fourth marriage, to screenwriter Jane Walker Wood, lasted from 1992 to 2005.[1][40]In 2016, he married Lisa Loiacono,[43] who was Lloyd's real estate agent when he sold his house inMontecito, California, in 2012.[44] His former house on that lot was destroyed in theTea Fire of November 2008.[44][45]
Lloyd's philanthropist mother, Ruth Lapham Lloyd, died in 1984 at age 88. Her other surviving children were Donald L. Mygatt (who died in 2003), Antoinette L. Mygatt Lucas, Samuel Lloyd III (who later died in 2017), Ruth Lloyd Scott, Ax Lloyd, and Adele L. Kinney.[46] Lloyd's nephew,Sam Lloyd (1963–2020), was known for playing lawyer Ted Buckland onScrubs.
^ab"Ex-wife sues actor Lloyd for unpaid alimony".Associated Press. September 25, 2002.Archived from the original on June 21, 2020.Catherine Boyd Lloyd of Manhattan says ... related to their 1971 divorce after 12 years of marriage. Lloyd ... is now married to screenwriter Jane Walker Wood.
^Podolsky, J. D. (July 8, 1991)."Passages".People. Archived fromthe original on December 3, 2013.Actor Christopher Lloyd ... and his wife, homemaker Carol Ann Vanek Lloyd, are divorcing after more than two years of marriage...
^abcdefghijklmnopqr"Christopher Lloyd (visual voices guide)".Behind The Voice Actors. RetrievedOctober 19, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
^"Lego Dimensions Voice Actors Interviews". CoinOpTV. September 16, 2015. Archived fromthe original on April 1, 2017 – via YouTube.Lego Dimensions features the voice talents of Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Michael J. Fox, Gary Oldman, Irrfan Khan, Charlie Day, Ellen McLain, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Lloyd, Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Michelle Gomez, Troy Baker, Tom Kane, Joel McHale, Elizabeth Banks, Tara Strong and More!
^Thomas J., Allen (March 20, 2017)."2016 Awards" (Press release). San Francisco, CA: National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Corp. RetrievedDecember 9, 2022.
%2c_Dodger_Stadium%2c_Los_Angeles%2c_California_(14331452247).jpg)
