Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938)<!--cited source, Biography.com, also verifies middle name Allen--> is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and television shows since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Emmett "Doc" Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy (1985–1990) and "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski in the comedy series Taxi (1978–1983), for which he won two Emmy Awards.
Lloyd came to public attention in Northeastern theater productions during the 1960s and early 1970s, earning Drama Desk and Obie awards for his work. He made his cinematic debut in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and went on to appear as Commander Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Professor Plum in Clue (1985), Judge Doom in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Uncle Fester in The Addams Family (1991) and its sequel Addams Family Values (1993), Switchblade Sam in Dennis the Menace (1993), Mr. Goodman in Piranha 3D (2010), Bill Crowley in I Am Not a Serial Killer (2016) and David Mansell in Nobody (2021), and its sequel Nobody 2 (2025).
Lloyd earned a third Emmy for his 1992 guest appearance as Alistair Dimple in Road to Avonlea, and won an Independent Spirit Award for his performance in Twenty Bucks. He has done extensive voice work, including Merlock in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, Grigori Rasputin in Anastasia, the Hacker in PBS Kids' Cyberchase, which earned him Daytime Emmy nominations, and the Woodsman in Cartoon Network's Over the Garden Wall.
Early life
Lloyd was born on October 22, 1938, in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Ruth Lloyd (née Lapham; 1896–1984), a singer and sister of San Francisco mayor Roger Lapham, and her lawyer husband Samuel R. Lloyd Jr. (1897–1959). He is the youngest of six siblings, with two brothers and three sisters. Lloyd's maternal grandfather, Lewis Henry Lapham, was one of the founders of the Texaco oil company and Lloyd is also a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Howland. Lloyd was raised in Westport, Connecticut, where he attended Staples High School and was involved in founding the high school's theater company, the Staples Players.
Career
thumb|left|upright|Lloyd as a high school senior, 1958
Lloyd began his career apprenticing at summer theaters in Mount Kisco, New York, and Hyannis, Massachusetts. The Harlot and the Hunted, The Seagull (January 1974), Total Eclipse (February 1974), Macbeth, In the Boom Boom Room, Cracks, Professional Resident Company, What Every Woman Knows, The Father, King Lear, Power Failure and, in mid-1972, appeared in a Jean Cocteau double bill, Orphée and The Human Voice, at the Jean Cocteau Theater at 43 Bond Street.
In 1977, Lloyd returned to Broadway for the musical Happy End. and in Jay Broad's premiere of White Pelican at the P.A.F. Playhouse in Huntington Station, New York, on Long Island.
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."
Lloyd’s first film role was psychiatric patient Max Taber in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), alongside future co-star Danny DeVito. He is known for his work as "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski, the ex-hippie cabbie on the sitcom Taxi, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series; In 2009, he appeared in a comedic trailer for a faux horror film version of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory entitled Gobstopper, in which he played Willy Wonka as a horror film-style villain.
In 2010, the Vermont-based Weston 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 chose Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, which played at Weston and at other venues throughout Vermont that fall. Also that September, he reprised his role as Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in Back to the Future: The Game, an episodic adventure game series developed by Telltale Games. 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 in Time, the Fourth Dimension, an approximately 45-minute Imax 3D film that was planned for release in 2012.
On January 21, 2011, he appeared in "The Firefly" episode of the J. J. Abrams television series Fringe as Roscoe Joyce. That August, he reprised the role of Dr. Emmett Brown (from Back to the Future) as part of an advertising campaign for Garbarino, an Argentine appliance company, and also as part of Nike's "Back For the Future" campaign for the benefit of The Michael J. Fox Foundation. In 2012 and 2013, Lloyd voiced Doc Brown in two episodes of Robot Chicken. He was a guest star on the 100th episode of the USA Network sitcom Psych as Martin Khan in 2013.
In May 2013, Lloyd appeared as the narrator and the character Azdak in the Bertolt Brecht play The Caucasian Chalk Circle, produced by the Classic Stage Company in New York.
On the October 21, 2015, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Lloyd and Michael J. Fox appeared in a Back to the Future skit to commemorate the date in the second installment of the film trilogy.
In May 2018, Lloyd made a cameo appearance in the episode titled "No Country for Old Women" of Roseanne, 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. In late 2019, he provided the voice of Xehanort in the "Re Mind" downloadable content of Kingdom Hearts III, taking over the role from the late Leonard Nimoy and Rutger Hauer, and reprised the role in the 2020 video game Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
By July 2020, Lloyd was cast as The Alchemist in Man & Witch, a family-friendly fantasy-adventure film directed by Rob Margolies, with Jim Henson's Creature Shop set to create the puppets for the film.
In March 2021, Lloyd played the best friend of William Shatner in the romantic comedy film Senior Moment, also starring Jean Smart.
thumb|right|upright|Lloyd at the [[Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo in 2024]]
In September 2021, Lloyd portrayed Rick Sanchez in a series of promotional interstitials directed by Paul B. Cummings for the two-part fifth season finale of Rick and Morty, a character inspired by Lloyd's portrayal of Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown from Back to the Future, alongside Jaeden Martell as Morty Smith.
In March 2022, Lloyd appeared in a promotion for the time travel film The Adam Project along with two of its stars, Ryan Reynolds and Mark Ruffalo.
In April 2022, it was announced that Lloyd would star in Spirit Halloween: The Movie, a film produced in partnership with the Spirit Halloween retailer. 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. The film was released on video-on-demand (VOD) on October 11, 2022.
In April 2023, Lloyd guest starred in an episode of the third season of The Mandalorian, portraying the role of Commissioner Helgait. In June 2023, Lloyd was announced to be starring in the live-action Knuckles series, which premiered in April 2024.
Personal life
thumb|Lloyd on the scoreboard of Dodger Stadium in 2014
Lloyd married Catharine Dallas Dixon Boyd on June 6, 1959. They divorced in 1971. He married actress Kay Tornborg in 1974, divorcing her circa 1987. 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. His fourth marriage, to screenwriter Jane Walker Wood, lasted from 1992 to 2005. who was Lloyd's real estate agent when he sold his house in Montecito, California, in 2012. His former house on that lot was destroyed in the Tea Fire of November 2008.
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, and Adele L. Kinney. Lloyd's nephew, Sam Lloyd (1963–2020), was known for playing lawyer Ted Buckland on Scrubs.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1975
| One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
| Max Taber
|
|-
| 1977
| Another Man, Another Chance
| Jesse James
| Uncredited
|-
| rowspan="2"|1978
| Three Warriors
| Steve Chaffey
|
|-
| Goin' South
| Deputy Towfield
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1979
| Butch and Sundance: The Early Days
| Bill Tod Carver
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Lady in Red, The" | The Lady in Red
| Frognose
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Onion Field, The" | The Onion Field
| Jailhouse lawyer
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1980
| data-sort-value="Black Marble, The" | The Black Marble
| Arnold's Collector
|
|-
| Schizoid
| Gilbert
|
|-
| Pilgrim, Farewell
| Paul
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1981
| data-sort-value="Legend of the Lone Ranger, The" | The Legend of the Lone Ranger
| Maj. Bartholomew "Butch" Cavendish
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Postman Always Rings Twice, The" | The Postman Always Rings Twice
| The Salesman
|
|-
| National Lampoon's Movie Madness
| Samuel Starkman
| Segment: "Municipalians"
|-
| rowspan="2"|1983
| Mr. Mom
| Larry
|
|-
| To Be or Not to Be
| S.S. Captain Schultz
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1984
| Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
| Cmdr. Kruge
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The" | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
| John Bigbooté
|
|-
| National Lampoon's Joy of Sex
| Coach Hindenberg
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1985
| Back to the Future
| Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown
|
|-
| Clue
| Prof. Plum
|
|-
| 1986
| Miracles
| Harry
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1987
| Walk Like a Man
| Reggie Shand / Henry Shand
|
|-
| Legend of the White Horse
| Jim Martin
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1988
| Track 29
| Henry Henry
|
|-
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit
| Judge Doom
|
|-
| Eight Men Out
| Bill Burns
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|1989
| data-sort-value="Dream Team, The" | The Dream Team
| Henry Sikorsky
|
|-
| Back to the Future Part II
| rowspan="2"|Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1990
| Back to the Future Part III
|
|-
| Why Me?
| Bruno Daley
|
|-
| DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
| Merlock
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="2"|1991
| Suburban Commando
| Charlie Wilcox
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Addams Family, The" | The Addams Family
| Uncle Fester/Gordon Craven
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1993
| Twenty Bucks
| Jimmy
|
|-
| Dennis the Menace
| Switchblade Sam
|
|-
| Addams Family Values
| Uncle Fester Addams
|
|-
| rowspan="4"|1994
| Angels in the Outfield
| Al "The Boss" Angel
|
|-
| Camp Nowhere
| Dennis Van Welker
|
|-
| Radioland Murders
| Zoltan
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Pagemaster, The" | The Pagemaster
| Mr. Dewey / The Pagemaster
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|1997
| Changing Habits
| Theo Teagarden
|
|-
| Dinner at Fred's
| Dad
|
|-
| Anastasia
| Grigori Rasputin
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="4"|1999
| My Favorite Martian
| Uncle Martin
|
|-
| Baby Geniuses
| Heep
|
|-
| Convergence
| Morley Allen
|
|-
| Man on the Moon
| Himself - Taxi actor
| Cameo
|-
| rowspan="2"|2001
| Kids World
| Leo
|
|-
| On the Edge
| Attorney Bum<!--"Bum" is correct; see Variety review, cited below-->
|Segment: "Happy Birthday"
|-
| rowspan="3"|2002
| Interstate 60
| Ray
|
|-
| Wish You Were Dead
| Bruce
|
|-
| Hey Arnold!: The Movie
| Coroner
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="3"|2005
| Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie
| Seymour S. Sassafras
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="13" |2012
| Foodfight!
| Mr. Clipboard
|Voice
|-
| Cadaver
| Cadaver
| Voice; short subject
|-
| Piranha 3DD
| Mr. Goodman
|
|-
| Delhi Safari
| Pigeon
| Voice, English dub
|-
| data-sort-value="Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, The" | The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
| Lero Sombrero
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Illusionauts, The" | The Illusionauts
| Teacher
| English dub
|-
| Mickey Matson and the Copperhead Conspiracy
| Grandpa Jack
|
|-
| Dead Before Dawn
| Horus Galloway
|
|-
| Excuse Me for Living
| Lars
|
|-
| Sid the Science Kid: The Movie
| Dr. Bonanodon
|Voice
|-
| rowspan="2"|2013
| Jungle Master
| Dr. Sedgwick
| Voice
|-
| rowspan="4"|2015
| 88
| Cyrus
|
|-
| Back in Time
| Himself
| Documentary
|-
| Doc Brown Saves the World
| Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown
| Short subject
|-
| data-sort-value="Boat Builder, The" | The Boat Builder
| Abner
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2016
| I Am Not a Serial Killer
| Mr. Crowley
|
|-
| Donald Trump's The Art of the Deal: The Movie
| Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown
| Cameo
|-
| Cold Moon
| James Redfield
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2017
| Going in Style
| Milton Kupchak
|
|-
| Muse
| Bernard Rauschen
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Sound, The" | The Sound
| Clinton Jones
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2018
| Boundaries
| Stanley
|
|-
| Making a Killing
| Lloyd Mickey
|
|-
| Rerun
| Future George Benson
|
|-
| 2019
| data-sort-value="Haunted Swordsman, The" | The Haunted Swordsman
| The Black Monk
| Voice; short subject
|-
| rowspan="4"|2021
| Nobody
| David Mansell
|
|-
| Senior Moment
| Sal Spinelli
|
|-
| Queen Bees
| Arthur Lane
|
|-
| data-sort-value="Tender Bar, The" | The Tender Bar
| Grandpa Moehringer
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2022
| Spirit Halloween: The Movie
| Alec Windsor
|
|-
| rowspan="3"|2023
| Self Reliance
| Dennis Walcott
|
|-
| Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose
| Dr. Harry Price
|
|-
| Camp Hideout
| Falco
|
|-
| rowspan="2"|2024
| Man and Witch: The Dance of a Thousand Steps
| Alchemist
|
|-
| Guns & Moses
| Sol Fassbinder
|
|-
| 2025
| Nobody 2
| David Mansell
|
|-
|
| data-sort-value="Movers, The"
| Henry Solomon
| Post-production
|-
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1976
| data-sort-value="Adams Chronicles, The" | The Adams Chronicles
| Tsar Alexandre
| Episode: "Chapter VIII: John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1978
| Lacy and the Mississippi Queen
| Jennings
| Television film
|-
|rowspan="3"|1982
| Best of the West
| The Calico Kid
| 3 episodes
|-
| American Playhouse
| Paul
| Episode: "Pilgrim, Farewell"
|-
| Money on the Side
| Sergeant Stampone
| Television film
|-
| 1983
| September Gun
| Jack Brian
| Television film
|-
| 1991–1992
| Back to the Future: The Animated Series
| Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown
| Live action; 26 episodes
|-
|rowspan="3"|1992
| T Bone N Weasel
| William "Weasel" Weasler
| Television film
|-
| Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster
| Frank Iarossi
| Television film
|-
| Road to Avonlea
| Alistair Dimple
| Episode: "Another Point of View"
|-
| 1994
| In Search of Dr. Seuss
| Mr. Hunch
| Television film
|-
|rowspan="2"|1995
| Fallen Angels
| The Continental Op
| Episode: "Fly Paper"
|-
| Rent-a-Kid
| Lawrence 'Larry' Kayvey
| Television film
|-
| 1995–1996
| Deadly Games
| Sebastian Jackal / <br/> Jordan Kenneth Lloyd
| 13 episodes
|-
| 1996
| data-sort-value="Right to Remain Silent, The" | The Right to Remain Silent
| Johnny Benjamin
| Television film
|-
|rowspan="2"|1997
| Quicksilver Highway
| Aaron Quicksilver
| Television film
|-
| Angels in the Endzone
| Al "The Boss" Angel
| Television film
|-
| 1998
| data-sort-value="Ransom of Red Chief, The" | The Ransom of Red Chief
| Sam Howard
| Television film
|-
| Hacks
| Larry Arbuckle
| Episode: "The Deborah Vance Christmas Spectacular"
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2025
| Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
| Willy Loman / Himself
| Episode: "Lending People Money"
|-
| Wednesday
| Professor Orloff
| 4 episodes
|-
| data-sort-value="Happy's Place" | Happy's Place
| Clive
| Episode: "Izzy and the Professor"
|-
|}
Theatre
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Venue
|-
| 1961 || And They Put Handcuffs on Flowers || || New York
|-
|1969 || Red, White and Maddox || Bombardier || Cort Theatre, Broadway
|-
| rowspan="2"|1973 || Kaspar || Kaspar || Chelsea Theater Center, Off-Broadway
|-
| The Seagull || Konstantin Treplev || Roundabout Stage II, Off-Broadway
|-
| rowspan="3"|1974 || Macbeth || Banquo / Cathness || Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, Off-Broadway
|-
| Total Eclipse || Verlaine || Chelsea Theater Center, Off-Broadway
|-
| In the Boom Boom Room || Al || The Public Theater, Off-Broadway
|-
|1977 || Happy End || Bill Cracker || Martin Beck Theatre, Broadway
|-
| 1990 || data-sort-value="Father, The" | The Father || Captain Lassen || American Repertory Theater, Massachusetts
|-
| 1998 || Waiting for Godot || Pozzo || CSC Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2001 || data-sort-value="Unexpected Man, The" | The Unexpected Man || Parsky || Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles
|-
| rowspan="2" |2002 || Morning's at Seven || Carl Bolton || Broadway, Broadway
|-
| Twelfth Night || Malvolio || Delacorte Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
|2003 || Trumbo: Red, White and Blacklisted || Dalton Trumbo || Westside Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2008 || Camelot || Pellinore || Avery Fisher Hall
|-
|2008 || data-sort-value="Christmas Carol, A" | A Christmas Carol || Scrooge || Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles
|-
| 2010 || Death of a Salesman || Willy Loman || Weston Playhouse, Vermont
|-
| 2013 || data-sort-value="Caucasian Chalk Circle, The" | The Caucasian Chalk Circle || The Singer / Azdak || CSC Theatre, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2018 || Our Town || Stage Manager || Weston Playhouse, Vermont
|-
| 2018 || Pound || Ezra Pound || Theatre Row, Off-Broadway
|-
| 2021 || King Lear || King Lear || New Spruce Theater, Lenox, Massachusetts
|-
|}
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|- style="background:#b0c4de; text-align:center;"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1994
| Rescue the Scientists
| Lieutenant Jack Tempus
| Also likeness
|-
| 1996
| Toonstruck
| Drew Blanc
| Also likeness and live action sequences
|-
| King's Quest || Elderly King Graham
|
|-
| rowspan=2|2020
| Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind
| rowspan="2"|Xehanort
|
|rowspan="2"|Kaspar
|rowspan="4"
|-
|Drama Desk Award
|Best Performance
|-
|1982
|rowspan="2"|Primetime Emmy Award
|rowspan="2"|Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
|rowspan="2"|Taxi
|-
|1983
|-
|1986
|rowspan="2"|Saturn Award
|rowspan="2"|Best Supporting Actor
|Back to the Future
|rowspan="2"
|-
|1990
|Who Framed Roger Rabbit
|-
|1992
|Primetime Emmy Award
|Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
|Twenty Bucks
|-
|2008
|Daytime Emmy Awards
|Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
|Cyberchase
|rowspan="4"
|-
|2013
|Golden Raspberry Awards
|Worst Screen Ensemble <small>(shared with the entire cast)</small>
|The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure
|-
|2015
| Daytime Emmy Awards
| Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program
|Cyberchase
|-
|rowspan="2"|2016
| British Independent Film Awards
| Best Supporting Actor
|I Am Not a Serial Killer
|-
| NAVGTR Awards
| Performance in a Comedy, Lead
|King's Quest: The Good Knight
|
|-
|2024
|Primetime Emmy Award
|Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series