Judd Hirsch
Judd Seymore Hirsch is an American actor known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi, John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John, and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs. He is also well known for his career in theatre and for his roles in films such as Ordinary People, Running on Empty, Independence Day, and A Beautiful Mind.
He has twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Early life and education
Hirsch was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the son of Sally and Joseph Sidney Hirsch, an electrician. Hirsch's father was born in New York, to a German-Jewish father, Benjamin Hirsch, and an English-born mother, Rosa Hirsch Benjamin, whose family were Dutch Jews. Hirsch's mother was born in Russia, also to a Jewish family. Hirsch has a brother named Roland.He grew up in both Brooklyn and The Bronx and graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1952. He earned a degree in physics from City College of New York.
After graduating from college, Hirsch served a tour in the United States Army. Hirsch then worked as an engineer for Westinghouse before he found work in the theater. He studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.
as the co-hosts of Small Miracles, a series by Moshe Mones
Career
Over the last several decades, Hirsch has distinguished himself in film, television, and theatre. The Los Angeles Times noted that Hirsch is "one of the very few actors who slips effortlessly from TV series to Broadway to feature films and back again, racking up awards and favorable reviews wherever he performs."After appearing frequently on television in the 1970s, Hirsch gained stardom for his lead role of Alex Rieger in the popular sitcom Taxi, which ran from 1978 to 1983. For his performance in the series, in 1981 and again in 1983, Judd Hirsch won the Emmy Award for Lead Actor In a Comedy Series. In 1999, he reprised his role from Taxi for a brief moment in Man on the Moon, the biopic of his co-star from Taxi, Andy Kaufman.
Hirsch went on from Taxi to play the title character on the modestly successful sitcom Dear John and in 1989 won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series in a Comedy or Musical for this role. He later teamed with Bob Newhart in the short-lived comedy George and Leo. He had also previously starred for one season in the series Delvecchio.
In film, Hirsch received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ordinary People, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. His other film performances from the decade include leading roles in the 1983 drama Without a Trace, the 1984 dramedies, Teachers and The Goodbye People, and the 1988 drama Running on Empty, directed by Sidney Lumet and co-starring River Phoenix. In 1996, Hirsch portrayed the father of Jeff Goldblum's character in the blockbuster Independence Day, a role that he later reprised in its 2016. In 2001, he played a Princeton University professor in the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind. Hirsch has more recently had supporting roles in acclaimed films such as The Meyerowitz Stories and Uncut Gems.
Hirsch co-starred on the CBS Television drama, NUMB3RS, as Alan Eppes, father of FBI agent Don Eppes, and Professor Charlie Eppes. When Krumholtz was 13, he played son to Hirsch's father role in Conversations with My Father, a Herb Gardner play for which Hirsch won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. Krumholtz credits Hirsch with jump-starting his career after Hirsch chose him during the audition process for Conversations. Other noteworthy stage performances include The Hot l Baltimore, Talley's Folly, and his starring role in I'm Not Rappaport, for which Hirsch also won a Tony Award in 1986.
More recently, Hirsch guest-starred on episodes of Warehouse 13, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, , God Friended Me, and The Whole Truth, among others, and lent his voice to the animated programs Tom Goes to the Mayor and American Dad! Judd has also appeared several times on the television show Maron as comedian Marc Maron's father and has had a recurring role on The Goldbergs, playing the father of Jeff Garlin's character. In 2016, Hirsch appeared on the CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory portraying the father of Johnny Galecki's character, Leonard.
From 2014 to 2015, he appeared as a series regular on the ABC television series Forever. From 2017 to 2018, Hirsch starred in the CBS comedy Superior Donuts, which lasted two seasons.
In early 2020, Hirsch appeared in one scene, as the historic Simon Wiesenthal, season 1, episode 8 of the Amazon Prime Video show, Hunters, starring Al Pacino.
Personal life
Hirsch was married to his first wife, Elisa Sadaune, from 1963 to 1967. Their son, Alex Hirsch, was born in 1966. Hirsch married Bonni Sue Chalkin, a fashion designer, in 1992 and the couple divorced in 2005. From this second marriage, Hirsch has a daughter, Montana, and son, London.Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | The Law | Murray Stone | Television movie |
| 1975 | The Law | Murray Stone | 3 episodes |
| 1975 | Fear on Trial | Saul | Television movie |
| 1975 | Medical Story | Dr. Joe Dempsey | Episode: "Waste Land" |
| 1975 | The Legend of Valentino | Jack Auerbach | Television movie |
| 1976 | ' | Lieutenant Marco Ciardi | Television movie |
| 1976 | Visions | Joe Morris | Episode: "Two Brothers" |
| 1977 | Rhoda | Mike | 2 episodes: "Rhoda Likes Mike", "The Weekend" Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series |
| 1976–1977 | Delvecchio | Sergeant Dominick Delvecchio | 22 episodes |
| 1979 | Sooner or Later | Bob Walters | Television movie |
| 1979 | ' | Count Dracula | Television movie |
| 1980 | Marriage Is Alive and Well | Herb Rollie | Television movie |
| 1980 | ' | Unknown | Episode: "Zegelmania" |
| 1981 | ' | Unknown | Television movie |
| 1983 | Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah | Unknown | Television movie |
| 1978–1983 | Taxi | Alex Rieger | 114 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series |
| 1985 | Detective in the House | Press Wyman | 6 episodes |
| 1985 | First Steps | Dr. Jerrold Petrofsky | Television movie |
| 1985 | Brotherly Love | Ben Ryder/Harry Brand | Television movie |
| 1988–1992 | Dear John | John Lacey | 90 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy |
| 1988 | ' | Capt. David Matthews | Television movie |
| 1990 | She Said No | Martin Knapek | Television movie |
| 1994 | Betrayal of Trust | Dr. Jules Masserman | Television movie |
| 1996 | Caroline in the City | Ben Karinsky | Episode: "Caroline and the Comic" |
| 1997 | Color of Justice | Sam Lind | Television movie |
| 1997–1998 | George and Leo | Leo Wagonman | 22 episodes |
| 1999 | Rocky Marciano | Al Weill | Television movie |
| 2000 | Welcome to New York | Dr. Bob | Episode: "Dr. Bob" |
| 2001 | Family Law | Daniel Bonner | Episode: "Security" |
| 2002 | Philly | Rabbi Nathan Wexler | Episode: "The Curse of the Klopman Diamonds" |
| 2003 | ' | Dr. Judah Platner | Episode: "Mercy" |
| 2003 | Regular Joe | Baxter Binder | 5 episodes |
| 2003 | Street Time | Shimi Goldman | Episode: "High Holly Roller" |
| 2003 | ' | Ben Elkins | Episode: "Pravda" |
| 2003 | Who Killed the Federal Theatre | Narrator | Television movie |
| 2005 | Family Guy | Himself | Episode: "Blind Ambition" |
| 2006 | Tom Goes to the Mayor | Prisoner | Episode: "Spray a Carpet or Rug" |
| 2006 | Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip | Wes Mendell | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2009 | American Dad! | Rabbi | 2 episodes |
| 2005–2010 | Numb3rs | Alan Eppes | 114 episodes |
| 2010 | Warehouse 13 | Isadore Weisfelt | Episode: "Secret Santa" |
| 2011–2012 | Damages | Bill Herndon | 14 episodes |
| 2012 | The Good Wife | Judge Harrison Creary | Episode: "Here Comes the Judge" |
| 2013–2015 | Maron | Larry Maron | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | ' | Ben | Television movie |
| 2014–2015 | Forever | Abraham "Abe" Morgan | 22 episodes |
| 2015–2020 | The Goldbergs | Ben "Pop-Pop" Goldberg | 6 episodes |
| 2016 | The Big Bang Theory | Dr. Alfred Hofstadter | 2 episodes |
| 2016 | Family Guy | Himself | Episode: "Take a Letter" |
| 2017–2018 | Superior Donuts | Arthur Przybyszewski | 34 episodes |
| 2018 | Joseph Edelman | Episode: "Alta Kockers" | |
| 2019 | Big Mouth | Lewis Glouberman | Episode: "Florida" |
| 2019 | Modern Love | Cop, Vendor, Taxi Driver | Episode: "Take Me as I Am, Whoever I Am" |
| 2020 | God Friended Me | Abe | Episode: "A New Hope" |
| 2020 | Hunters | Simon Wiesenthal | Episode: "The Jewish Question" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1972-1973 | The Hot l Baltimore | Bill Lewis | Best American Play - New York Drama Critics' Circle Best American Play - Obie Award |
| 1976 | Knock Knock | Multiple roles | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play |
| 1977–1978 | Chapter Two | George Schneider | Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play |
| 1980 | Talley's Folly | Matt Friedman | Nominated - Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play |
| 1985–1988 | I'm Not Rappaport | Nat | Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play |
| 1992–1993 | Conversations with My Father | Eddie | Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play |
| 1996 | A Thousand Clowns | Murray Burns | |
| 2004 | Sixteen Wounded | Hans |