Judd Hirsch Biography

Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor known for playing Alex Rieger on the television comedy series Taxi (1978-1983), John Lacey on the NBC series Dear John (1988-1992), and Alan Eppes on the CBS series Numb3rs (2005-2010). He is also well known for his career in theatre and for his roles in films such as Ordinary People (1980), Running on Empty (1988), Independence Day (1996), and A Beautiful Mind (2001).

Over the course of his career, he has twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, has twice won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, 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 Hirsch (ne Kitzis) and Joseph Sidney Hirsch, an electrician. Hirsch's father was born in New York to a German Jewish father, Benjamin Hirsh, and an English-born mother, Rosa Hirsch (ne Benjamin), whose family were Dutch Jews. Hirsch's mother, Sally, was born in Russia, also to a Jewish family. Hirsch has a brother named Roland Hirsch.

He grew up in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, but graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School, located in The Bronx, in 1952, and later 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 worked as an engineer for Westinghouse before he found work in the theater.

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. Hirsch went on 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, playing a police detective (1976-1977).

In film, Hirsch received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the drama film Ordinary People (1980). Other films in the 1980s include 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, and in 2001 he played a professor in the acclaimed A Beautiful Mind.

Hirsch co-starred on the CBS Television drama, NUMB3RS (2005-2010), as Alan Eppes, father of FBI agent, Don Eppes (Rob Morrow), and Professor Charlie Eppes (David Krumholtz). 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, Law & Order: SVU, and The Whole Truth (which saw him reunite with Numb3rs co-star Rob Morrow), among others, and lent his voice to the animated programs Tom Goes to the Mayor and American Dad! 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 (portrayed by Jim Carrey). Judd has also appeared several times on the television show Maron as comedian Marc Maron's father.

From 2014 to 2015, he appeared as a series regular on the ABC television series Forever.

In March 2016, it was announced that Hirsch would be appearing on the CBS comedy series The Big Bang Theory portraying Leonard's (Johnny Galecki) father.

Personal life

Hirsch had a child with his first wife, Elisa Sadaune, whom he was with from 1956 to 1967. He was married to his second wife, fashion designer Bonni Sue Chalkin, from 1992 to 2005.

Hirsch has three children. Son Alexander was born in 1966 with Elisa. From his second marriage, Hirsch has a daughter Montana and son London.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Jump	Unknown	Uncredited
1973	Serpico	Cop	Uncredited
1978	King of the Gypsies	Groffo
1979	'	Count Dracula	Halloween TV special
1980	Ordinary People	Dr. Tyrone C. Berger	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1983	Without a Trace	Detective Al Manetti
1984	'	Arthur Korman
1984	Teachers	Roger Rubell
1988	Running on Empty	Arthur Pope/Paul Manfield
1996	Independence Day	Julius Levinson
1999	Out of the Cold	Leon Axelrod
1999	Man on the Moon	Alex Rieger	Uncredited Cameo
2001	A Beautiful Mind	Dr. Helinger	Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2004	Zeyda and the Hitman	Gideon Schub
2006	Brother's Shadow	Leo Groden
2011	Tower Heist	Mr. Simon
2011	The Muppets	Himself	Cameo
2011	This Must Be the Place	Mordecai Midler
2013	Altered Minds	Dr. Nathan Shellner
2015	Wild Oats
2016	Independence Day: Resurgence	Julius Levinson	Post-production

Television

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 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
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 (1981, 1983) Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy (1979-1983) Nominated-Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (1979-1980, 1982)
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	74 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 & 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	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Judah Platner	Episode: "Mercy"
2003	Regular Joe	Baxter Binder	5 episodes
2003	Street Time	Shimi Goldman	Episode: "High Holly Roller"
2003	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	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	Sharknado 2: The Second One	Ben	Television movie
2014-2015	Forever	Abe	22 episodes
2015	The Goldbergs	Ben "Pop-Pop" Goldberg	2 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
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

See also

• List of City College of New York alumni
• List of people from the Bronx