Judd Hirsch

Judd Hirsch
Born	(1935-03-15) March 15, 1935 The Bronx, New York, United States
Alma mater	City College of New York
Occupation	Actor and writer
Years active	Since 1971
Spouse(s)	Elissa (1956–1958; divorced) Bonni Sue Chalkin (1992–2005; divorced)
Children	Three

Judd Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) 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 roles in films such as Independence Day (1996), A Beautiful Mind (2001), and Ordinary People (1980), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Early life and education

He was born in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, the son of Sally (née Kitzis) and Joseph Sidney Hirsch, an electrician. His father also was born in New York where the family had lived since the mid-1800s; his mother, Sally, was born in Russia. Hirsch was raised Jewish.^{[citation needed]}

He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, located in The Bronx, and later earned a degree in physics from the City College of New York.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Hirsch's first major television appearance was in the mini-series The Law (1974).

He gained true stardom for his lead role of Alex Reiger 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 appeared 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). Hirsch and Krumholtz also played father and son 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.^{[citation needed]} Other noteworthy stage performances include The Hot l Baltimore, Talley's Folly, and his starring role in I'm Not Rappaport, in 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).

Filmography

Film and television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Jump	Unknown	Uncredited
1973	Serpico	Cop	Uncredited
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	Keegans, TheThe Keegans	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
1978	King of the Gypsies	Groffo
1979	Sooner or Later	Bob Walters	Television movie
1979	Halloween That Almost Wasn't, TheThe Halloween That Almost Wasn't	Count Dracula	Short film
1980	Marriage Is Alive and Well	Herb Rollie	Television movie
1980	Last Resort, TheThe Last Resort	Unknown	Episode: "Zegelmania"
1980	Ordinary People	Dr. Tyrone C. Berger	Nominated-Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated-Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1981	Robert Klein Show, TheThe Robert Klein Show	Unknown	Television movie
1983	Lights: The Miracle of Chanukah	Unknown	Television movie
1983	Without a Trace	Al Menetti
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)
1984	Goodbye People, TheThe Goodbye People	Arthur Korman
1984	Teachers	Roger Rubell
1985	Detective in the House	Press Wyman	Television movie
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	Running on Empty	Arthur Pope/Paul Manfield
1988	Great Escape II: The Untold Story, TheThe Great Escape II: The Untold Story	Capt. David Matthews	Television movie
1990	She Said No	Martin Knapek	Television movie
1994	Betrayal of Trust	Dr. Jules Masserman	Television movie
1996	Independence Day	Julius Levinson
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
1999	Out of the Cold	Leon Axelrod
1999	Man on the Moon	Alex Reiger	uncredited
2000	Welcome to New York	Dr. Bob	Episode: "Dr. Bob"
2001	Family Law	Daniel Bonner	Episode: "Security"
2001	A Beautiful Mind	Helinger	Nominated-Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
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: "Pravada"
2003	Who Killed the Federal Theatre	Narrator	Television movie
2004	Zeyda and the Hitman	Gideon Schub
2005	Family Guy	Himself	Episode: "Blind Ambition"
2006	Brother's Shadow	Leo Groden
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	Tower Heist	Mr. Simon
2011-2012	Damages	Bill Herndon	14 episodes
2011	The Muppets	Himself
2011	This Must Be the Place	Mordecai Midler

Personal life

Hirsch was married to his first wife from 1956 to 1958. He married Bonni Sue Chalkin in 1992 and divorced her in 2003. Hirsch has three children: Alexander, born 1966, Montana Eve born 1994 and London, his youngest son.

See also

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

External links

• Judd Hirsch at the Internet Broadway Database
• Judd Hirsch at the Internet Movie Database
• Judd Hirsch at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• TonyAwards.com Interview with Judd Hirsch
• Dave Ross interview with Judd Hirsch on MyNorthwest.com