Judd Hirsch

Judd Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is an American actor renowned for his versatile performances across theater, television, and film over a career spanning more than five decades. Best known for portraying the principled taxicab driver Alex Rieger on the ABC/NBC sitcom Taxi (1978–1983), Hirsch has earned critical acclaim for roles that often highlight complex, everyman characters grappling with personal and familial challenges. His breakthrough in film came with the role of psychiatrist Dr. Tyrone C. Berger in Robert Redford's Ordinary People (1980), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Hirsch's accolades include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Taxi (1981 and 1983), two Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Play—for I'm Not Rappaport (1986) and Conversations with My Father (1992)—and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for Dear John (1989).

Born Judd Seymore Hirsch in the Bronx, New York City, to a Russian Jewish immigrant mother and a father of German Jewish descent, he grew up in both the Bronx and Brooklyn neighborhoods. After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1952, Hirsch attended the City College of New York, where he majored in engineering and physics. Following service in the U.S. Army, he briefly worked as an engineer before pursuing acting, graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1962. Hirsch began his professional career in theater, making his Broadway debut in a 1967 production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park and later forming a comedy trio in the late 1960s while appearing in off-Broadway shows. His early television work in the 1970s included guest spots on series like Medical Story (1975) and Delvecchio (1976–1977), building toward his stardom on Taxi.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hirsch balanced stage successes with television leads, including the widowed John Lacey on Dear John (1988–1992) and supporting roles in films such as Sidney Lumet's Running on Empty (1988), which earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He later starred as the fatherly mathematician Alan Eppes on the CBS procedural Numb3rs (2005–2010), appearing in all 114 episodes. In recent years, Hirsch has continued to take on compelling character parts, including the volatile Uncle Boris in Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans (2022), which brought him his third Oscar nomination at age 87—the second-oldest acting nominee in Academy history and the longest gap (42 years) between nominations. Other late-career highlights include the rabbi Gooey in Uncut Gems (2019) and roles in iMordecai (2022) and Mid-Century Modern (2025). Hirsch's enduring contributions to the arts have solidified his reputation as one of the most respected character actors of his generation.