Judd Hirsch

Intro

Judd Hirsch is an American actor whose work spans Broadway, television comedy and film drama. His familiar television roles include Alex Rieger in Taxi and Alan Eppes in Numb3rs. Two Tony Awards, two lead-actor Emmys for Taxi and supporting-actor Oscar nominations decades apart mark different strands of a career that has continued to cross between stage and screen.

Career snapshot

Born in the Bronx in 1935, Hirsch studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1962. The school’s alumni profile describes earlier engineering work and military service before his professional acting career developed. The Broadway League records a replacement engagement as the Telephone Man in Barefoot in the Park from January 1966, an early step in his New York theatre work.

The entry point

The stage record became increasingly substantial during the 1970s. He played several characters in Knock Knock, then George Schneider in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon’s Chapter Two. In 1980 he played Matt Friedman in Talley’s Folly. Those productions show that his rise on television accompanied an established commitment to performing plays before live audiences.

Screen identity and style

Taxi made Hirsch widely recognizable as Alex Rieger within an ensemble that also included Danny DeVito. The Television Academy records his wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1981 and 1983, along with further nominations for the show. Its awards record also includes a 1978 nomination for a guest appearance in Rhoda, placing his television recognition before Taxi’s first full season.

Collaborations and patterns

Broadway brought further major roles in Herb Gardner’s plays. Hirsch originated Nat in I’m Not Rappaport and Eddie in Conversations with My Father. He won the leading-actor Tony for the former in 1986 and for the latter in 1992. He later returned to Nat in the 2002 revival, giving a familiar stage character a new production context rather than simply leaving it in the original run.

Era reflection

His film recognition stretches from Ordinary People to The Fabelmans. The Academy lists supporting-actor nominations at the 1981 and 2023 ceremonies respectively. Between those films, his screen work included Running on Empty and Independence Day. Television also supplied a different recurring setting in Numb3rs: Paramount identifies him as Alan Eppes alongside Rob Morrow’s Don and David Krumholtz’s Charlie in a drama joining FBI investigations with mathematical problem-solving.

Legacy and rediscovery

Hirsch’s record offers several starting points: the workplace comedy of Taxi, the family relationships in his films, and the theatrical characters documented in Broadway archives. The photographs here span a publicity portrait catalogued to 1967 and a separate 2014 image with actress Kathryn Kates. The latter retains its shared setting and identifies both performers; it is not presented as a scene from a production the archive does not name.

Selected roles

• Taxi: Alex Rieger — 1978–1983
• I'm Not Rappaport: Nat — 1985 Broadway production
• Conversations with My Father: Eddie — 1992 Broadway production
• Numb3rs: Alan Eppes — 2005–2010

A career in pictures

Two distinct photographs from different periods, with separate provenance and reuse records.

Early publicity portrait (1967)

Judd Hirsch

Photographer unidentified; archive classifies the US publicity image as public domain.

With Kathryn Kates (2014)

Judd Hirsch, left, with Kathryn Kates

Jnkates photograph dated January 23, 2014; CC BY-SA 3.0.

Rewatch notes

• Hirsch won Taxi lead-actor Emmys in 1981 and 1983.
• His Tony-winning roles include Nat and Eddie in two Herb Gardner plays.
• He received Oscar nominations for Ordinary People and The Fabelmans.