Judd Hirsch facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Judd Hirsch
Hirsch in 1967
Born	Judd Seymore Hirsch (1935-03-15) March 15, 1935 (age 90) New York City, U.S.
Education	City College of New York (BS) American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1959–present
Spouse(s)	Elisa Sadaune ​ ​ (m. 1963; div. 1967)​ Bonni Sue Chalkin ​ ​ (m. 1992; div. 2005)​ Kathryn Danielle ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	3

Judd Seymore Hirsch (born March 15, 1935) is a famous American actor. He is known for his many roles in TV shows, movies, and plays.

You might know him from the TV comedy series Taxi, where he played Alex Rieger. He also starred as John Lacey in Dear John and Alan Eppes in Numb3rs.

Judd Hirsch has also been in many popular films. These include Ordinary People (1980), Independence Day (1996), and A Beautiful Mind (2001). More recently, he appeared in The Fabelmans (2022).

He has won several important awards for his acting. These include two Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards. He also won a Golden Globe Award. He was even nominated for an Academy Award twice!

Early Life and Education

Judd Hirsch was born in the Bronx, New York. His parents were Sally and Joseph Sidney Hirsch. His father was an electrician.

He grew up in both Brooklyn and the Bronx. He finished high school at DeWitt Clinton High School in 1952. Later, he earned a degree in physics from City College of New York.

After college, Hirsch served in the United States Army Reserve for six months. He worked as an engineer for a while. Then, he found his passion for acting. He studied acting in New York City and graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1962.

Starring with Kathryn Kates as the co-hosts of Small Miracles (2014)

Acting Career Highlights

Judd Hirsch is known for being a very versatile actor. He can easily move between TV shows, Broadway plays, and movies. He has earned many awards and good reviews for his performances.

Film Roles

Hirsch was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ordinary People (1980). This movie also won the Academy Award for Best Picture that year.

In 1996, he played the father of Jeff Goldblum's character in the big movie Independence Day. He played this role again in the 2016 sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence.

In 2001, he was in the Oscar-winning film A Beautiful Mind. He played a professor at Princeton University. He also had roles in The Meyerowitz Stories (2017) and Uncut Gems (2019).

In 2023, at 87 years old, Hirsch made history. He became the second-oldest actor ever nominated for an Academy Award. This was for his role in Steven Spielberg's film The Fabelmans (2022). He also set a record for the longest time between Oscar nominations.

Television Appearances

Judd Hirsch became very famous for his main role as Alex Rieger in the TV show Taxi. This popular comedy ran from 1978 to 1983. He won two Emmy Awards for this role in 1981 and 1983.

After Taxi, he starred in the comedy Dear John. He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for this show in 1989.

He also co-starred in the CBS drama Numb3rs from 2005 to 2010. He played Alan Eppes, the father of two main characters.

Hirsch has made guest appearances on many other TV shows. These include Warehouse 13, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and God Friended Me. He also had a recurring role on The Goldbergs. In 2016, he appeared on The Big Bang Theory as Dr. Alfred Hofstadter.

From 2014 to 2015, he was a regular on the ABC show Forever. He also starred in the CBS comedy Superior Donuts from 2017 to 2018. In 2020, he played the historic Simon Wiesenthal in the show Hunters.

Theatre Performances

Judd Hirsch has also had a very successful career in theatre. He won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his work in Conversations with My Father.

He also won another Tony Award in 1986 for his starring role in I'm Not Rappaport. Other important plays he performed in include The Hot l Baltimore and Talley's Folly.

Personal Life

Judd Hirsch has been married three times. His first marriage was to Elisa Sadaune from 1963 to 1967. They had a son named Alex.

He later married Bonni Sue Chalkin in 1992, but they divorced in 2005. From this marriage, he has a daughter, Montana, and a son, London.

Currently, Judd Hirsch is married to his third wife, actress Kathryn Danielle Hirsch.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Jump	Unknown	Uncredited
1973	Serpico	Cop	Uncredited
1978	King of the Gypsies	Groffo
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	The Goodbye People	Arthur Korman
	Teachers	Roger Rubell
1988	Running on Empty	Arthur Pope/Paul Manfield
1996	Independence Day	Julius Levinson
1999	Out of the Cold	Leon Axelrod
	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
	The Muppets	Himself	Cameo
	This Must Be the Place	Mordecai Midler
2013	Altered Minds	Dr. Nathan Shellner
2016	Independence Day: Resurgence	Julius Levinson
2017	The Meyerowitz Stories	L.J. Shapiro
2019	Uncut Gems	Gooey
2020	A Deadly Legend	Carl Turner
2021	Burning at Both Ends	Bertrand	Known as Resistance: 1942 in some territories
2022	iMordecai	Mordecai Samel
	Showing Up	Bill
	Hollywood Stargirl	Mr. Mitchell
	The Fabelmans	Boris Podgorny	AARP Movies for Grownups Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
2024	Rally Caps	Herb
2025	Fantasy Life	Fred
	The Best You Can	Warren Rand
	Stay Forte

Awards and Recognition

Judd Hirsch has received many awards for his acting. Here are some of his notable achievements:

See also

In Spanish: Judd Hirsch para niños