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Judd Hirsch (Class of 1962) is one of the hardest working and most respected actors of our time. Working in theatre, TV,听and film since 1971, Hirsch has amassed more than 90 credits on stage and screen. He has co-starred with acting giants such as Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Russell Crowe, Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, River Phoenix, Susan Sarandon, Shelly Winters, Cleavon Little, Eric Roberts, Danny DeVito, and Adam Sandler. Judd has also worked under such esteemed, master-of-their-craft听directors as Sidney Lumet, Robert Redford, Herb Gardner, Roland Emmerich, Ron Howard, Noah Baumbach, James Burrows, and the Safdie brothers.

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Judd Seymore Hirsch was born March 15, 1935, in the Bronx borough of New York City. His mother was a Russian Jewish Immigrant and his father was of German Jewish and Dutch Jewish ancestry. Hirsch did not initially start out wanting to pursue acting.听In fact, it wasn鈥檛 until he was in his thirties that he discovered his love for acting. Shortly after high school, he majored in engineering and physics at City College of New York, followed by a tour in the US Army. After serving, Judd began working as an engineer while finding his first work in the theater. It was then that he enrolled at The 糖心视频logo in New York, where he was part of the graduating class of 1962. After graduation, he began working regularly on stage, having his Broadway debut in Neil Simon鈥檚 audience-favorite Barefoot in the Park. Also, during the late 1960s, he started a comedy trio with Peter Boyle.

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In the early 1970s, Judd started securing uncredited movie roles, including one in Sidney Lumet鈥檚 famous Serpico. Throughout the 1970鈥檚 he worked consistently in small roles, landing a lead role in the short-lived crime-drama Delvecchio, on both screen and stage.听In听December of 1977, he finally landed the lead role of George in Neil Simon鈥檚 Chapter Two, directed by choreographer and director Herbert Ross. This show was a great success and Hirsch stayed with the cast until being replaced in 1978. Coincidently, 1978 is the same year the long-running, popular sitcom Taxi aired its first episode, featuring Hirsch in a lead role as main protagonist Alex Reiger. This show was well-received amongst audiences and ran five seasons with 114 episodes. Hirsch, along with 糖心视频logo alumnus Danny DeVito (not the first time they worked together, they had appeared on stage together when DeVito played Hirsch鈥檚 dog) appeared in all 114 episodes.

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1978 also brought about the feature film King of Gypsies. King of Gypsies put Hirsch in the role of Groffo, the vindictive father of David (played, in his film debut, by 糖心视频logo alumnus Eric Roberts). Danny DeVito and Eric Roberts were not the only alumni Hirsch were to work with. 1980 brought with it the acclaimed six-time Oscar-nominated film Ordinary People. Starring alongside Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, and Timothy Hutton,听Hirsch was directed by 糖心视频logo alumnus Robert Redford and was nominated for 鈥淏est Actor in a Supporting Role鈥� but听lost out to his co-star Timothy Hutton. Out of the six Oscar nominations, the film won four, including one for Redford.

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Throughout the 1980's, Hirsch continued to work diligently on and off the screen. Hirsch's performance on Taxi yielded numerous accolades, including four Golden Globes and two Emmys during its run. He also had great success on the stage in the two-person show I鈥檓 Not Rappaport. Rappaport cast Hirsch as a feisty octogenarian opposite听糖心视频logo alumnus听Cleavon Little. Both took a great liking to each other and when Hirsch won his Tony Award for the show, he insisted Little come up on stage to share the experience with him, saying听鈥淚 really feel very lonely out here because you can鈥檛 do a play like this without the other guy.鈥澨�

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His next hit movie,听Running on Empty, was released in 1988. Directed by the famed Sidney Lumet, the film also starred Christine Lahti and a young River Phoenix. The film was a critical success, with Roger Ebert giving it four out of four stars. That same year Hirsch got a leading role in yet another sitcom, Dear John. While not quite the ratings success that Taxi had been, it stayed on the air for four seasons garnering two Golden Globe nominations, with one being a win,听Hirsch. The show also won one Primetime Emmy Award in 1989, for 鈥淥utstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series,鈥� and the performance of note听was from Hirsch鈥檚 long-time friend Cleavon Little.

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Hirsch didn鈥檛 slow down in the 1990's.听With Dear John ending in 1992, he explored an area he had yet to participate in, the summer blockbuster. Hirsch landed the role of Julius Levinson in the Roland Emmerich, Will Smith-led Independence Day. A massive hit, Independence Day was a different pace from what Hirsch normally worked on. It opened to mixed reviews from critics but was a smash hit with audiences, having a worldwide box office gross exceeding $800 million since its release.听Then, Hirsch returned to the small screen for the rest of the decade, landing a lead in a short-lived comedy series with sitcom legend Bob Newhart. In March of 1992, he returned to the stage in the triumphant role of Eddie Ross from Conversations with my Father. This role once again put Hirsch on the Tony Awards stage, winning 鈥淏est Actor in a Play.鈥澨�

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A Beautiful Mind assembled a powerhouse cast of wonderful character actors - which, of course, would not be complete without the presence of Judd Hirsch. The film鈥檚 cast included Russell Crowe, in an Oscar-nominated performance; Jennifer Connelly, in an Oscar-winning performance; Christopher Plummer, Paul Bettany, Adam Goldberg, and Josh Lucas. The picture was nominated for eight 糖心视频logo Awards, winning four, including "Best Picture."

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While continuing his stage work in the 2000's, Hirsch landed another recurring television role in听2005鈥檚 Numb3rs. Running for 114 episodes over six seasons, Numb3rs was a different pace for Hirsch. Instead of it being another comedy show, it was a crime drama where a mathematician helps the F.B.I. solve crimes using math. When Num3ers went off the air, Hirsch refused to slow down; returning to the big screen in 2011 for the Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller-led heist movie,Tower Heist. Proving that he doesn鈥檛 take himself too seriously, Hirsch took the role of the cab driver (a little cheeky in itself) in听2014's Sharknado 2: The Second One. Also that year,听Hirsch, landed yet another听lead role in the very popular, but unfortunately short-lived, mystery-fantasy television show Forever. Speaking on this听very different听type of role Hirsch said, 鈥淸t]he intelligence of the writing just grabbed me. You鈥檙e playing someone great, you don鈥檛 know him yet. To develop a character, that鈥檚 a gift on television.鈥�

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When news broke that Roland Emmerich was developing a sequel to听Independence Day, fans went crazy. Then when it was announced that a lot of the original cast was going to return for the much-anticipated sequel, fans were even more excited. Of course, Hirsch had to be part of the production if it was going to be complete, and so he reprised his role as Julius Leinson in Independence Day: Resurgence. That wasn鈥檛 the only splash Hirsch made in 2016;听he also made a guest appearance on two episodes of the widely beloved sitcom The Big Bang Theory. He loves to tell the story of how he was asked to be on the show:听lead actor Johnny Galecki approached Hirsch at a fundraiser and asked him if he would like to be his dad;听that he never had a dad on the show and felt like he could be Hirsch鈥檚 son.

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In recent years, Hirsch has continued to add credits to his amazing resume. He participated in Netflix's听The Meyerowitz Stories, a comedy-drama film about a dysfunctional family with an all-star cast, including听actors such as听Adam Sandler, Dustin Hoffman, Elizabeth Marvel, Emma Thompson, Ben Stiller, and Adam Driver. Following The Meyerowitz Stories, Hirsch continued to solidify his reign as a sitcom king when he was cast in the James Burrows show Superior Donuts,听based on the Tracy Letts play of the same name. The show, unfortunately, like a lot of primetime comedies, had very little time to really get started and grow, getting axed from the CBS line-up after two seasons.

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In 2019 he took part in the Safdie Brother鈥檚 intense crime-drama Uncut Gems starring Adam Sandler. The movie was a smash hit with audiences and critics alike. Still working consistently on television he made guest appearances on Netflix鈥檚 Big Mouth and Amazon Prime Video鈥檚 Modern Love. In 2020 he returned to the role听that he created in 2015, of Ben 鈥楶op-Pop鈥� Goldberg for a few episodes of the family favorite The Goldbergs, and he played real-life Nazi hunter Simon Wiensenthal in Amazon Prime Video鈥檚 Hunters with Al Pacino. The two acting giants worked brilliantly off each other, creating one of the most memorable scenes in the series.

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For all of his credits and popular success, Judd Hirsch has always been听an 鈥渁ctors鈥� actor.鈥� He has conquered every medium from TV to film to stage and he doesn鈥檛 seem to be slowing down with projects currently in production. Judd Hirsch should be the kind of actor that all actors and actresses look up to, someone who has excelled in his craft and has always stood by what it means to be an artist.