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78
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 1990
Judd Hirsch Finds Life
After 'Taxi' Very Dear
Special to The Jewish News
G
oing one-to-one with
"One-Two-One Club"
single guy John
Lacey leaves me singularly
impressed.
Maybe it's because Lacey,
devastated by a divorce, is
an honest character, one
who can't separate his feel-
ings about family ties and
new-found freedom so freely.
Lacey's approach to life is as
messy as his marital split.
Maybe it's because Lacey
is a rich brocade of
friendliness and bitterness,
a borderline boy-man who
wants nothing more than a
house to call home and a
wife to recall his bache-
lorhood. His "One-Two-One"
singles club is a pit stop on
the bumpy road back to
reclaiming happiness.
Or maybe it's because
Judd Hirsch, who portrays
Lacey as a middle-aged mis-
sionary of hope, is on a roll
with this role, making "Dear
John" such a delight to wat-
ch Wednesday nights.
NBC's "Dear John" star
has a way of endearing
himself to audiences.
Whether it be as the amiable
Alex Rieger, cabbie comrade
to the world, in the long-
running sitcom hit "Taxi";
the semi-retired socialist
Nat in Broadway's I'm Not
Rappaport; or as Dear John
Lacey trying to come to
terms with his dearly
departed marriage, Hirsch
hits home with characteriza-
tions both human and heart-
felt.
There is a Jewish sen-
sibility about most of his
performances; indeed, many
of the characters — Alex,
Nat, Talley of Broadway's
Talley's Folly —are decided-
ly ethnic, a natural exten-
sion of an actor so proudly
Jewish.
A self-described New York
Jewish liberal, Hirsch's
sense of self is liberating. He
enjoys exploring parts that
are part of his own
background.
"You know," he says as we
stroll around the Paramount
Pictures lot, where "Dear
John" is filmed, "a writer
from a magazine recently
asked me why I think there's
Michael Elkin is the
entertainment columnist for
the Philadelphia Jewish
Exponent who was on location
in Hollywood.
Judd Hirsch:
Life goes on.
a re-emergence of Jewish
characters on TV. I said,
`What re-emergence?
They've never gone away.' "
Certainly, they're never
far from Hirsch's view.
"One of the reasons I en-
joyed doing Alex on 'Taxi' so
much was that we would
deal with issues which were
ahead of their time. We
didn't back down — in-
cluding focusing on anti-
Semitism."
It is a topic Hirsch knows
well. The Bronx-born and-
bred performer, now in his
early 50s, found one of his
most challenging parts as a
member of the U.S. Army.
As one of only two Jews in
a company of 200 in the
South, there was no sense of
Southern comfort. Hirsch
was always aware that he
was the outsider.
He was verbally attacked
as a "Jew bastard" by a
squad leader who didn't
think Hirsch responded to
an order quickly enough.
When Hirsch stood his
ground against the unit
commander, commanding
respect, willing to fight for
his honor, he was called on
the carpet by his superior of-
ficer.
"Who do you think you
are?" the officer demanded
of Hirsch. "Sir," came the
reply, "I was just called a
Jew bastard, and I know the
Army and the United States
Constitution are not about
that."
What Judd Hirsch is about
is honesty — on and off
stage. He credits his family's
legacy of tzedakah with
helping him know the im-
portance of helping others.
For his caring concern, he
has been honored by many
groups during the years.
Honored to be Jewish,
Hirsch also knows that the
past carries with it a respon-
sibility — and a sadness.
"The Holocaust," he says,
"was a preamble to all the
sadness I have learned."
Certainly, there also has
been much happiness, in-
cluding the Tony Award for
Rappaport, an Obie Award
for Talley's Folly and an
Oscar nomination for Or-
dinary People.
No ordinary actor, this
Judd Hirsch. His has been a
career of probable firsts —
probably the first City Col-
lege of New York physics
major to figure out the chem-
istry of what makes an actor
into a star and probably the
first former hospital bill col-
lector to find a cure for a ca-
reer in that eternal invalid,
the legitimate theater. In
baring his soul, Hirsch ad-
mits there is always a spe-
cial spot in his heart for
theater.
"Theater is the plum," he
says. "I've got to get friends
who'll write plays for me."
He has found no finer
friend than writer Herb
"I was just called a
Jew bastard, and I
know the Army and
the United States
Constitution are
not about that."
Gardner, whose Rappaport
rapped about the age-old
problems of old age. In his
Tony-winning performance
as Nat, a hirsute Hirsch
heeded the history of the
Holocaust as a source for his
character's pain.
"I used a friend's father,
who was (interned) in a Nazi
camp, as a basis for the
storytelling aspect of Nat
and as a way for me to get
emotionally involved" in the
role, says Hirsch.
From his own folks, the
actor gleaned a special sense
of humor.
And for those who think
that John Lacey — dear John
Lacey — is more white bread
than rye, Hirsch wryly notes
that his producer had a sur-
prise for him.
"He said, 'Who knows? We
may one day decide to reveal
that John is Jewish, to. "
If so, Judd Hirsch will be
ready for him. ❑
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