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Sat. 2 p.m.-12 Mid., Sun. 4 p.m.-11 p.m. 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. ❑ cp-1