"Actually, I was through with television" by the time the prospect of starring in "Taxi" came to his attention, Hirsch says. "I had decided that I was going to be a father and take my kid to Europe or whatever."

But when he read the comedy's script — which had Hirsch playing disillusioned New York cabbie Alex Rieger — he had mixed emotions. The premise and writing resonated; still, Hirsch considered himself a theater actor who wasn't sure he wanted to spend that much time away from the boards.

"I say, 'Oh my God. I'll be old when I get out of that.' I was 40," he remembers.





In retrospect, the only downside of the job — which ran for five seasons and earned Hirsch two Emmys — "was that everybody remembered me for that and nothing else, so I had to go back and reestablish" his theater cred. "Every time we had a hiatus, I did a play."

To sum up the experience, Hirsch says: "Of course it changed my life. It had to, right?"

http://tvline.com/gallery/judd-hirsch-photos-taxi-numbers/#!4/tsdtaxi-ec101/