Which Tony-Winning Actor is Heading to THE BIG BANG THEORY?

BIG BANG THEORY showrunner Steven Molaro revealed at last night's PaleyFest in L.A. that fans will finally get to meet Leornard Hofstadter's dad on the long running CBS comedy series. According to Variety, series' star Johnny Galecki explained to the crowd that his character's father, an anthropologiest, will be portrayed by two-time Tony winning actor Judd Hirsch.

Galecki made a personal request to the 'Taxi' star to appear on the show while taping NBC's recent tribute to James Burrows. "I ran up to him and just kind of bombarded him with verbalization," explained Galecki. "I did share with him, and this is true, that when we were shooting the pilot I watched the first two or three seasons [of 'Taxi']. Not because I wanted to base Leonard on his character, but the purpose that his character served in this group of people. [He was] just as much, at times, a voice of reason as he was just as confused as everyone else."

Christine Baranski, who appears on the show as a recurring guest star, portrays Leonard's mother, Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. THE BIG BANG THEORY returns to CBS on March 31.

About Judd Hirsch: Judd Hirsch made his 1966 Broadway debut in "Barefoot in the Park." He spent many years at New York's Circle Repertory, where he appeared in the first-ever production of Lanford Wilson's "The Hot L Baltimore." After an auspicious TV-movie bow in the Emmy-winning TV movie "The Law" (1974), Hirsch landed his first weekly-series, playing the title character in the detective drama "Delvecchio" (1976-77). From 1978 to 1982, he was Alex Reiger in one of the most celebrated television ensemble comedies "Taxi," earning several Golden Globes and two Emmys in the process.

While occupied with "Taxi," Hirsch continued his stage career with an off-Broadway production of Lanford Wilson's "Talley's Folly," which earned him an Obie award. The show subsequently moved to the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles and finally to Broadway where he was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award. He won TONY AWARDS for his starring role in two of Herb Gardner's best plays, "I'm Not Rappaport" and "Conversations with My Father." He played the role of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's classic play "Death of a Salesman" in Toronto and was in productions of Yazmina Reza's play "Art" on Broadway and in Chicago, Toronto and London. He has further expanded his love of theatre by directing productions of "Art" in Seattle, Miami, New Jersey and Ogunquit, Maine. Other of Judd's theatre credits include the world premiere of "The Whore and Mr. Moore" by Michael Christopher at the Dorset Theatre in Vermont and the role of Sigmund Freud in the Broad Theatre Company's production of "Freud's Last Session," which he did in Los Angeles in January of 2013. Most recently he starred with former "Taxi" co-star, Danny De Vito, in a production of Neil Simon's hit play "The Sunshine Boys" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles.

Judd's post "Taxi" TV career continued with a Golden Globe-winning turn as John Lacey in "Dear John" (1988-92), "Grocer and Leo" (with Bob Newhart), and five seasons of the CBS hit series, "Numb3rs." He played Glenn Close's former law mentor who, subsequently, fell on hard times in the fourth and fifth seasons of the critically acclaimed series "Damages." Last year, he starred in the TNT movie, "Silent Witness" and this year he has played Marc Maron's father in several episodes of the cable comedy hit series "Maron," and can next be seen in a guest starring role on TNT's new series "Perception."

On the features front, Judd was nominated for an Oscar for his iconic performance as Tim Hutton's psychiatrist in the Academy award-winning Best Picture "Ordinary People." He played Russell Crowe's mathematics mentor in another Oscar-winning film, "A Beautiful Mind" and was seen as Jeff Goldblum's father in the movie blockbuster "Independence Day." Recently, he starred with Sean Penn in "This Must Be the Place," the first English language film by famed director Paulo Sorrentino, which was well reviewed at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. His other films include "King of the Gypsies," " Without a Trace," "Teachers," "The Goodbye People," "Running on Empty" and the comedy/action film "Tower Heist."

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski