Dr. Leonard Hofstadter (Johnny Galecki) has always complained about the way his parents raised him throughout the 9 seasons of "The Big Bang Theory," but so far only his mother has made repeated appearances. However, a recent Twitter post from the Paley Center confirms that Leonard's father will finally be featured.
Not only will Leonard's father be making an appearance this season but he'll also be played by a two-time Emmy Award-winning actor, Judd Hirsch. Hirsch is renowned for his role as Alex Reiger in "Taxi" and for his appearances in "The Goldbergs," "Independence Day" and its upcoming sequel, "Independence Day: Resurgence."
We'll meet Leonard's dad, who'll be played by Judd Hirsch. Galecki met him at Jim Burrows tribute & asked him to play the role. #PaleyFest
— Paley Center (@paleycenter) March 17, 2016 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Very little has been revealed regarding Leonard's father. But it has been said that he is an anthropologist and has even worked with famous archaeologist Louis Leakey. Leonard's middle name is Leakey, a tribute given by his father in honor of the aforementioned archaeoologist.
As stated in a report from Cinema Blend, he and Leonard's mother divorced several years ago and in one of the earlier seasons, Leonard once mentioned that he built a hugging machine since his mother never gave any sign of affection. It was noted then that his father would sometimes borrow the machine for the very same reason, hinting that inaffection is why Leonard's parents divorced.
Despite this, it is also pointed out that Leonard's father was never affectionate to Leonard and the report points out that Hirsch has displayed the ability to portray a character that can be affectionate to some and completely stoic to others.
As previously reported, Leonard's father appearing is just one major revelation coming to the show as it is also hinted that Howard's (Simon Helberg) father will be appearing sometime in the near future as well. Howard's half-brother has already been on the show and it is likely that other characters will be popping up before the show is finally ended.
