Alan Eppes

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Alan Eppes

Alan Eppes is a fictional character on the television show NUMB3RS, played by Judd Hirsch.

Alan Eppes is the amiable father of Charlie and Don Eppes, and is particularly protective of his younger son, Charlie. He is a widower and retired city planner, but keeps busy by getting involved in the personal lives and careers of his sons as well as volunteering for causes he believes in. Like Don, he enjoys baseball. He has attempted to persuade Charlie to take up golf like him, delighted that he can at least teach his brilliant son something. For much of the first two seasons, his wife's name was never mentioned in the show, though she was referred to on the set as Margaret. Recently he has been on his first date since his wife's death, with a caterer he's fond of, and has once more taken up work, investing in a consulting firm with Stan Fisher, which is related to "all his years in urban infrastructure."

Alan volunteered his son's house for Valerie Eng's wedding, toiled over coordinating every detail, and assigned the seating arrangement to Charlie, who created a mathematical algorithm for it, though Charlie didn't overall seem too enthusiastic about it. He claimed that since he never had a daughter, this would be his chance to make amends. He is surprised at his friend, Larry, for his love interest in Megan Reeves. He sometimes works on puzzles to occupy his time when not busy, continuing his wife's hobby and allowing time for conversing with Charlie's colleagues, Larry Fleinhardt and Amita Ramanujan, over pizza.

Alan has held onto his wife's clothes, which he hid in the garage, despite Don helping him pack it six months before. When Charlie showed concern, he told him it was none of his business. Don confronted him as well, but both were criticized for giving advice as unmarried men and Mr. Eppes finally decided to rid of the clothing on his own. After Charlie found a musical composition for the piano by his mother under her maiden name, Margaret Mann, in the Eppes garage, Alan revealed to his sons their mother's talent with classical music and her training in Vienna. He was astonished when his son noticed that some of her other compositions were dated after the birth of their children as he thought she had put her music work aside for her law career to help the family. Alan has seen his wife in a dream at the same time as Charlie.

Alan Eppes

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