The Sexiest Man Alive Is a Jewish Dad, Again

Photo by Michael Tullberg/Getty Images Paging Dr. Sexiest Man Alive! Today PEOPLE crowned Jewish actor and dad Noah Wyle as 2026’s Sexiest Man Alive.

“I thought that sounded like a prank — just not in a million years did I think that this would be an honor bestowed on me,” the 55-year-old best known as emergency medicine physicians John Carter on “ER” and Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt” told PEOPLE . Well you better believe it, Noah Wyle!

We hereby you diagnose you with a deadly case of being sexy. But Noah isn’t just sexy because of his mature, down-to-earth good looks. In the interview with PEOPLE, Noah time and again returns to talking about his wife Sara and kids Owen (24), Auden (21) and Frances (11).

“[Fatherhood] was the most life-changing event in my life. They handed my son to me, and I was like, ‘Now I get it. It’s not about me, it’s about you,'” he recalled.

Noah also shared the most romantic thing he’s ever done which is simply so perfect we have to include the quotation in full: “When my wife and I were first courting, I had two kids from a previous marriage, and we weren’t always able to be together because I’d have them, and for almost a year I didn’t introduce everybody.

So when we weren’t together, I would make these gifts for my wife. I’d make a book with photographs and mementos of things that we’d done on dates and drawings and poems and things that I’d find. Just ways of being able to do something for her when we were apart that I thought she’d like when we saw each other again.” Someone get out the paddles, our heart just skipped a beat.

Some other highlights from the conversation include that Noah would title his memoir “Noah’s Arc,” his response to a question about when he finally felt comfortable in his skin being “I was so hoping today was going to be the day” and sharing that his first-ever nickname was Wyle Coyote. (Though if it were up to Kveller, we also would’ve asked Noah to talk more about the worm-related bar mitzvah incident that has caused him to never dance in public again .) This isn’t the first time PEOPLE has given the award to a Jewish dad or Jewish man, period.

Back in 2021, Paul Rudd received the honor and David Beckham (in 2015), Adam Levine (in 2013) and Harrison Ford (in 1998) all took on the title before him. However, this is the first time a Jewish actor has been crowned Sexiest Man Alive while portraying an explicitly Jewish character on TV.

On “The Pitt” — a show for which Noah has won four Emmys — Dr. Robby is a gruff ER doctor who is struggling to figure out how to be in the world after facing his own trauma. Faith is a huge grounding force for him.

At the end of season one, viewers see Robby turn to the Shema and a Star of David necklace . In season two, Robby meets a survivor of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting and, after the two bond over Russian Jewish culture, his patient gives him new perspective on healing. Later, when Pitt regular Louie dies, Robby delivers a poignant eulogy to the staff and says, “ May his memory be a blessing .” It’s a background that is inspired by Noah’s paternal lineage .

“Noah, where’s your family from?,” executive producer John Wells apparently asked when the show was in development. When Noah replied that they’re Russian Jewish, Wells asked him, “Well, what’s a name? What can we play with there?

Would you want to play in that blood memory?” Clearly, the answer has been yes. Though Noah Wyle is not himself particularly religious, he has shared in the past that his upbringing was full of his father’s Jewish heritage and his mother’s Episcopalian background. “There were certain tenets of both faiths that my parents thought were very important to instill in us.

It was like a Chinese menu — one from Column A, one from Column B,” he once said. In 2013, he also shared that his children Owen and Auden occasionally attended Jewish Sunday School, so sharing some aspects of Jewishness with his kids is clearly important to him. And honestly, what’s sexier than that?

Mazel tov, Noah Wyle! Making Room for More Jewish Voices. Kveller is where funny, thoughtful, and unexpected Jewish stories find readers.

A few dollars helps us keep telling them. Choose an amount to donate Evelyn Frick Evelyn Frick (she/they) is a writer and the associate editor for Kveller's partner site Hey Alma.