‘The Sopranos’ actor Jerry Adler dead at 96
Broadway veteran and beloved star of The Sopranos, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me, Jerry Adler, has died at the age of 96.
His death was announced by friend Frank J. Reilly, who wrote online, “The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler, died today at the age of 96. You know him from one of his iconic roles had from many of his guest appearances.”
No cause of death has been confirmed.
His acting career only began when he was in his 60s. Adler appeared on screen for the first time in 1991 on an episode of the sitcom Brooklyn Bridge. He would go on to appear in other big screen hits such as 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1996’s Getting Away With Murder and 2014’s A Most Violent Year.
The Brooklyn native also served as the stage manager for the original My Fair Lady, working alongside Julie Andrews, who was 19 at the time. He bagged the job through his father, Philip, who was the General Manager of the Group Theatre behind the Carol Channing musical, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Adler was known to joke about his entrance into the world of fame, admitting in 2015 that he was a “creature of nepotism”.
He directed a handful of his own Broadway shows before returning to Broadway in 2000 to act in the Elaine May comedy Taller Than a Dwarf.
His most well-known roles include Herman ‘Hesh’ Rabkin on The Sopranos, where he appeared on the show from 1999 to 2007, and Howard Lyman on The Good Wife and The Good Fight.
He often commented on the change from back-stage hand to famous artist, sharing once, “Having done so many shows on Broadway backstage in the dark, to be recognized now is so weird and something that you never expected. When I walk down the street now, it’s like ‘Hey, Hesh!'”
In 2019, he starred alongside Paul Rudd in Living With Yourself and portrayed Saul Horowitz on Broad City.
He is survived by his wife, psychologist Joan Laxman, whom he married in 1994.
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