Jerry Adler, the veteran theater stage manager who launched a second career as a familiar character actor in film and television—most notably as Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on HBO‘s The Sopranos—died this week at age 96, his family announced and confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.
Why It Matters
Adler’s career illustrated an uncommon path in American entertainment—a half-century as a Broadway stage manager, director and producer, followed by a decades-long run as a character actor on high-profile television dramas and comedies.
That arc connected the backstage history of mid-20th-century Broadway to contemporary television’s so-called Golden Age, making him a living link across generations of performers and productions.
What To Know
Adler was born in Brooklyn in 1929 and spent the early part of his career working behind the scenes on Broadway productions, including on the original 1956 production of My Fair Lady.
He did not begin acting professionally until his 60s. A casting director’s suggestion led to a film role in the early 1990s, and Adler went on to appear on television series including Northern Exposure, Mad About You, Rescue Me and Transparent, with recurring roles as Tony Soprano adviser Hesh Rabkin across all six seasons on The Sopranos and law partner Howard Lyman on The Good Wife.
Adler returned to Broadway as an actor in 2000 in in Elaine May’s Taller Than a Dwarf and in 2015 in Larry David’s Fish in the Dark.
“I do it because I really enjoy it. I think retirement is a road to nowhere,” Adler told Forward, when discussing David’s play. “I wouldn’t know what to do if I were retired. I guess if nobody calls anymore, that’s when I’ll be retired. Meanwhile this is great.”
He published a memoir, Too Funny for Words: Backstage Tales from Broadway, Television and the Movies, last year.
Actor Jerry Adler attends the funeral for actor James Gandolfini at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on June 27, 2013, in New York City.
Actor Jerry Adler attends the funeral for actor James Gandolfini at The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on June 27, 2013, in New York City.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images
What People Are Saying
Frank J. Reilly, a friend of Adler’s, wrote on X: “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. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”
Robert King, showrunner on The Good Wife, wrote on X: “The intent was only to have him for one episode of THE GOOD WIFE, but he was so funny in a diner scene, yelling ‘I said ice cream, you stupid bitch’ we had him back for six years of Good Wife and three years of Good Fight. One of our favorite collaborators.”
This article contains reporting by The Associated Press.