Sopranos star Jerry Adler, Broadway backstage vet turned late-in-life actor, dies at 96
Adler played Tony Soprano’s adviser Hesh Rabkin and also appeared in The Good Wife, where he played law partner Howard Lyman
Jerry Adler, who spent decades behind the scenes of storied Broadway productions before pivoting to acting in his 60s, has died at 96.
Adler died on Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his sleep”, Paradigm Talent Agency’s Sarah Shulman said on behalf of his family. No immediate cause was given.
Among Adler’s acting credits are The Sopranos, on which he played Tony Soprano’s adviser Hesh Rabkin across all six seasons, and The Good Wife, where he played law partner Howard Lyman.
But before Adler had ever stepped in front of a film or television camera, he had 53 Broadway productions to his name – all behind the scenes, serving as a stage manager, producer or director.
He came from an entertainment family with deep roots in Jewish and Yiddish theatre, as he told the Jewish Ledger in 2014.
His father, Philip Adler, was a general manager for the famed Group Theatre and Broadway productions and his cousin, Stella Adler, was a legendary acting teacher.