Jerry Adler – Credit: WireImage
Jerry Adler, who began his career behind the scenes on Broadway before starring in roles on The Sopranos, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me, died on Saturday, a memorial from loved ones shared via Riverside Memorial Chapel confirmed. He was 96.
Though the veteran actor didn’t get his start onscreen until he was in his early 60s, his roles were wide ranging and resonated. He portrayed Herman “Hesh” Rabkin, the consigliere to Tony Soprano (James Galdofini), helping guide the mob boss on HBO’s The Sopranos. For The Good Wife, he played the coarse legal partner Howard Lyman on CBS’ The Good Wife. He also had a recurring role as New York Fire Department Deputy Chief Sidney Feinberg on FX’s Rescue Me.
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Born Feb. 4, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York, he got his start in show business away from the spotlight via his father, Philip, who served as the general manager of Group Theater. Philip offered his son a job on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Carol Channing in 1950.
Adler rose up the ranks in theater, serving in various roles that included stage manager, production manager, production supervisor, and director for productions such as the 1952 revival of Of Thee I Sing starring Jack Carson, 1956’s My Fair Lady starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, and 1966’s The Apple Tree starring Alan Alda. He worked on more than 50 Broadway shows.
Adler also worked behind the scenes on television on soap operas for nearly a decade. While he was serving as stage manager for Santa Barbara in Los Angeles, a friend cast him at the age of 62 for the 1992 movie The Public Eye starring Joe Pesci.
The role kicked off his late career transformation to actor, though his first onscreen appearance was in a 1991 episode of CBS sitcom Brooklyn Bridge. From there he appeared in a number of popular shows, including Quantum Leap, Northern Exposure, The West Wing, Mad About You, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Transparent, and Broad City.
He reprised his role as Hesh in The Sopranos through six seasons. Steven Van Zandt, his castmate in The Sopranos and guitarist in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, paid homage to Adler. “RIP Jerry Adler. Such an honor working with you. Travel well my friend,” the guitarist wrote on social media.
Adler’s film credits include 1993’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, 1996’s Getting Away With Murder, 2005’s In Her Shoes, 2008’s Synecdoche, New York, and 2014’s A Most Violent Year.
Of his late-career transformation, he pondered how strange fame can be. “You know what’s interesting? You spend your whole career backstage. Nobody knows who you are or even knows your name. They don’t know anything about you,” he told Connecticut Post in 2017. “And then you do a television show and suddenly you’re a celebrity and everyone knows your face. It’s so weird.”
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