Jerry Adler, who got his start working backstage on Broadway before becoming a later-in-life TV star, died Saturday, August 23, at the age of 96, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
His cousin was the renowned acting teacher Stella Adler, but Jerry didn’t get into acting until his early 60s. He went on to play some legendary characters — NYFD station chief Sidney Feinberg on Rescue Me, Herman “Hesh” Rabkin, consigliere for Tony Soprano (the late James Gandolfini) on The Sopranos, and the iconic law partner Howard Lyman on The Good Wife and The Good Fight.
After learning of Adler’s death, Good Wife and Good Fight creator Robert King took to X (formerly Twitter) to share how Adler wasn’t supposed to be on The Good Wife past one episode, but he was so amazing in the role that they kept writing him into the show and then kept him on the spinoff.
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“Jerry Adler died yesterday. 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,” wrote King.
He finished by calling Alder “one of our favorite collaborators.”
King co-created The Good Wife and The Good Fight with his wife Michelle King. The episode he is referring to was Adler’s Good Wife debut, season 2, episode 16 “Great Firewall.”
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Adler also had key recurring roles on several other hit shows. He played Rabbi Alan Schulman on Northern Exposure, the handyman on Mad About You and the father of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) on Transparent. He said in a 2017 interview that it was quite strange to go from being behind the scenes his whole life to suddenly being recognized by people on the street.
“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. And then you do a television show, and suddenly you’re a celebrity and everyone knows your face. It’s so weird,” said Adler.
Adler is survived by his wife of 31 years, Joan Laxman.
This story was originally reported by Parade on Aug 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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