Steven Van Zandt<\/a>, Adler\u2019s \u201cSopranos\u201d castmate and guitarist for Bruce Springsteen\u2019s E Street Band, paid tribute to Adler on social media: \u201cSuch an honor working with you. Travel well my friend.\u201d<\/p>\nWhile \u201cThe Sopranos\u201d launched a number of previously little-known actors to instant fame, Adler\u2019s rise was unusual, the culmination of more than four decades spent behind the scenes on Broadway before he ever stepped in front of a camera.<\/p>\n
A Brooklyn native born Feb. 4, 1929, Adler began his career as an assistant stage manager in 1950 on \u201cGentlemen Prefer Blondes\u201d and went on to work as stage manager, production manager or supervisor on more than 50 shows, including the original \u201cMy Fair Lady,\u201d Harold Pinter\u2019s \u201cThe Homecoming\u201d and \u201cThe Apple Tree,\u201d directed by Mike Nichols. He also directed several productions.<\/p>\n
By the 1980s, he had moved to Los Angeles to be closer to his children and found steady work in daytime television as a stage manager. It wasn\u2019t until his early 60s that acting entered the picture. After debuting on CBS\u2019 \u201cBrooklyn Bridge\u201d in 1991, Adler found steady film and TV work as a character actor through the 1990s, appearing in Joe Pesci\u2019s \u201cThe Public Eye\u201d (1992) and Woody Allen\u2019s \u201cManhattan Murder Mystery\u201d (1993).<\/p>\n
After \u201cThe Sopranos,\u201d Adler remained a familiar presence on television. He joined \u201cThe Good Wife\u201d in 2011 as Howard Lyman, a blustery, out-of-touch partner at the Lockhart\/Gardner law firm. What was initially meant to be a one-off guest spot turned into a recurring role across six seasons, with Adler reprising the part in \u201cThe Good Fight\u201d in 2017 and 2018.<\/p>\n
Adler also recurred on FX\u2019s \u201cRescue Me\u201d as fire chief Sidney Feinberg and appeared in series ranging from \u201cNorthern Exposure\u201d and \u201cMad About You\u201d to \u201cTransparent\u201d and \u201cBroad City.\u201d His film credits include \u201cIn Her Shoes\u201d (2005), \u201cSynecdoche, New York\u201d (2008) and \u201cA Most Violent Year\u201d (2014).<\/p>\n
Adler returned to Broadway as a performer late in life, appearing in Elaine May\u2019s 2000 comedy \u201cTaller Than a Dwarf\u201d and Larry David\u2019s \u201cFish in the Dark\u201d in 2015. Adler\u2019s last screen credit came in the 2019 revival season of \u201cMad About You.\u201d In 2024, he published a memoir, \u201cToo Funny for Words: Backstage Tales From Broadway, Television, and the Movies,\u201d reflecting on his unusual path through show business. <\/p>\n
On Instagram, \u201cSopranos\u201d co-star Michael Imperioli<\/a>, who played Christopher, praised Adler as \u201ca fantastic actor and the kindest of human beings. He brought so much humor, intelligence and truth to the role of Herman \u2018Hesh\u2019 Rabkin and was one of my favorite characters on \u2018The Sopranos.\u2019 I loved working and spending time with Jerry. A true class act.\u201d<\/p>\nSurvivors include his wife, Joan Laxman, whom he married in 1994, and his daughters, Alisa, Amy, Laura and Emily.<\/p>\n