Veteran actor Jerry Adler, best known for his memorable roles in shows like The Sopranos, The Good Wife, and Rescue Me, has passed away at the age of 96. His family confirmed the news, and longtime friend Frank J. Reilly shared a heartfelt tribute on social media, writing: “The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler died today at the age of 96. You know him from one of his iconic roles or many of his guest appearances. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”
Adler broke out late in life but quickly became a familiar face on screen. On The Sopranos, he played Hesh Rabkin, the wise and steady consigliere to James Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano. But he showed his range too—like playing the blunt lawyer Howard Lyman in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, and Deputy Chief Sidney Feinberg in the firefighter drama Rescue Me.
Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Adler came from a theater family. His cousin was legendary acting teacher Stella Adler, and his dad worked at New York’s Group Theatre. Jerry got his start backstage—he even skipped classes at Syracuse University to work as an assistant stage manager on Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He later joked, “I’m a creature of nepotism.”
Before cameras loved him, Broadway knew him well. He worked on more than 50 shows, including the original production of My Fair Lady with a 19-year-old Julie Andrews. He also directed on Broadway and stage-managed everything from the soap Santa Barbara to the Tony Awards.
But in his 60s, just as he was thinking about retirement, Adler stumbled into acting. And it stuck. He went on to guest star in tons of fan favorites—Quantum Leap, Northern Exposure, The West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Broad City—and appeared in films like Manhattan Murder Mystery, In Her Shoes, and Driveways.
Even late in life, he never lost his sense of wonder about being recognized. “Having done so many shows on Broadway backstage in the dark, to be recognized now is so weird,” he once said. “When I walk down the street now, it’s like ‘Hey, Hesh!’”
Jerry Adler’s career was a masterclass in reinvention—proof that it’s never too late to become the character everyone remembers.