'Sopranos' Star Jerry Adler, Broadway Backstage Vet Turned Late-In-Life Actor, Dies At 96

Actor Jerry Adler has died at 96.

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 Saturday, according to a brief family announcement confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.

Among Adler’s acting credits are “The Sopranos,” on which he played Tony Soprano 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 hailed from an entertainment family with deep roots in Jewish and Yiddish theater, 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.

“I’m a creature of nepotism,” Adler told TheaterMania in 2015. “I got my first job when I was at Syracuse University and my father, the general manager of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, called me (because) there was an opening for an assistant stage manager. I skipped school.”