Jerry Adler, best known for playing a mobster’s confidant on “The Sopranos,” died on Saturday at the age of 96, according to an obituary from the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.
The obituary did not provide details on Adler’s death. Adler’s friend Frank J. Reilly confirmed his death in a post on X Saturday.
“You know him from one of his iconic roles [and] from many of his guest appearances,” Reilly wrote. “Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”
Adler came from a theater family, the son of Group Theatre manager Phil Adler and the nephew of actor Jacob Pavlovich Adler, he told the Southern New England Jewish Ledger in 2014.
He was a theater veteran who worked behind the curtain on some of Broadway’s biggest shows. Adler worked as stage manager for the original 1956 production of “My Fair Lady” featuring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison.
He’d later direct the revival in 1976 after having worked on shows like “Annie,” “Marlene Dietrich” and “We Interrupt This Program…” as a production supervisor and director.
Adler wouldn’t receive his first acting credit until 1991, when he appeared on an episode of “Brooklyn Bridge.” He appeared on popular television series such as “Quantum Leap” and “Law & Order,” and even had some leading roles in shows like “Hudson Street.”
But the world will likely best remember Adler for his six seasons on the HBO series “The Sopranos.”
Hesh Rabkin, played by Adler, was a confident to lead character Tony Soprano, a troubled New Jersey mafia boss struggling with his work and his family.
A recurring character, Rabkin was a loan shark who often doled out advice to the younger mafioso.
“Sopranos” actor Michael Imperioli paid tribute to his former co-star on Instagram, describing Adler as a “true class act” and that he loved spending time with Adler.
“JERRY ADLER (1929-2025) was a fantastic actor and the kindest of human beings,” Imperioli wrote. “He brought so much humor, intelligence and truth to the role of Herman ‘Hesh’ Rabkin and was one of my favorite characters on The Sopranos.
Adler made appearances in a number of other hit series, such as “Broad City,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Transparent.” He was a recurring guest on “The Good Wife,” a legal procedural led by Julianna Margulies.
Robert King, co-creator of “The Good Wife,” recalled Adler’s role on the show as Howard Lyman in a social media post Sunday. He described Adler as “one of our favorite collaborators.”
“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 b—-’ we had him back for six years of Good Wife and three years of Good Fight,” King wrote.
What was meant to be one episode turned into 30 for Adler, according to his IMDb page. He then appeared in two episodes of the show’s spinoff “The Good Fight.”
People shared kind words about Adler in the comments of his online obituary, some who knew him personally sharing memories. One woman named Sharon Aiuvalasit wrote that she was able to go to the set of her favorite show, “Santa Barbara” because of a family friend who knew Adler.
“Jerry welcomed my mom, dad and little brother to the set for 12 hours and it continues to be one of the most magical memories of my life,” Aiuvalasit wrote.
A man named Jimmy Horton recalled that his very first job at 18 was working with Adler on the drama “Search For Tomorrow.” He worked on Broadway over the years and reunited with Adler in Larry David’s 2015 play, “Fish In The Dark.”
“When rehearsals started I reintroduced myself and we reminisced about Search and the great people there and I got to see Jerry as an actor six nights a week for several months and he was a delight, a real mensch and a terrific actor to see up close,” Horton wrote.
Adler wrote a memoir released last year called “Too Funny For Words,” writing about moments like his first job working for his father as an assistant stage manager on “Gentleman Prefer Blondes.” He told CT Insider in an interview promoting his book that he had to lead Carol Channing by flashlight because she was “terribly near-sighted.”
Asked about his career, Adler told the outlet that “it’s been a glorious run.”
“I wrote this book during there pandemic because I thought the world could use some laughs,” Adler said. “I still have more stories to tell, too, about working on the Tony Awards shows, about all the summer stock productions, about all the “My Fair Lady” revivals. Maybe there can be ‘Too Funny For Words, Part Two.'”
