Who is Jerry Adler? The Renowned Actor in ‘The Sopranos’
American actor, director, and theatrical producer Jerry Adler was born February 4, 1929, and died August 23, 2025. In addition to his television roles as Howard Lyman on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on The Sopranos, and a building maintenance man, he was well-known for his performances in the movies Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Public Eye, In Her Shoes, and Prime.
Fire Chief Sidney Feinberg on Rescue Me; Moshe Pfefferman on Transparent; Saul Horowitz on Broad City; Mr. Wicker on Mad About You; Sam Stewart, the father of Bob Saget, on Raising Dad; and Hillston on Living with Yourself with Paul Rudd.
Who is Jerry Adler?
Adler was born on February 4, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish parents Pauline “Polly” Goldberg (1906-2000) and Philip Adler (1905-1990). His father managed dozens of Broadway and touring companies as a theater manager from the 1930s through the 1960s.
He handled productions for Alexander H. Cohen and Herman Levin while serving as general manager of the Group Theatre collective in New York. Stella and Luther Adler were cousins of Adler’s great-uncle, Jacob Pavlovich Adler, a Yiddish theater performer. He was raised in a pious Jewish family that spoke Yiddish. Adler attended Syracuse University and Samuel J. Tilden High School, where he served as president of the Dramatic Club.
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Career
Before becoming a production supervisor for The Apple Tree, Black Comedy/White Lies, Dear World, Coco, 6 Rms Riv Vu, Annie, and I Remember Mama, Adler started his theatrical career in 1950 as a stage manager, working on shows including Of Thee I Sing and My Fair Lady. The 1974 Sammy Cahn revue Words and Music marked his directorial debut. He went on to direct My Fair Lady in 1976, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award, and the disastrous 1981 musical The Little Prince and the Aviator.
In addition, he directed the 1976 play Checking Out. Additional credits include Richard Rodgers’ last musical, I Remember Mama, and Drat! The Cat!, a 1976 Hellzapoppin revival starring Jerry Lewis. He worked on television as well as theater ventures.
Adler debuted as an actor in the television series Brooklyn Bridge in 1991. He starred in the movie The Public Eye the next year. He started landing acting roles, such as that of Alan Schulman, Joel Fleischman’s former local rabbi, who makes appearances in visions on the television show Northern Exposure.
Adler was cast as Herman “Hesh” Rabkin, an ally of the DiMeo crime family, in the drama series The Sopranos, which was later produced by the show’s screenwriter, David Chase. The role that Adler played from 1999 to 2007 is maybe what made him most famous. His portrayal of attorney Howard Lyman in The Good Wife and its spin-off series The Good Fight made him famous.
In addition, he portrayed Lt. Al Teischler on Hudson Street, Bob Saget’s character’s father, Sam Stewart on Raising Dad, and Mr. Wicker on Mad About You. Adler also played Jules Ziegler, Toby Ziegler’s father, in a West Wing episode.
In the fourth season of Rescue Me, a firefighter drama on FX, Adler also portrayed Sidney Feinberg, the new chief. He appeared as Eddie’s father, Al, in seasons three and four of ‘Til Death. Adler played Jeffrey Tambor’s character’s father, Moshe Pfefferman, in the Amazon series Transparent from 2017 to 2019. He portrayed Hillston on Living with Yourself with Paul Rudd and Saul Horowitz on Broad City in 2019.
Among his cinematic credits are Prime, In Her Shoes, and Manhattan Murder Mystery. He costarred with Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac in the 2014 film A Most Violent Year as Joseph Mendelsohn.
In 2000, he made his stage debut. He also starred in Fish in the Dark, a Broadway show directed by Larry David. Adler’s memoir, Too Funny for Words: Backstage Tales from Broadway, Television, and the Movies, will be published in 2024.
Death
Adler, 96, died at home in New York City on August 23, 2025.
Filmography
1992: The Public Eye
1993: Manhattan Murder Mystery
1995: For Better or Worse
1996: Getting Away with Murder
1996: Larger than Life
1997: Six Ways to Sunday
1999: 30 Days
2005: In Her Shoes
2005: Prime
2006: Find Me Guilty
2007: The Memory Thief
2008: Synecdoche, New York
2014: The Angriest Man in Brooklyn
2014: A Most Violent Year
2019: Fair Market Value
2019: Driveways
Jerry Adler Wife
Adler has gotten married twice. On June 6, 1950, he married his first wife, Dolores Parker, and they have three children. However, they finally divorced.
He remarried his present wife, psychologist Joan Laxman, on July 3, 1994. According to CTpost, the couple lived together in Connecticut for nearly two decades before moving from their huge home in Roxbury to a two-bedroom studio on the Upper West Side of New York City in 2017. The website also stated that Adler’s equestrian wife had given up the horses at the time.
