NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 08: Jerry Adler attends the “The Good Fight” World Premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center on February 8, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
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Jerry Adler, who rose to prominence as Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on the mob drama The Sopranos, died Saturday, according to a family announcement confirmed by Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York. Adler “passed peacefully in his sleep,” Paradigm Talent Agency’s Sarah Shulman said on behalf of his family. No cause of death was given.
Born February 4, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York, Adler began his theater career as a stage manager in 1950, working on productions such as Of Thee I Sing and My Fair Lady before moving into production supervision. He made his directing debut with the 1974 Sammy Cohn revue Words and Music and later directed the 1976 revival of My Fair Lady, earning a Drama Desk Award nomination.
Adler transitioned to acting in the late 1970s, with his first television credit at age 62 in a guest spot on the coming-of-age comedy Brooklyn Bridge in 1991. He went on to appear in episodes of Quantum Leap, New York Undercover, and Northern Exposure, among other shows. before landing his first regularly scheduled role in the one-season Tony Danza comedy Hudson Street.
Adler also took over the role of Murray the cop in the 1993 TV movie The Odd Couple: Together Again and appeared as a series regular in Alright Already (1997–98), Raising Dad (2001–02), Rescue Me (2007–11), and The Good Wife (2011–16). Additionally, he had recurring roles in the comedies Mad About You and Transparent, but it was his portrayal of Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos that cemented his place in television history.
NEW YORK – JUNE 24: (L-R) Actors John Scurti, Michael Lombardi,Denis Leary, Adam Ferrara and Jerry Adler attend the Season Six Premiere Screening of FX’s “Rescue Me” at AMC Theater on June 24, 2010 in New York City. (Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 13: Terrence Winter, Steve Buscemi, Al Sapienza, Matthew Weiner, Dominic Chianese, Alex Gibney, Jerry Adler, Drea de Matteo, Steve Schirripa, Kathrine Narducci, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Edie Falco, Michele DeCesare, David Chase, Tim Daly, and Robert Iler attend the The Sopranos 25th Anniversary Reunion: WISE GUY David Chase and The Sopranos during the 2024 Tribeca Festival at Beacon Theatre on June 13, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
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On the big screen, Adler appeared in films spanning decades, including Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Prince of Tides, and the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis.
In 2024, Adler published a memoir, Too Funny for Words: Backstage Tales from Broadway, Television and the Movies.
He is survived by his four daughters.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2025/08/24/jerry-adler-the-sopranos-actor-dies-at-96/
