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Jerry Adler

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For other uses, see Jerry Adler (disambiguation).
Jerry Adler
Born (1929-02-04) February 4, 1929 (age 95)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, director, producer
Years active1951–present
Relatives

Jerry Adler (born February 4, 1929) is an American theatre director, producer, and film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his films Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Public Eye, In Her Shoes, and Prime, and for his television work as Herman "Hesh" Rabkin on The Sopranos, Howard Lyman on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, building maintenance man Mr. Wicker on Mad About You, Bob Saget's father Sam Stewart on Raising Dad, Fire Chief Sidney Feinberg on Rescue Me, Moshe Pfefferman on Transparent, Saul Horowitz on Broad City, and Hillston on Living with Yourself with Paul Rudd.

Early life

Adler was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Pauline and Philip Adler, who was a general manager of the Group Theatre.[1] His great-uncle was Yiddish theater actor Jacob Pavlovich Adler, whose children Stella and Luther Adler were his cousins.[2][3] He was raised in a Yiddish-speaking,[4] observant Jewish household.[5]

Career

Adler began his theatre career as a stage manager in 1950, working on such productions as Of Thee I Sing and My Fair Lady 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, among others. He made his directing debut with the 1974 Sammy Cahn revue Words and Music and also directed the 1976 revival of My Fair Lady, which garnered him a Drama Desk Award nomination, and the ill-fated 1981 musical The Little Prince and the Aviator. He also directed the 1976 play Checking Out.

He witnessed his share of flops, including Drat! The Cat! (which he thought had some nice tunes); a 1976 revival of Hellzapoppin starring Jerry Lewis ("Awful, terrible man"); and Richard Rodgers' final musical, I Remember Mama.[6]

As an actor, Adler is perhaps best known for his roles as Herman "Hesh" Rabkin on The Sopranos, Mr. Wicker on Mad About You, Bob Saget's father Sam Stewart on Raising Dad, Lt. Al Teischler on Hudson Street, and Howard Lyman on both The Good Wife & The Good Fight. He made three appearances on Northern Exposure as Alan Schulman, Joel Fleischman's old neighborhood rabbi seen in visions.

In addition, Adler appeared in an episode of The West Wing as Toby Ziegler's father, Jules Ziegler. The elder Ziegler worked as a 1950s member of Murder, Inc. Adler also appeared as the new chief Sidney Feinberg in the fourth season of FX's firefighter drama Rescue Me. He guest starred as Eddie's father Al in season 3 and season 4 of 'Til Death.

His screen credits include Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Public Eye, In Her Shoes with Shirley MacLaine, Cameron Diaz, & Toni Collette, and Prime with Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman, & Bryan Greenberg. In 2014, he starred as Joseph Mendelsohn in A Most Violent Year opposite Jessica Chastain & Oscar Issac.

From 2017 to 2019, Adler played Moshe Pfefferman, the father of Jeffrey Tambor's character, on the Amazon series Transparent. From 2017 to 2018, he reprised his role as Howard Lyman on CBS's The Good Fight starring Christine Baranski.

In 2019, he portrayed Saul Horowitz on Broad City and Hillston on Living with Yourself with Paul Rudd.

He also acted in Larry David's Broadway play Fish in the Dark.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Public Eye Arthur Nabler
1993 Manhattan Murder Mystery Paul House
1995 For Better or Worse Morton Makeshift
1996 Getting Away with Murder Judge
1996 Larger than Life Event Coordinator
1997 Six Ways to Sunday Louis Varga
1999 30 Days Rick Trainer
2005 In Her Shoes Lewis Feldman
2005 Prime Sam
2006 Find Me Guilty Rizzo
2007 The Memory Thief Mr. Zweig
2008 Synecdoche, New York Caden's father
2014 The Angriest Man in Brooklyn Cooper
2014 A Most Violent Year Joseph Mendelsohn
2019 Fair Market Value Victor Rosen
2019 Driveways Rodger

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1991 Brooklyn Bridge Bert Mendel Episode: "Old Fools"
1992 True Colors Mr. Green 2 episodes
1992 Quantum Leap Lenny Greenman Episode: "It's a Wonderful Leap - May 10, 1958"
1993–1999,
2019 		Mad About You Sgt. Panino / Mr. Wicker 12 episodes
1993 The Odd Couple: Together Again Murray TV movie
1994–1995 Northern Exposure Rabbi Alan Schulman 3 episodes
1995 New York Undercover Mr. Ross Episode: "All in the Family"
1995 One Life to Live Len Hanen 3 episodes
1995–1996 Hudson Street Lt. Al Teischler 22 episodes
1996 Law & Order Judge Nathan Marks Episode: "I.D."
1996 Spin City Police Commissioner Episode: "Dog Day Afternoon"
1997–1998 Alright Already Al Lerner 21 episodes
1999–2007 The Sopranos Herman "Hesh" Rabkin 28 episodes
1999 LateLine Judge Fischbein Episode: "Protecting the Source"
1999 Tracey Takes On... Murray Episode: "Lies"
1999 Aftershock: Earthquake in New York Burt Hornstein 2 episodes
2000 Wonderland Perlman Episode: "Spell Check"
2000 Bull Max Decker 2 episodes
2001–2002 Raising Dad Sam Stewart 22 episodes
2002 The West Wing Jules Ziegler Episode: "Holy Night"
2005 CSI: Miami Cardinal Benedetti Episode: "From the Grave"
2006 The War at Home Jerry Episode: "The West Palm Beach Story"
2007–2011 Rescue Me Sidney Feinberg 34 episodes
2008–2009 'Til Death Al Stark / Eddie's Father 3 episodes
2010 Detroit 1-8-7 Max Elkin Episode: "Déjà Vu/All In"
2011 Curb Your Enthusiasm Minyan Member #1 Episode: "Mister Softee"
2011–2016 The Good Wife Howard Lyman Recurring role; 30 episodes
2013 Remember Sunday Sam TV movie
2014 Mozart in the Jungle Lazlo 2 episodes
2017–2018 The Good Fight Howard Lyman 2 episodes
2017–2019 Transparent Moshe Pfefferman 9 episodes
2019 Broad City Saul Horowitz Episode: "Lost and Found"
2019 Living with Yourself Hillston Episode: "Green Tea"

References

  1. ^ "Jerry Adler Biography (1929-)". Filmreference.com.
  2. ^ "Jerry Adler Is In Transitions -- And 'Transparent'". Showriz. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  3. ^ "The Sunshine Boys lights up Connecticut stage…with two veteran Jewish actors". Jewish Ledger. 2014-06-04. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  4. ^ Mindell, Cindy (2014-06-04). "The Sunshine Boys lights up Connecticut stage…with two veteran Jewish actors". Jewish Ledger. Retrieved 2021-09-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Schleier, Curt (April 14, 2006). "Hollywood veteran keeping busy as Jewish 'Sopranos' mobster". j. Retrieved January 31, 2011.
  6. ^ Rizzo, Frank (2017-08-26). "Actor Jerry Adler, 88, makes another transition". Connecticut Post. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
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