‘Sopranos’ actor Jerry Adler, who played consigliere to Tony Soprano, dies at 96

Jerry Adler, the actor who played Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on “The Sopranos,” has died.

Adler was 96 when he died Saturday (Aug. 23), according to an obituary announcement.

As reports from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter note, the actor, a Brooklyn native who lived in New York, worked on Broadway as a stage manager and director for many years before turning to acting in the ’90s, when he was in his 60s.

His family knew a little something about that subject, since his cousin was the famous acting teacher Stella Adler.

On David Chase’s “The Sopranos,” Adler’s character, Hesh Rabkin, was a longtime friend of the Soprano family.

Hesh knew Tony Soprano’s father, Giovanni Francis “Johnny Boy” Soprano, before becoming a consigliere to series lead Tony, played by James Gandolfini. Rabkin made his money in the recording industry.

Adler’s character was first seen in the 1999 pilot episode of the HBO show.

Adler also played Howard Lyman on the CBS series “The Good Wife”; Rabbi Alan Schulman in CBS’ “Northern Exposure”; Sidney Feinberg on the FX series “Rescue Me”; Moshe Pfefferman in Amazon’s “Transparent”; Sam Stewart on the WB’s “Raising Dad”; and Mr. Wicker on NBC’s “Mad About You.”

Behind the TV cameras, he was the stage manager for the NBC soap opera “Santa Barbara.”

His film credits as an actor include “The Public Eye” (1992) with Joe Pesci; Woody Allen’s “Manhattan Murder Mystery” (1993) with Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston and Diane Keaton; “Prime” (2005) with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman; Sidney Lumet’s “Find Me Guilty” (2006); and Charlie Kaufman’s “Synecdoche, New York” (2008).

Video contains explicit language

Adler’s many Broadway credits as a behind-the-scenes talent include the 1956 production of “My Fair Lady” starring Julie Andrews, Mike Nichols’ “The Apple Tree” (1966) and Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” (1967).

As a stage manager and Broadway veteran, he worked with icons like Katharine Hepburn, Angela Lansbury, Richard Rodgers and Zero Mostel.

Adler’s co-stars remembered him on social media.

“R.I.P, the great Jerry Adler,” Ray Abruzzo posted on Instagram late Saturday night, sharing photos of Adler.

Abruzzo played Little Carmine Lupertazzi on “The Sopranos.”

In the first two photos he shared, Adler is talking to Dominic Chianese, who played Uncle Junior in the show.

“I was standing talking to David Chase he stops in mid sentence and asks if I have my phone ‘Quick take a picture of those two!’” Abruzzo said.

A third photo was taken by Abruzzo’s wife when he and Adler were working on another series.

“A lovely man with an amazing life in show business,” Abruzzo said.

Adler is survived by his wife of more than 30 years, psychologist Joan Laxman.

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.