Jerry Adler, known for his recurring appearances as Herman “Hesh” Rabkin in HBO’s The Sopranos and Howard Lyman in The Good Wife and The Good Fight, has died. According to TV Line, the actor died on Saturday, August 23, and family and friends confirmed the news. One friend, Frank J. Reilly, posted a post on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler, died today at the age of 96. You know him from one of his iconic roles [from] many of his guest appearances. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65. Check out his IMDb page.” It also included four photos of Adler. On The Sopranos, Adler’s character, Hesh, is a loan shark and an advisor to Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini’s character. Hesh was also a businessman who owned a record company, which is where his initial fortune came from. He received royalties fraudulently by being credited as a co-writer on many songs. One of his first introductions to viewers was when he and Tony set up a scam to defraud HMO medical insurance companies through their debtor. In one episode, he gave Tony almost a quarter of a million dollars in a bridge loan to help him cover a string of gambling losses. During an interview with the CT Insider, Adler revealed what it was like working with Gandolfini, with whom he shared all of his scenes.
“All my scenes were with him, and it’s always great to work with someone you have great confidence in, and there was great give and take with him as an actor. He was a very generous guy as well. I remember one day my father-in-law was on the set, and it was his birthday and Jimmy invited us to his trailer, and when we got there he had ordered a cake, and we spent the afternoon sharing stories. He was such a great guy and a wonderful actor. There was such a family feel to that show and there was great respect among all of us.”

Before ‘The Sopranos,’ Jerry Adler Got His Start on Broadway

HBO

Another major character for Adler, whose career spanned decades, was Howard Lyman in The Good Wife. Lyman was an equity partner at Lockhart Gardne, with the character appearing in 30 episodes of the seven-season series. Other productions the actor starred in include Getting Away with Murder, Six Ways to Sunday, Hudson Street, Alright Already, Raising Dad, Rescue Me, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and more. In 2024, Adler released a book titled “Too Funny for Words: Backstage Tales from Broadway, Television, and the Movies.” In it, the actor talks about his career, from the early stages on Broadway to becoming a beloved television and film actor. When he was fresh out of college, Adler worked on the musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes starring Carol Channing. Adler was born on February 4, 1929, in New York City, and his father was a theater manager for many Broadway shows. He also toured shows from the 1930s to the 1960s and would eventually influence his son to start a career as a stage manager. Here’s what he thought about the experience:
“I was just out of college and my father was general manager for the show and there was an opening for an assistant stage manager. So there I was, 20 years old and earning $35 a week in a big Broadway smash. My main job was to lead Carol around with a flashlight because she was terribly near-sighted, and they didn’t want her to fall into the orchestra pit.”

The Sopranos

Release Date

1999 – 2007

Network

HBO

Directors

Tim Van Patten, John Patterson, Alan Taylor, Jack Bender, Steve Buscemi, Daniel Attias, David Chase, Andy Wolk, Danny Leiner, David Nutter, James Hayman, Lee Tamahori, Lorraine Senna, Matthew Penn, Mike Figgis, Nick Gomez, Peter Bogdanovich, Phil Abraham, Rodrigo García

Writers

Michael Imperioli, Jason Cahill, Lawrence Konner, David Flebotte, James Manos, Jr., Salvatore Stabile, Toni Kalem, Mark Saraceni, Nick Santora