Jerry Adler, who appeared on “The Sopranos” and “Rescue Me,” died Aug. 23 in New York. He was 96.
Adler’s family confirmed his death with a short message: “Jerry Adler passed away on August 23, 2025, at the age of 96. Born on February 4, 1929, Jerry was a resident of New York, New York.”
His friend Frank J. Reilly also confirmed Adler’s death on X, where he wrote, “The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler died today at the age of 96. You know him from one of his iconic roles and from many of his guest appearances. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”
Adler played Hesh Rabkin, a Jewish friend of Tony Soprano, on the HBO series. Hesh was called upon when Tony needed advice and counsel. In a 2024 interview with WAMC, Adler admitted he saw the series as “an ordinary kind of cops and robbers show” while filming the pilot (at the time, he was also working as stage manager on the original production of “My Fair Lady”).
But the HBO show was a little different from traditional genre fare. “And the genius of it was the fact that Tony had a psychiatrist who he would go to solve his problems. But that’s the way it worked in show business.”
Working with the show’s star James Gandolfini was also a great experience, largely due to the man himself. “He had the most extraordinary eyes. You can look into this man’s intelligence and the beauty of this person,” Adler added. “He was one of the kindest, most generous guys you ever wanted to meet. It was a tragic loss when we lost this guy, he was great. He was number one.”
One of Adler’s earliest jobs was as an assistant stage manager on “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” and he steadily built a career in theater afterward. He was drafted into the Korean War in 1952 but found a way to keep working creatively: he directed soldier shows while stationed at Fort Dix in New Jersey.
Adler returned to New York after his time in the war concluded and worked as a stage manager on Broadway for years before moving to California in 1980, which provided a markedly different experience (of working on Broadway, he explained, “It’s a strange life, don’t forget. You only work at night. All day long you have a normal life up until dinnertime, and then you cook dinner with your family, and then you go to work. It’s a kind of a weird lifestyle, I think”).
His television work also included stints on soap operas, including “Santa Barbara.” The shift was dramatic, and the cast and crew often ran through 40 pages of script in a single day.
Though he enjoyed the work, Adler admitted to WAMC he didn’t always stay up to date with the many and varied plotlines. “I didn’t get into the comings and goings of the characters. Mine was much more technical, of getting the scenes taped. So I didn’t follow the extraordinary storylines that appeared in a soap opera. It was unbelievable,” he said.
Adler notably began acting in front of the camera more seriously in his 60s after a friend suggested him for a part — exactly the kind of upgrade so many soap opera stars pine for, he said.
“What was wonderful was I auditioned for this movie because a friend asked me, who was doing the casting, asked me to come because the director described me as one of the characters, and I finally got the job,” Adler explained. “And everybody in the soap world wants to graduate into features. That’s their main quest in life: be in a movie. And now here the stage manager of the show is making a movie and they’re stuck in the soap opera.”
Adler’s TV credits, along with “The Sopranos,” include “The Good Wife,” “Quantum Leap,” “Northern Exposure,” “Hudson Street,” “Raising Dad,” “The West Wing,” “Mad About You,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Transparent” and “Broad City.”
In film, Adler appeared in “The Public Eye,” “Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “In Her Shoes,” “Find Me Guilty,” “A Most Violent Year” and “Driveways.”
Adler was born Feb. 4, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, the general manager of New York City’s prestigious Group Theatre, brought him into the industry in the 1950s.
Adler is survived by his wife Joan Laxman and his daughter Laura.
