Jerry Adler, the acclaimed actor best known for his role as Hesh Rabkin on HBO\u2019s *The Sopranos*, has died at the age of 96. He passed away peacefully at his New York City home on August 23, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Adler came from a family deeply connected to the theater. He began his career on Broadway, working extensively as a stage manager, producer, and director. Over the years, he collaborated with iconic performers including Katharine Hepburn, Julie Andrews, and Richard Burton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Broadway scene slowed in the 1980s, Adler moved to California and transitioned into television. Though he initially worked behind the scenes, a casting director encouraged him to try acting\u2014something he had never done before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He made his on-screen debut in his 60s, proving it\u2019s never too late to start a new chapter. His performance in the film *The Public Eye* launched a three-decade acting career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adler\u2019s most memorable role was the wise and witty loan shark Hesh Rabkin on *The Sopranos*. What began as a small cameo grew into a recurring part thanks to his strong performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond *The Sopranos*, he appeared in numerous TV shows like *The Good Wife* and *The West Wing*, as well as films including Woody Allen\u2019s *Manhattan Murder Mystery*. He also continued performing on stage throughout his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jerry Adler is survived by his wife of 31 years, Joan Laxman, and his four daughters. He leaves behind a rich legacy across theater, television, and film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jerry Adler, the acclaimed actor best known for his role as Hesh Rabkin on HBO\u2019s *The Sopranos*, has died at the age of 96. He passed away peacefully at his New York City home on August 23, 2025. Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Adler came from a family deeply connected to the theater. He began…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2148,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2146\/revisions\/2148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}