Sopranos star Jerry Adler dies

Jerry Adler, the Sopranos and The Good Wife actor, has died at 96, prompting a wave of tributes from fans and colleagues.

Jerry Adler dies at 96 tributes pour in for Sopranos star

Jerry Adler, best known for his role as Herman Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos, has died at the age of 96. The actor’s friend Frank J. Reilly announced the news on social media, praising Adler as an iconic figure and noting his long career across television and film. Adler began acting later in life, a career arc that surprised many fans and colleagues who had seen him on screen for decades after a late start.

Before his screen work, Adler built a solid career in theater as a Broadway stage manager and supplier of steady presence on stage. His early screen appearances came in the 1991 Brooklyn Bridge and other TV projects, but his later work on The Sopranos cemented his place in modern television memory. Alongside The Sopranos, Adler appeared in The Good Wife and other television projects, as well as films such as Manhattan Murder Mystery and A Most Violent Year. His death comes after fellow Sopranos cast member Charley Scalies died earlier this year, underscoring the ongoing losses felt in the show’s circle and its fans.

Adler’s career path challenges the idea that success must come early. A late bloom in acting highlights how a performer can redefine a craft years after an initial foray into another arena. In a media landscape quick to memorialize the newest breakout, Adler’s story reminds readers that lasting impact can grow slowly, then endure. The outpouring on social platforms shows how fans use obituaries to map memory, celebrating not just a body of work but the particular moments that resonated in living rooms across generations.

At the same time, this notice underscores how reporting on celebrity deaths often depends on social posts and friend tributes rather than formal statements. The piece should balance reverence with factual clarity, especially around details like age, family, and the breadth of a long career. As public memory widens, the risk is turning tribute into a monument and missing the everyday craft that built a career out of late life opportunity.

Highlights

The TV world preserves Adler through the scenes he made and the doors his late start opened.