‘The Sopranos’ and ‘The Good Wife’ Star Was 96

Jerry Adler, star of The Sopranos and The Good Wife, has died. He was 96.

“Jerry Adler passed away on August 23, 2025, at the age of 96,” his family said in an obituary. “Born on February 4, 1929, Jerry was a resident of New York, New York.”

Adler’s friend Frank J. Reilly shared several photos on X alongside a tribute following the announcement.

“The great actor, my friend Jerry Adler died today at the age of 96,” Reilly wrote. “You know him from one of his iconic roles had from many of his guest appearances. Not bad for a guy who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”

Adler made his onscreen acting debut at age 62 in the 1991 TV series Brooklyn Bridge. He bagged his first major role two years later in Woody Allen’s Manhattan Murder Mystery and went on to star in several other shows in the ‘90s, including Alright Already and Hudson Street.

His star-defining role came at the end of the decade in the HBO series The Sopranos. Adler played loan shark Herman ‘Hesh’ Rabkin, a trusted advisor to Tony Soprano (played by the late James Gandolfini). He appeared in the show’s pilot episode in 1999, up until the final season in 2007.

Adler’s death comes after his former costar on the show, Charley Scalies, died in May at the age of 84, following a “long battle” with Alzheimer’s disease. His other costar, Gandolfini, died of a heart attack at age 51 in 2013.

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Following his time on The Sopranos, Adler had another major role as Howard Lyman in the legal drama The Good Wife. He starred in 30 episodes from 2011 until the show’s final season in 2016. Adler returned to the role in the spin-off series The Good Fight for two episodes in 2017 and 2018.

Robert King, executive producer of both shows, revealed on X that the actor was initially only supposed to appear in one episode of The Good Wife before being cast as a series regular.

“Jerry Adler died yesterday. The intent was only to have him for one episode of The Good Wife, but he was so funny in a diner scene, yelling ‘I said ice cream, you stupid b—–,’ we had him back for six years of The Good Wife and three years of The Good Fight,” King wrote. “One of our favorite collaborators.”

Adler’s last credited role was in the the eighth revival season of the sitcom Mad About You in 2019.

Adler is survived by his wife Joan Laxman.