Jerry Ler, renowned for his role as a mobster’s confidant in “The Sopranos,” passed away on Saturday at the age of 96, as reported by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.

The obituary did not provide details on ler’s death. ler’s friend Frank J. Reilly confirmed his death in a post on X Saturday.

“You recognize him from his iconic roles and various guest appearances,” Reilly shared. “Pretty impressive for someone who didn’t start acting until he was 65.”

Ler hailed from a theater background, being the son of Group Theatre manager Phil Ler and the nephew of actor Jacob Pavlovich Ler, as he mentioned to the Southern New England Jewish Ledger in 2014.

As a seasoned theater professional, he contributed behind the scenes to some of Broadway’s renowned productions. Ler served as the stage manager for the original 1956 production of “My Fair Lady,” starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison.

He would later direct the 1976 revival after being involved with shows such as “Annie,” “Marlene Dietrich,” and “We Interrupt This Program…” taking on the roles of production supervisor and director.

Ler earned his first acting credit in 1991 with an appearance on the series “Brooklyn Bridge.” He was featured in popular TV series such as “Quantum Leap” and “Law & Order,” and held leading roles in shows like “Hudson Street.”

But the world will likely best remember ler for his six seasons on the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

Hesh Rabkin, played by ler, was a confident to lead character Tony Soprano, a troubled New Jersey mafia boss struggling with his work and his family.

A recurring character, Rabkin was a loan shark who often doled out advice to the younger mafioso.

“Sopranos” actor Michael Imperioli paid tribute to his former co-star on Instagram, describing ler as a “true class act” and that he loved spending time with ler.

“JERRY ADLER (1929-2025) was a fantastic actor and the kindest of human beings,” Imperioli wrote. “He brought so much humor, intelligence and truth to the role of Herman ‘Hesh’ Rabkin and was one of my favorite characters on The Sopranos.

ler made appearances in a number of other hit series, such as “Broad City,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Transparent.” He was a recurring guest on “The Good Wife,” a legal procedural led by Julianna Margulies.

Robert King, co-creator of “The Good Wife,” recalled ler’s role on the show as Howard Lyman in a social media post Sunday. He described ler as “one of our favorite collaborators.”

“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 Good Wife and three years of Good Fight,” King wrote.

What was meant to be one episode turned into 30 for ler, according to his IMDb page. He then appeared in two episodes of the show’s spinoff “The Good Fight.”

People shared kind words about ler in the comments of his online obituary, some who knew him personally sharing memories. One woman named Sharon Aiuvalasit wrote that she was able to go to the set of her favorite show, “Santa Barbara” because of a family friend who knew ler.

“Jerry welcomed my mom, dad and little brother to the set for 12 hours and it continues to be one of the most magical memories of my life,” Aiuvalasit wrote.

A man named Jimmy Horton recalled that his very first job at 18 was working with ler on the drama “Search For Tomorrow.” He worked on Broadway over the years and reunited with ler in Larry David’s 2015 play, “Fish In The Dark.”

“When rehearsals started I reintroduced myself and we reminisced about Search and the great people there and I got to see Jerry as an actor six nights a week for several months and he was a delight, a real mensch and a terrific actor to see up close,” Horton wrote.

ler wrote a memoir released last year called “Too Funny For Words,” writing about moments like his first job working for his father as an assistant stage manager on “Gentleman Prefer Blondes.” He told CT Insider in an interview promoting his book that he had to lead Carol Channing by flashlight because she was “terribly near-sighted.”

Asked about his career, ler told the outlet that “it’s been a glorious run.”

“I wrote this book during there pandemic because I thought the world could use some laughs,” ler said. “I still have more stories to tell, too, about working on the Tony Awards shows, about all the summer stock productions, about all the “My Fair Lady” revivals. Maybe there can be ‘Too Funny For Words, Part Two.'”