Jerry Adler

Jerry Adler (born February 4, 1929) is an American theatre director, producer, and film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his films Manhattan Murder Mystery, The Public Eye, In Her Shoes, and Prime, and for his television work as Herman "Hesh" Rabkin on The Sopranos, Howard Lyman on The Good Wife and The Good Fight, building maintenance man Mr. Wicker on Mad About You, Bob Saget's father Sam Stewart on Raising Dad, Fire Chief Sidney Feinberg on Rescue Me, Moshe Pfefferman on Transparent, Saul Horowitz on Broad City, and Hillston on Living with Yourself with Paul Rudd. Early life Adler was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Pauline and Philip Adler, who was a general manager of the Group Theatre. His great-uncle was Yiddish theater actor Jacob Pavlovich Adler, whose children Stella and Luther Adler were his cousins. He was raised in a Yiddish-speaking, observant Jewish household. Career Adler began his theatre career as a stage manager in 1950, working on such productions as Of Thee I Sing and My Fair Lady before becoming a production supervisor for The Apple Tree, Black Comedy/White Lies, Dear World, Coco, 6 Rms Riv Vu, Annie, and I Remember Mama, among others. He made his directing debut with the 1974 Sammy Cahn revue Words and Music and also directed the 1976 revival of My Fair Lady, which garnered him a Drama Desk Award nomination, and the ill-fated 1981 musical The Little Prince and the Aviator. He also directed the 1976 play Checking Out. Other credits includes Drat! The Cat!; a 1976 revival of Hellzapoppin starring Jerry Lewis ("Awful, terrible man"); and Richard Rodgers' final musical, I Remember Mama.