Jerry Adler, the brilliant actor who became a household name through his unforgettable role as Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos, has passed away at the age of 96.

Born in Brooklyn in 1929, Adler’s journey to fame was anything but ordinary. Before he ever stepped in front of a camera, he spent decades working behind the scenes in theater, building an impressive career on Broadway. With more than 50 credits as a stage manager, producer, or director, he contributed to iconic productions like My Fair Lady and collaborated with legends such as Katharine Hepburn, Orson Welles, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, and Marlene Dietrich. Coming from a family deeply rooted in Jewish theater—his cousin was the famed Stella Adler and his father managed the Group Theatre—he once joked that he was “a creature of nepotism,” crediting his father for helping him land his first backstage job while still in college.