‘Sopranos’ actor Jerry Adler, who played consigliere to Tony Soprano, dies at 96

Jerry Adler , the actor who played Herman “Hesh” Rabkin on “ The Sopranos ,” has died.

Adler was 96 when he died Saturday (Aug. 23), according to an obituary announcement.

As reports from Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter note, the actor, a Brooklyn native who lived in New York, worked on Broadway as a stage manager and director for many years before turning to acting in the ’90s, when he was in his 60s.

His family knew a little something about that subject, since his cousin was the famous acting teacher Stella Adler .

On David Chase ’s “The Sopranos,” Adler’s character, Hesh Rabkin, was a longtime friend of the Soprano family.

Hesh knew Tony Soprano ’s father, Giovanni Francis “Johnny Boy” Soprano , before becoming a consigliere to series lead Tony, played by Jame