Michael Lerner, a well-known character actor who was a 1991 Oscar nominee for the Coen brothers’ Barton Fink, has passed away. He was 81.
Sam Lerner (The Goldbergs), Lerner’s nephew, sent a tribute to his “amazing” uncle on Instagram to announce his uncle’s passing. His reason of death wasn’t known right away.
Michael Lerner, a renowned character actor
This night, a legend died, Sam Lerner wrote. “It’s difficult to express how smart my uncle Michael was or how important he was to me. I’ve always been inspired by and in love with acting because of his stories. The fact that he was my blood makes me feel extra special forever. He was the coolest, most self-assured, and talented person.”
Everyone who knew him understood how insane he was, and not in a bad way, said Lerner. “I’m very grateful that I got to spend so much time with him, and we’re all fortunate that we may continue to appreciate his work indefinitely. Michael, may you rest in peace and enjoy an infinite supply of Cuban cigars, plush recliners, and movie marathons.”
On June 22, 1941, Michael Lerner was born in Brooklyn. The sports enthusiast made an appearance as a “quiz child” on a local TV programme at the age of 13. He continued on to study acting at Brooklyn College, completed his master’s degree at UC Berkeley, and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study theatre at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
He lived in the same flat as Yoko Ono and John Lennon in London, where he also had an appearance in Ono’s experimental short Smile from 1968.
Lerner remarked, “She created a movie with bare asses jogging on a treadmill. Michael Lerner “Paul McCartney and I are both involved. Also, I’m narrating a story about censorship and other rubbish.”
The more commercial Alex in Wonderland, starring Donald Sutherland and Ellen Burstyn, was his first picture, but Lerner made his television debut in 1963 on a Dr. Kildare episode.
Lerner had a guest appearance on The Brady Bunch in 1969, and in the early 1970s he appeared on a number of other series, Michael Lerner including The Doris Day Show, That Girl, The Bob Newhart Show, M.A.S.H., The Odd Couple, and many others. He additionally appeared in the parody The Candidate in 1972, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, as Robert Redford’s speechwriter.
Lerener had a consistent film and television career throughout the decade, and in 1981 he co-starred in The Postman Always Rings Twice with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange. In the 1983 television movie Rita Hayworth: Michael Lerner The Love Goddess, which starred Wonder Woman’s Lynda Carter as the titular film siren, Lerner played famed studio president and obstinate sonuvabitch Harry Cohn. Years later, he and the Coen brothers would go back over some of the same ground.
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In 1989, Lerner made his directing debut with the comedy film Harlem Nights, which also starred Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, and Redd Foxx. Michael Lerner was cast as Hollywood mogul Jack Lipnick in the Coen brothers’ critically Michael Lerner praised 1991 film Barton Fink, which follows a young writer named Fink (John Turturro) who is recruited to create a Hollywood movie.
Lerner was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 1992 Academy Awards and modelled his portrayal on studio boss and obstinate sonuvabitch Louis B. Mayer. Nevertheless, Jack Palance for City Slickers finally won the award. Yet Lerner still emerged victorious.
He allegedly exclaimed, “I’d been a working character actor for approximately 20 years, and all of a sudden I got nominated and my money went up!”
With the noteworthy exception of his portrayal of Cher’s father Mel Horowitz in the Clueless TV adaption, Lerner didn’t frequently appear in recurrent roles on television.
Among Lerner’s many notable accomplishments include Newsies, The Beautician and the Beast, Entourage, Elf, Glee, and a 2009 film called A Serious Man in which he collaborated once more with the Coen brothers. For one of his last acting appearances in the 2022 film Pervyy Oskar, Lerner played Louis B. Mayer in a familiar setting.