Michael Charles Lerner (June 22, 1941 – April 8, 2023) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Jack Lipnick in Barton Fink (1991). Lerner also played Arnold Rothstein in Eight Men Out (1988), Bugsy Calhoune in Harlem Nights (1989), Phil Gillman in Amos & Andrew (1993), The Warden in No Escape (1994), Mel Horowitz on the television series Clueless, Jerry Miller in The Beautician and the Beast (1997), Mayor Ebert in Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (1998), Mr. Greenway in Elf (2003), and Senator Brickman in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
Early life
Michael Charles Lerner was born on June 22, 1941, in Brooklyn, New York City, of Romanian-Jewish descent, the second of three sons to Blanche (née Halpen) and George Lerner; according to Lerner, his father "liked to think he was an antiques dealer, but in all actuality he was a junk dealer." His older brother, Arnold, died in 2004.
Career
Lerner made his first television appearance at the age of 13, as a "quiz kid" on a television program hosted by a local sportscaster. He played Willy Loman in a production of Death of a Salesman at Brooklyn College, where Joel Zwick was a classmate. The experience convinced him that he wanted to be an actor, rather than an English professor. He also appeared as Sir Toby Belch in a production of Twelfth Night directed by David Mamet in Greenwich Village; William H. Macy was also in that production. After graduating from Brooklyn College, where he studied acting, he received a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a master's degree in English drama. In 1968, he appeared in Ono's short experimental film Smile, among other projects. "She made a movie bare asses walking on a treadmill", he once said. "I’m in it and so is Paul McCartney. Plus I’m doing narration about censorship and all that crap." In 1997, he would play Joy Miller's father Jerry in The Beautician and the Beast. In 1998, Lerner portrayed Dr. Lupus in Celebrity, later panning the movie as a "piece of shit" due to conflicts with director and co-star Woody Allen. By 1999, Lerner acknowledged that he was primarily seen as a character actor. as well as television programs such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Entourage.
In 2002, he appeared in the West End production of Up for Grabs with Madonna. He also appeared on BBC Radio Four in 2008 as a member of the cast of David Quantick's Radio Four's series One. He portrayed Senator Brickman in the Marvel Comics/Twentieth Century Fox film, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). In 2013, Lerner appeared in a Season 4 episode of Glee as Sidney Greene, an investor in the revival of Broadway musical Funny Girl. His character is on the panel of judges, watching the Rachel Berry character audition for the lead role. He reprised his role as Sidney in Season 5 in several New York-based episodes of the series, as Funny Girl opens on Broadway.
Personal life
In addition to his acting career, Lerner was a collector of rare books, an aficionado of Cuban cigars, and—by his own account—a very good poker player.
Selected filmography
Films
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ <!-- WP:ACCESSIBILITY & MOS:TABLECAPTION -->
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1968
|Smile
|
|Short experimental film directed by Yoko Ono
|-
| 1970
| Alex in Wonderland
| Leo
|
|-
|1971
|The Ski Bum
|Rod
|
|-
| 1972
| The Candidate
| Paul Corliss
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1974
|Busting
|Marvin Royce
|
|-
| Newman's Law
| Frank Acker
|
|-
|Hangup
|Fred Richards
|
|-
|1976
| St. Ives
| Myron Green
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1977
| The Other Side of Midnight
| Barbet
|
|-
|Outlaw Blues
|Hatch
|
|-
| 1979
| Goldengirl
| Sternberg
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1980
| The Baltimore Bullet
| Paulie
|
|-
| Coast to Coast
| Dr. Frederick Froll
|
|-
| Borderline
| Henry Lydell
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1981
| The Postman Always Rings Twice
| Mr. Katz
|
|-
| Threshold
| Henry de Vici
|
|-
| 1982
| National Lampoon's Class Reunion
| Dr. Robert Young
|
|-
|1983
| Strange Invaders
| Willie Collings
|
|-
| 1985
| Movers & Shakers
| Arnie
|
|-
| 1987
| Anguish
| John Pressman
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1988
| Vibes
| Burt Wilder
|
|-
| Eight Men Out
| Arnold Rothstein
|
|-
| 1989
| Harlem Nights
| Bugsy Calhoune
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1990
| Maniac Cop 2
| Deputy Commissioner Edward Doyle
|
|-
| Any Man's Death
| Herb Denner
|-
| 1991
| Omen IV: The Awakening
| Earl Knight
|
|-
| 1991
| Barton Fink
| Jack Lipnick
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor<br/>Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor<br/>Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1992
| Newsies
| Weasel
|
|-
| The Comrades of Summer
| George
|
|-
| 1993
| Amos & Andrew
| Phil Gillman
|
|-
|rowspan="4" | 1994
| Blank Check
| Biderman
|
|-
| Radioland Murders
| Lieutenant Cross
|
|-
| The Road to Wellville
| Goodloe Bender
|
|-
| No Escape
| The Warden
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |1995
| No Way Back
| Frank Serlano
|
|-
| A Pyromaniac's Love Story
| Perry
|
|-
|Girl in the Cadillac
|Pal
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1997
| The Beautician and the Beast
| Jerry Miller
|
|-
| For Richer or Poorer
| Phillip Kleinman
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1998
| Godzilla
| Mayor Ebert
|
|-
| Safe Men
| Big Fat Bernie Gayle
|
|-
| Celebrity
| Dr. Lupus
|
|-
| Tale of the Mummy
| Professor Marcus
|
|-
| Desperation Boulevard
|Manny Green
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1999
| The Mod Squad
| Howard
|
|-
| My Favorite Martian
| Mr. Channing
|
|-
| 2001
| Mockingbird Don't Sing
| Dr. Stan York
|
|-
| 2002
| 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
| Producer
| Voice
|-
| 2003
| Elf
| Mr. Greenway
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 2004
| The Calcium Kid
| Artie Cohen
|
|-
|Larceny
|Pete
|
|-
| Poster Boy
| Jack Kray
|
|-
| 2005
| When Do We Eat?
| Ira Stuckman
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |2006
| Love and Other Disasters
|Marvin Bernstein
|
|-
|Art School Confidential
|Art Dealer
|
|-
| The Last Time
| Leguzza
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2007
| A Dennis the Menace Christmas
| Mr. Souse
|
|-
|Slipstream
|Big Mikey
|
|-
|2008
| Yonkers Joe
| Stanley
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2009
| A Serious Man
| Solomon Schlutz
|
|-
| Life During Wartime
| Harvey Wiener
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2010
| Pete Smalls Is Dead
| Leonard Proval
|
|-
| Wax On, F*ck Off
| Cy Rosenthal
| Short film
|-
| 2011
| Atlas Shrugged: Part I
| Wesley Mouch
|
|-
| 2012
| Mirror Mirror
| Baron
|
|-
| 2014
| X-Men: Days of Future Past
| Senator Brickman
|
|-
|2015
| Ashby
| Entwhistle
|
|-
|2019
| Frankenstein's Monster's Monster, Frankenstein
| Bobby Fox
| Final performance before death
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ <!-- WP:ACCESSIBILITY & MOS:TABLECAPTION -->
|-
! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
|-
|1963
|Dr. Kildare
|Dr. Brown
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan="3" |1969
|The Good Guys
|Arthur
|2 episodes
|-
|Three's a Crowd
|Sid Bagby
|TV movie
|-
|The Brady Bunch
|Johnny
| rowspan="2" |1 episode
|-
| rowspan="2" |1970
|The Young Lawyers
|Anthony Maroni
|-
|The Doris Day Show
|Mr. Murray
|2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1971
|That Girl
|Charlie
| rowspan="2" |1 episode
|-
|The D.A.
|Mark Warren
|-
|What's a Nice Girl Like You...?
|Fats Detroit
|TV movie
|-
| rowspan="6" |1972
|The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
|Jack Watson
| rowspan="7" |1 episode
|-
|Ironside
|Adrian Father
|-
|Night Gallery
|Dr. Burgess
|-
|The Delphi Bureau
|Cy Turrell
|-
|Banacek
|Bartender
|-
|The Streets of San Francisco
|Lou Watkins
|-
| rowspan="6" |1973
|Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
|Dr. Nasserman
|-
|Firehouse
|Ernie Bush
|TV movie
|-
|The Bob Newhart Show
|Mr. Carolla
| rowspan="6" |1 episode
|-
|Emergency!
|Martin Noble
|-
|Love Story
|Lou Graham
|-
|The New Perry Mason
|Derek Stocker
|-
| rowspan="8" | 1974
| M*A*S*H
| Captain Bernie Futterman
|-
| rowspan="2" | The Rockford Files
|Dr. Ruben Steelman
|-
|Arnold Love
| 2 episodes
|-
|Love, American Style
|Karatz
| rowspan="3" |1 episode
|-
|Chase
|Cupid
|-
|The Odd Couple
|Sgt. Chomsky
|-
|Reflections of Murder
|Jerry Steele
| rowspan="5" |TV movie
|-
|The Missiles of October
|Pierre Salinger
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1975
| Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic
| Dr. Marvin Kittredge
|-
| The Dream Makers
| Mike
|-
|A Cry for Help
|Philip Conover
|-
|Starsky & Hutch
|Fat Rolly
|2 episodes
|-
|Lucas Tanner
|Artie
| rowspan="6" |1 episode
|-
|Rhoda
|Ralph Bentley
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1976
| Jigsaw John
|Arthur Devore
|-
|Harry O
|Wilt Kane
|-
|Police Woman
|Guidera
|-
|The Rockford Files
|Murray Rosner
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1978
| Ruby and Oswald
| Jack Ruby
|TV movie
|-
|Kojak
|Dr. Samuel Fine
| rowspan="4" |1 episode
|-
|Vegas
|Nate Stephenson - pilot episode: 'High Roller'
|-
|Wonder Woman
|Ashton Ripley
|-
|1979
| Hart to Hart
| Poker Player
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| Barnaby Jones
|Albert Kruger
|-
|This Year's Blonde
|Jack L. Warner
| TV movie
|-
|1982
| Hart to Hart
| Art Radner
|1 episode
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1983
| Hill Street Blues
| Rollie Simone
| 4 episodes
|-
|Blood Feud
|Eddie Cheyfitz
| rowspan="2" |TV movie
|-
| Rita Hayworth: The Love Goddess
| Harry Cohn
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1985
|Hollywood Beat
|Pilot
| rowspan="2" | Pilot episode
|-
|MacGyver
|Gantner
|-
|The A-Team
|Jerry
| rowspan="2" | 1 episode
|-
| rowspan="3" |1987
|Amazing Stories
|Mr. Marvin
|-
|Hands of a Stranger
|Capt. Cirrillo
| rowspan="2" |TV movie
|-
|The King of Love
|Nat Goldberg
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1988
|Great Performances
|Oscar Hammerstein
| 1 episode
|-
|The Equalizer
|Amar
| Episode: "No Place Like Home"
|-
|1991
| Omen IV: The Awakening
| Earl Knight
| rowspan="2" | TV movie
|-
|1992
| The Comrades of Summer
| George
|-
| 1993
|Tales from the Crypt
|Mr. Byrd
| rowspan="2" |1 episode
|-
| rowspan="2" |1995
|Picture Windows
|Maestro
|-
|Courthouse
|Judge Myron Winkleman
|11 episodes
|-
|1996–1997
|Clueless
|Mel Horowitz
|18 episodes
|-
|1998–1999
|Godzilla: The Series
|Mayor Ebert
|Voice, 3 episodes
|-
|2000
|Murder at the Cannes Film Festival
|Morrie Borelli
|TV movie
|-
|2001
|Third Watch
|Seymour Morgenstern
|1 episode
|-
|2003–2006
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
|Morty Berger
|2 episodes
|-
|2004
|Kingdom Hospital
|Sheldon Fleischer
|3 episodes
|-
|2007
|Entourage
|Joe Roberts
| rowspan="3" |1 episode
|-
|2008
|Dirty Sexy Money
|Martin
|-
|2009
|Saving Grace
|Rebbe Jory Quecksilber
|-
|2010
|The Bannen Way
|The Mensch
|Web series;
16 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" |2012
|The Good Wife
|Judge Dwight Sobel
| rowspan="2" |1 episode
|-
|Suburgatory
|Aaron Laynberg
|-
|2013–2014
|Glee
|Sidney Greene
|5 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2015
| Comedy Bang! Bang!
| Darren Schlepping
| rowspan="3" | 1 episode
|-
|Childrens Hospital
|Pop
|-
| 2016
| Maron
| Ralph
|}
References
External links
- Michael Lerner at Find a Grave