The Oscar-nominated actor passed away at the age of 81. No details on his death are given by the family members.
Actor Michael Lerner, who played characters in Clueless and Glee and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Barton Fink, passed away at the age of 81 on April 8, 2024.
In a tribute post on Instagram, Lerner’s nephew and ‘The Goldbergs’ star Sam Lerner announced that he had passed away on Saturday evening. There is currently no other information available regarding Lerner’s passing.
Sam writes in his Instagram post that he was always inspired by and fell in love with acting because of his uncle’s stories. The fact that he was his blood makes him feel extra special forever. He was the coolest, most self-assured, and most talented guy. Everyone who knew Michael Lerner was aware of his best kind of insanity. Sam Lerner was very grateful that he got to spend so much time with him, and the audience is fortunate that we may continue to appreciate his work indefinitely.
Finally, he says, “RIP Michael, enjoy your endless Cuban cigars, comfortable chairs, and never-ending movie marathon.”
Films
After graduating from Brooklyn College and earning a master’s degree in English theatre from UC Berkeley, Michael Lerner, a self-described hockey enthusiast, continued his education. He spent two years in London studying for a Fulbright Scholarship before moving on to San Francisco, where he spent two years performing with the American Conservatory Theater in the late 1960s.
Before moving to Hollywood, Lerner starred in an experimental movie made by his former London roommate Yoko Ono. Later, in Michael Ritchie’s ‘The Candidate (1972), he portrayed the character’s speechwriter.
He gained recognition for his roles as the murderer Jack Ruby in the 1978 CBS docudrama ‘Ruby and Oswald’ and the White House press secretary Pierre Salinger in the 1974 ABC telefilm ‘The Missiles of October’.
‘The Postman Always Rings Twice’ (1981), remade by Bob Rafelson, featured Lerner as Jessica Lange’s character’s attorney (Hume Cronyn portrayed the attorney in the 1946 original). Additionally, Lerner made a strong impression in Alan Parker’s ‘The Road to Wellville (1994), which starred Anthony Hopkins and John Cusack, and Todd Solondz’s ‘Life During Wartime’ (2009), which starred Allison Janney.
Michael Lerner portrayed Jack Lipnick in the 1991 film ‘Barton Fink’, which garnered him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. In ‘Eight Men Out’ (1988), Lerner also portrayed Arnold Rothstein.
The actor has portrayed U.S. senators in ‘Poster Boy’ (2004) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) in addition to the heartless book publisher Fulton Greenway in ‘Elf’ (2003) and the mayor of New York City named Roger Ebert in Roland Emmerich’s adaptation of ‘Godzilla’ (1998).
TV Shows
Michael Lerner had a guest appearance on ‘The Brady Bunch in 1969, and in the early 1970s, he appeared on many other shows, including ‘The Doris Day Show’, ‘That Girl’, ‘The Bob Newhart Show’, ‘M.A.S.H.’, ‘The Odd Couple’, and many more.
He played Sidney Greene, a Broadway producer putting on a production of Funny Girl, on Fox’s ‘Glee’, and Mel Horowitz, the Beverly Hills lawyer and Cher’s (Rachel Blanchard) father, on the ABC remake of the cult classic film ‘Clueless’.
