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michael-lerner.jpeg

Michael Lerner, Quintessential That Guy, Is Dead at 81

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | April 10, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | April 10, 2023 |


michael-lerner.jpeg

Michael Lerner, a Romanian Jew from Brooklyn who has been acting since the age of 13, died yesterday at the age of 81. Lerner is one of those “That Guys,” someone whose name you probably don’t know and whom you recognize from that movie or TV show you probably can’t identify. But you’ve definitely seen them, and that is especially true for Lerner, who has 181 screen credits to his name, including most famously Barton Fink, for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Eight Men Out, and Elf. His first movie role was directed by Yoko Ono, and he also played Mayor Ebert, who was based on Roger Ebert in 1998’s Godzilla.

Interestingly, the announcement of Lerner’s death came from his nephew, Sam Lerner, which is when I learned that the real-life uncle of Geoff from The Goldbergs was Jack Lipnick in Barton Fink. In fact, Michael Lerner’s younger brother, Ken Lerner, is another “That Guy” (with 155 credits), but is best known over the last decade for playing Lou Schwartz, Geoff Schwartz’s father in The Goldbergs. In other words, Sam Lerner’s real father plays his TV father on The Goldbergs.

RIP Michael Lerner. May his memory be a blessing.