Academy Award-nominated actor, Michael Lerner, has passed away at the age of 81. His nephew, Sam Lerner, who is also an actor, confirmed his death in an Instagram post on Sunday afternoon. “We lost a legend last night. It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me,” Sam wrote. “His stories always inspired me and made me fall in love with acting. He was the coolest, most confident, talented guy, and the fact that he was my blood will always make me feel special.” He continued by saying, “Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was— in the best way. I’m so lucky I got to spend so much time with him, and we’re all lucky we can continue to watch his work for the rest of time. RIP Michael, enjoy your unlimited Cuban cigars, comfy chairs, and endless movie marathon.”
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Michael was born in Brooklyn, New York and began pursuing his dream of acting in the 60s. According to IMDb, when Lerner began acting, he acted with the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California, which was a nonprofit theater company. He landed his film debut 1970 with “Alex in Wonderland,” before picking up television roles such as “Emergency” and “The Bob Newhart Show.” Lerner went on to star in various movies and TV shows including “Elf,” “Eight Men Out,” Godzilla,” and “M*A*S*H.” He earned an Oscar nomination for his role as Jack Lipnick in “Barton Fink” in 1991. Lerner had nearly 200 credits to his name and was reportedly working on three unreleased projects before his death.
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