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), 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 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." He was raised in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and in Solon, Ohio. His younger brother Ken, nephew Sam, and niece Jenny are also actors. He had an older brother, Arnold.
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. Although his then-wife still thought he should become an English professor, Lerner still wanted to be an actor; he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study theater in London for two years, at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. While there, he lived in a flat with Yoko Ono and John Lennon. In 1968, he appeared in Ono's short experimental film Smile, among other projects. "She made a movie comprised of 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 1968, Lerner returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and joined the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). At the age of 24 he appeared as "Hieronymous the Miser" in a KPFA radio production of Michel de Ghelderode's Breugelesque play, Red Magic.
Lerner moved to Los Angeles in 1969, where he appeared in a production of Little Murders, a play by Jules Feiffer that was later adapted into a film by Alan Arkin. He also began making guest appearances in television shows such as The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple, M*A*S*H, Banacek and The Rockford Files. In 1974, he appeared in the teleplay The Missiles of October, playing Pierre Salinger.
In 1970, Lerner made his film debut in Alex in Wonderland; director Paul Mazursky had seen his production of Little Murders and enjoyed his performance. He then went on to appear in supporting roles in various Hollywood movies such as The Candidate, St. Ives and the 1981 remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice. In 1991, after co-starring in Harlem Nights, Lerner played film producer Jack Lipnick in Barton Fink, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He based the character in part on legendary film mogul Louis B. Mayer; according to his brother Ken, he was working on a screenplay about Mayer when he died.
From 1996 to 1997, Lerner played Mel Horowitz on the television series Clueless. In 1997, he would play Joy Miller's father Jerry in The Beautician and the Beast. Lerner's later projects include the Christmas comedy Elf (2003) and Poster Boy (2004), as well as television programs such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Entourage.
In 2010, 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. He was missing the tip of one index finger, due to an injury suffered while cutting a tongue sandwich while working at a deli in New York City.
Death
Lerner died of complications from brain seizures at a hospital in Burbank, California, on April 8, 2023, at the age of 81.
