(CNN) — Michael Lerner, a veteran character actor who received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a pushy studio chief in the 1991 film “Barton Fink,” has died at 81, his nephew, actor Sam Lerner, announced in a post on social media.
“We lost a legend last night,” Sam Lerner wrote on Instagram this Sunday. “It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my Uncle Michael was and how influential he was to me. His stories always inspired me and made me fall in love with acting. He was the coolest, most confident and talented person, and the fact that he was my blood will always make me feel special. Everyone who knows him knows how crazy he was, in the best way. I’m so lucky to have spent so much time with him, and we’re all lucky to still be able to see his work for the rest of time. RIP Michael, enjoy your unlimited Cuban cigars, your comfortable armchairs and your endless movie marathon.”
No further details have been released about Lerner’s death. CNN has contacted representatives for Michael and Sam Lerner for further comment.
Michael Lerner was born in Brooklyn (New York) in 1941 and studied drama at Brooklyn College. He subsequently won a Fulbright scholarship and spent two years in London before being invited to join the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. An agent from San Francisco discovered him and took him to Los Angeles, where he began his Hollywood career.
With film and television credits dating back to the 1960s, Lerner’s Hollywood career spanned several decades. Her early work in the ’60s and ’70s included appearances on TV shows like “The Doris Day Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” and “M*A*S*H.”
His first film came in 1970 as the character Leo in “Alex in Wonderland” alongside Donald Sutherland and Ellen Burstyn. Lerner continued to appear in movies like “The Ski Bum,” “The Candidate,” and “Outlaw Blues.”
The actor appeared in several episodes of “Hill Street Blues” and “Melba” in the mid-’80s, before starring in “Barton Fink” in 1991. His portrayal of studio executive Jack Lipnick, who starred opposite John Turturro, John Goodman and Judy Davis, earned him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
“I read the script and realized it was well written. It was brilliantly written, and I just knew it,” Lerner said in 2016 of the “Barton Fink” script, adding that during his audition in front of directors Joel and Ethan Coen , “I did the monologue the way I wanted to do it and I just walked out of the room and that was it. And Joel and Ethan were sitting in the corner laughing and giggling and that was it.”
In 1995, Lerner starred in the CBS drama “Courthouse” as Judge Myron Winkleman, which ran for one season. In 1996 he played Mel Horowitz, Cher Horowitz’s father, for one season on the television series “Clueless,” inspired by the hit film of the same name starring Alicia Silverstone.
During the 1980s and 2010s, Lerner starred as Fulton in the Christmas classic “Elf,” opposite Will Farrell, and on TV shows like “Law & Order: SVU,” “The Good Wife,” and “Glee.” .
