Jerry Adler, best known for his role as Hesh Rabkin on The Sopranos, has passed away. He was 96.

As per Variety, Adler breathed his last on August 23. His demise was confirmed by the Riverside Memorial Chapel in New York.

Adler entered the acting world in his 60s. After years of working behind the curtain in Broadway and television production, he was on the verge of retiring when a casting director for the 1992 thriller The Public Eye--a friend of Adler`s daughter--urged him to audition for director Howard Franklin. That performance marked the beginning of his long run as a highly in-demand character actor, as per Variety.