Michael Lerner, the Oscar-nominated actor who played studio exec Jack Lipnick in the Coen brothers’ film “Barton Fink,” died on Saturday at the age of 81, his nephew and fellow actor Sam announced on Instagram.
“It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me,” Sam Lerner 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. Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was — in the best way,” he continued.
In “Barton Fink,” Lerner played the head of the fictional Capitol Pictures, who hires the pretentious playwright Barton Fink, played by John Turturro, to write a film about wrestling.
Lerner also appeared in the Christmas comedy “Elf” as Fulton Greenway, the callous boss of James Caan’s character Walter Hobbs, whose estranged son Buddy was raised by Santa Claus and his elves in the North Pole. He also had roles on multiple TV shows across several decades, including “The Brady Bunch,” “M*A*S*H*,” “Hill Street Blues,” “The A-Team,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “Entourage.”
Among Lerner’s other notable film roles were an infamous bit role in Roland Emmerich’s 1998 film “Godzilla” as Mayor Ebert, a character whom alongside his assistant Gene was created by Emmerich to mock famed critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert for panning the filmmaker’s past films. Ebert was unimpressed by the potshot thrown at him, writing in his review, “Why place us in the movie if you aren’t going to have us be eaten or squashed by the monster?”
In total, Lerner had over 150 roles in film and television over the course of his career from 1963 to 2019.
“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,” Sam Lerner wrote. “RIP Michael, enjoy your unlimited Cuban cigars, comfy chairs, and endless movie marathon.”
