A famous Hollywood character actor is dead: Michael Lerner, who played in Roland Emmerich’s (67) “Godzilla” and “A Serious Man” by the Coen brothers, died at the age of 81. This was announced by the star’s nephew, Sam Lerner (30), who also works as an actor, via his official Instagram account.
Captioning a picture of his late uncle, he wrote: “We lost a legend last night. It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my Uncle Michael was and the impact he had on me. His stories always inspired me and awakened mine love of acting.”
Sam Lerner continues: “The fact that he was my flesh and blood will always make me feel special.” He concludes his post with the knowledge that his uncle can now enjoy “endless Cuban cigars, comfy chairs and never-ending movie nights.”
Michael Lerner began his long career in the mid-1970s in the Charles Bronson crime thriller Judgment Day. In the almost five decades that followed, he appeared in films of all genres, from the already mentioned “Godzilla” film adaptation (1998) to slapstick strips like “Buddy – Der Weihnachtself” (2003) to comic strips such as “X- Men: Future is Past” (2014). He made his last appearance in 2019 in the mockumentary short film “Frankenstein’s Monster’s Monster, Frankenstein”, in which “Stranger Things” star David Harbor (48) also took part.
Lerner was also a popular guest star in the series. His work here goes back to 1969, including roles in individual episodes of “M*A*S*H”, “Hard but heartily”, “The A-Team” and “MacGyver”.
Nephew Sam Lerner has been an actor since the early 2000s, for example he was a child actor in the film “Envy” with Ben Stiller (57) and Jack Black (53). Most recently, he appeared in the Netflix film “The Gray Man” in 2022.
