Character actor Michael Lerner who was known for Barton Fink, Elf, and X-Men: Days of Future Past, died on Saturday, April 8, 2023. His passing was announced by his nephew, actor Sam Lerner, though he did not disclose the details of Lerner’s passing. He was 81 years old.

Lerner was nominated for an Oscar for his work in Barton Fink as Jack Lipnick, the movie mogul and demanding boss to the title character. He played a similarly tough, harsh character in Elf as Walter Hobbs’ boss, Fulton Greenway. In X-Men: Days of Future Past, he took on another authoritarian role as Senator Brickman.

He was born on June 22, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York, then in the late 1960s, he pursued acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Starting in the ‘60s, he was in over 180 film and TV projects. Lerner’s first role was a 1963 episode of Dr. Kildare, then after a six-year break, he was in The Brady Bunch and The Doris Day Show.

In the ‘70s, he was in Thief, The Candidate, M*A*S*H, Starsky and Hutch, The Rockford Files, and Wonder Woman. Then he was in Barnaby Jones, The Postman Always Rings Twice, MacGyver, Hill Street Blues, Eight Men Out, and Harlem Nights in the ‘80s.

After his Oscar nod for Barton Fink in ’91, Lerner was in Newsies, Blank Check, The Beautician and the Beast, Lerner starred in the Clueless TV show, For Richer or Poorer, he played Mayor Ebert in Godzilla, and he was in Celebrity, The Mod Squad movie, and My Favorite Martians. Following his appearance in Elf, he was in Kingdom Hospital, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Entourage, and Saving Grace.

Lerner’s later roles were in The Good Wife, Mirror Mirror, Glee, Children’s Hospital, and his final completed role was in Pervyy Oskar.