He started as a Broadway stage manager working on such shows as 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,' 'My Fair Lady' and 'The Apple Tree.'

Jerry Adler, who has died aged 96, became a professional actor by chance in his 60s after a long career backstage in theatre and television; among the dozens of screen roles he played in later life, he won particular acclaim as the amiable but quietly ruthless loan shark Hesh Rabkin in The Sopranos.

After spending years in behind-the-scenes roles on Broadway, he enjoyed a late career transformation to become an actor in films and on television.