Michael Lerner, the Academy Award-nominated actor, passed away on Saturday at the age of 81. His nephew, Sam Lerner, who starred in "The Goldbergs," shared the news of his uncle's death in an Instagram post on Sunday afternoon.
Sam wrote, "We lost a legend last night. It’s hard to put into words how brilliant my uncle Michael was, and how influential he was to me. 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."
In 1991, Michael earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Jack Lipnick in "Barton Fink." With nearly 200 acting credits to his name, including "Eight Men Out," "Godzilla," and "X-Men: Days of Futures Past," Michael had three projects in various stages of production at the time of his death.
Sam continued in his post, "Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was— in the best way. 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."
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Michael's representatives have not yet commented on his passing.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Michael began his acting career in the 1960s with the American Conservatory Theater, a nonprofit theater company based in San Francisco, California. His film debut came in 1970 with "Alex in Wonderland," after which he transitioned to television roles in "The Bob Newhart Show," "Emergency!" and "MASH."
He played White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger in the 1974 ABC TV movie "The Missiles of October" alongside William Devane. Michael also appeared in "The Rockford Files," "Kojak," "Barnaby Jones," and "Hart to Hart."
Following his Oscar nomination for "Barton Fink," Michael became a familiar face in films such as "Newsies," "Blank Check," and "Elf," in which he portrayed James Caan's publishing boss.
At the time of his death, Michael had three projects in development, including "Sallywood" with Sally Kirkland, Jennifer Tilly, and Eric Roberts, which was in post-production. He was rumored to be working on "Edoardo the Last Goodbye" and had been cast in "Fragments from Olympus: The Vision of Nikola Tesla" alongside Sean Young and Ed Begley Jr.