Michael Lerner was an American actor from New York City, born in 1941 to a family of Romanian-Jewish descent. His father, George Lerner, was a fisherman and antiques dealer. Michael was primarily raised in Solon, Ohio, and in the port area of Red Hook, Brooklyn, where he was exposed to a shack city for the homeless during the 1930s and had a reputed connection to organized crime for most of the 20th century.
Michael started his acting career as a theatrical actor, performing with the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, California, during the 1960s. He made his film debut in the comedy-drama "Alex in Wonderland" (1970),a film about a film director struggling with his career.
Throughout his career, Michael played supporting roles in various films, often in horror movies, such as "Maniac Cop 2" (1990) and "Omen IV: The Awakening" (1991). However, his most acclaimed role was as Jack Lipnick, the head of a film studio, in "Barton Fink" (1991),for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Michael continued to find steady work in films throughout the 1990s, playing roles such as bank president Edward H. Biderman in "Blank Check" (1994) and a short-tempered police lieutenant in "Radioland Murders" (1994). He also portrayed Professor Marcus in "Tale of the Mummy" (1998),a respected scholar who is manipulated into killing someone.
In the 2000s, Michael was still active in the film industry, playing roles such as a doctor in "Mockingbird Don't Sing" (2001) and a domineering CEO in the Christmas comedy "Elf" (2003). He also portrayed father figure Harvey Wiener in the comedy-drama "Life During Wartime" (2009).
In the 2010s, Michael had relatively few new roles, but some were still memorable, such as his portrayal of ruthless politician Wesley Mouch in the science fiction film "Atlas Shrugged: Part I" (2011). He also portrayed the Baron in the fantasy comedy "Mirror Mirror" (2012) and Senator Brickman in the superhero film "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014).
Michael's most recent role was as real-life producer/MGM studio executive Louis B. Mayer in "First Oscar" (2022).
