Michael Lerner is an American rabbi, political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish and interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.
Michael Lerner (born June 22, 1941) is an Academy-Award nominated American character actor.
Lerner was born in Brooklyn, New York of Romanian Jewish descent. He was raised in Bensonhurst and Red Hook. His brother, Ken Lerner, is also an actor. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Lerner began participating in a number plays in San Francisco.
During the seventies, Lerner began making several guest appearances in shows such as The Brady Bunch, The Odd Couple and M*A*S*H. He appeared on one episode of The Rockford Files in 1976. In 1970 Michael made his film debut in the Donald Sutherland picture Alex in Wonderland. He then went to appear in supporting roles in various Hollywood movies such as Robert Redford's The Candidate, Charles Bronson's St. Ives and Jack Nicholson's The Postman Always Rings Twice. In 1991, after co-starring in the Eddie Murphy comedy Harlem Nights, Michael played film producer Jack Lipnick in the Coen Brothers' Barton Fink, a performance for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Michael's recent projects include the Christmas comedy Elf and Poster Boy, as well as appearing in television programs such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Entourage.
British audiences know him best for his perfectly delivered line in a 1990s TV ad for Heineken lager: "You like the limo? It's yours".
Brother of Ken Lerner (I).
Began his acting career in the late 1960s at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.
Studied for two years at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Has a Master's Degree in English drama from UCLA.
