Actor Jerry Adler, best known for playing advisor Herman 'Hesh' Rabkin in The Sopranos, has died aged 96.

Although he found fame on the small screen, Adler did not start acting until his early 60s - as he was preparing to retire from an illustrious behind-the-scenes Broadway career.

The theatre veteran worked alongside stars including Julie Andrews, Angela Lansbury and Richard Burton during more than three decades in the industry.

The Brooklyn-born actor "passed peacefully in his sleep" on Saturday, representatives said on behalf of his family, according to the Associated Press and Fox News.

Adler worked as a stage manager, supervisor and director on more than 50 Broadway productions - after being offered his first job by his father, who worked in the industry, while at university.

He stage managed the original 1956 production of My Fair Lady, starring the then-20-year-old Julie Andrews, and 1969's Coco, in which Kathryn Hepburn played the founder of fashion house Chanel.

He went on to supervise the original production of the beloved musical Annie in 1977, and the 1980 play Camelot, starring Richard Burton.

He first stepped into the world of TV in the 1980s and early '90s, stage managing a handful of productions including several Tony Awards.

But it wasn't until he was preparing to retire that Adler began acting, after a phone-call from a friend casting the 1992 film The Public Eye.

He then went on to further film roles, including 1993's Manhattan Murder Mystery and 1996's Getting Away with Murder.

But he found fame for his role in HBO's acclaimed series The Sopranos - as an advisor to James Gandolfini's mob boss Tony and an old friend of his father.

He later took on recurring roles in CBS's The Good Wife and spin-off The Good Fight, as boorish law partner Howard Lyman, and FX's Rescue Me, as New York fire station chief Sidney Feinberg.

Other notable roles included Rabbi Alan Schulman on CBS' Northern Exposure and the handyman Mr. Wicker on NBC's Mad About You.

He also made one-off appearances in iconic US shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and The West Wing.

Adler returned to Broadway as an actor - first in the 2000 play Taller than a Dwarf - and then in 2015's Fish in the Dark - bringing his career full circle.