Jerry Adler was in his 60s and what he joked was the “twilight of a mediocre career,” as a stage manager and director on Broadway, when he fell by happenstance into a long and respected second act in show business as an actor of scene-stealing versatility.

By the time he died on August 30 in Manhattan at 96, Mr. Adler had amassed 60 film and television credits as well as the acclaim of his peers. After years of sitcom work, he came to wider attention on the hit HBO crime-family drama “The Sopranos” as Herman Rabkin, known as Hesh, a trusted associate of Tony Soprano.

The character was supposed to be a one-off for the 1999 pilot, but David Chase, the show’s creator, found Mr. Adler so compelling that he kept bringing him back for six seasons.