Jay Adler

Jay Adler (August 4, 1896 – September 24, 1978) was an American actor who worked across theater, film, and television over a career spanning several decades. Born in New York City, he was the eldest child of actors Jacob and Sara Adler, prominent figures in New York City's Yiddish Theater District. His five siblings all pursued careers in the performing arts, among them stage actor Luther Adler and drama coach Stella Adler, who became the most influential member of the family. The Adlers functioned as a Jewish-American acting dynasty whose collective impact on theater extended from the late nineteenth century through the 1950s.

Adler's Broadway career ran from 1933 to 1942 and included four productions. His earliest credit was Man Bites Dog in 1933, followed by Blind Alley, which he performed in both 1935 and 1940. He also appeared in Prelude in 1936 and Cafe Crown in 1942. In 1934, between those stage engagements, Adler joined Harry Thomashefsky and Boris Bernardi in founding the Theater Mart Group in New York City, a cooperative organization of players and staff connected with the stage whose planned productions were modeled on the work of the city's Group Theatre.

Beyond Broadway, Adler accumulated more than 130 performing credits across film and television between 1938 and 1976, appearing in over 40 films and 37 television series. His film work included The Big Combo (1955), Stanley Kubrick's The Killing (1956), and Jerry Lewis' The Family Jewels (1965). In 1961, he appeared in the television episode "The Lady and the Lawyer" from the series The Asphalt Jungle, as well as in The Lawbreakers, a theatrical film adapted from that same episode. The following year he appeared in the episode "To Climb Steep Hills" of the adventure drama series Straightaway.

Adler died at age 81 in Woodland Hills, California. He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Glendale, Queens, New York City, near his parents.