Born in Brooklyn, NY; educated at Brooklyn College, the University of California at Berkeley (theater, English) and LAMDA, London (acting). Jowly character player who honed his skills with San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre before making his film debut in ALEX IN WONDERLAND (1970). After several small film roles, Lerner gained notice for his performance as Katz, the Machiavellian lawyer, in Bob Rafelson's THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1981) and as World Series "fixer" Arnold Rothstein in John Sayles's EIGHT MEN OUT (1988). Lerner has since made a name for himself in TV movies, portraying real-life characters Pierre Salinger, in THE MISSILES OF OCTOBER (1974); Jack Ruby, in RUBY AND OSWALD (1978); film mogul Jack Warner, in THIS YEAR'S BLONDE (1980); Columbia studio head Harry Cohn, in RITA HAYWORTH: THE LOVE GODDESS (1983); and impresario Oscar Hammerstein, in MELBA (1989). His big-screen portrait of crass, fictitious film mogul Jack Lipnick, in the Coen brothers satire BARTON FINK (1991), earned him a best supporting actor Oscar® nomination. Since then, some of his notable screen appearances include NEWSIES (1992), AMOS & ANDREW (1993), RADIOLAND MURDERS and THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE (both 1994), LAST MAN STANDING (1996), GODZILLA (1998), CELEBRITY (1998), MY FAVORITE MARTIAN and THE MOD SQUAD (both 1999), ATTENTION SHOPPERS (2000), MOCKINGBIRD DON'T SING (2001), 29 PALMS (2002), ELF and NOBODY KNOWS ANYTHIN! (both 2003), LARCENY, THE CALCIUM KID, POSTER BOY and PIGEON (all 2004), WHEN DO WE EAT? (2005), ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, LOVE AND OTHER DISASTERS and THE LAST TIME (all 2006), FLATTEST (2007), and YONKERS JOE (scheduled for 2008). His brother is actor Ken Lerner.  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role 1991: BARTON FINK 1 nomination