Jerry Mayer

After appearing on the New York stage in the Joseph Papp production of "Much Ado About Nothing," Jerry Mayer revisited his role in the 1973 TV version, opposite Sam Waterston, marking the beginning of his screen career. For many years, Mayer had small parts in big productions, including the feature film "TheGreat Gatsby" and the TV shows "Serpico" and "Ryan's Hope." In '80, he appeared with Alan Arkin in "Simon" and Robert Redford in "Brubaker," while he later played a detective on an episode of "Miami Vice" and a choirmaster on "The Equalizer." Mayer had a more substantial role in Louis Malle's '94 comedy/drama "Vanya on 42nd Street," and he appeared with Paul Newman in Robert Benton's "Nobody's Fool." Between '91 and '98, he portrayed four different characters on four different episodes of the procedural drama "Law & Order." Mayer appeared one more time on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in 2000 and also turned up in Stanley Tucci's New York City-set drama "Joe Gould's Secret." Mayer died in '03, and his last filmed appearance was on an episode of the NBC comedy series "Ed."