Lerner also played Arnold Rothstein in Eight Men Out (1988), Phil Gillman in Amos & Andrew (1993), The Warden in No Escape (1994), Mel Horowitz on the television series Clueless, Jerry Miller in The Beautician and the Beast (1997), Mayor Ebert in Roland Emmerich's Godzilla (1998), Mr. Greenway in Elf (2003), and Senator Brickman in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

[5] After graduating from Brooklyn College, where he studied acting, he received a scholarship to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a master's degree in English drama.

[3] At the age of 24 he appeared as "Hieronymous the Miser" in a KPFA radio production of Michel de Ghelderode's Breugelesque play, Red Magic.

[citation needed] Lerner moved to Los Angeles in 1969, where he appeared in a production of Little Murders, a play by Jules Feiffer that was later adapted into a film by Alan Arkin.

In 1991, after co-starring in Harlem Nights, Lerner played film producer Jack Lipnick in Barton Fink, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Lerner's later projects include the Christmas comedy Elf (2003) and Poster Boy (2004), as well as television programs such as Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Entourage.

[6] In addition to his acting career, Lerner was a collector of rare books, an aficionado of Cuban cigars, and—by his own account—a very good poker player.

[3][5] He was missing the tip of one index finger, due to an injury suffered while cutting a tongue sandwich while working at a deli in New York City.