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The Bio Ken Didn't Want You See

If you asked Blanche Lerner her greatest accomplishment in life, she would probably say giving birth to Ken Lerner. Certainly, giving birth to Ken is an accomplishment that would make any woman proud. And it is not every day that a woman gives birth to Ken Lerner—in fact, it will not happen again any time soon for Ken is 100 percent original with his own special genetic code. He cannot be copied or duplicated, even with today’s amazing scientific technology. And so we must simply appreciate the one Ken Lerner we have.

A Guide to Appreciating the One Ken Lerner We Have

Blanche Lerner has remained remarkably humble for the only woman ever to give birth to Ken Lerner, and she doesn’t hog the limelight—she is willing to share credit with her late husband, George, a fun loving, fisherman/antiques dealer. When they met and married as teenagers in Brooklyn, George and Blanche could not have imagined that they would someday gave birth to three sons, sparking a delicatessen and show business dynasty renowned throughout at least a seven-block area.

Son #1, Arnold, owned a Brooklyn delicatessen, Zeimar. Because of a fortune teller’s dire predictions that death would strike her if she had another baby, Blanche waited a full 10 years before throwing caution to the wind and giving birth to Son #2, Michael. Michael attended UC Berkley and became a Rhodes Scholar before ultimately becoming a respected actor with a lengthy film and stage pedigree of his own and a well-deserved Oscar nomination for the movie, "Barton Fink." http://us.imdb.com/Name?Lerner,+Michael

Having two boys created in Blanche a longing for a daughter, and thus Ken was born. Although Blanche soon discovered that Ken was not a daughter, Blanche recalls Ken as "a very good baby" who never fussed, apparently because he was saving up his fussing for his adult marital years. Ken showed no signs that he was going to be an actor while he attended school and got a B.A. degree in English from Brooklyn College, although he did have proclivities to being the class clown and emoted very well at the dinner table.

Ken was bitten by the acting bug while helping his brother, Michael, study lines, and made the ultimate sacrifice for his art, leaving a promising low-wage job, substitute teaching tough kids in a really rotten New York neighborhood, to set out for Los Angeles. Almost immediately, Ken got his first big show business break—a job on the hit TV show, "Happy Days," and reached the laughably ridiculous conclusion that being an actor was easy.

Ken proved so popular on "Happy Days" that he was brought back more than a dozen times as three separate characters: Rocco Baruffi, Rocco Malacchi and Frankie Bing Bong. He is still recognized and hailed for his "Happy Days" work every time he goes swimming, camping or does anything else that makes his hair look greasy. A parenthetical note: Ken has socks older than many of his "Happy Days fans".

Ken next starred with Ray Sharkey and Herve Villachaize in a movie that became a cult favorite—"Hot Tomorrows," American Film Institute student Marty Brest’s graduate thesis film. Marty Brest went on to do "Beverly Hills Cop," "Scent of A Woman" and "Meet Joe Black" while Ken went on to star for Ron Howard in "Grand Theft Auto" and learn to ride a motorcycle for the seminal work "Gas Pump Girls."

Although he was reluctant to leave the prestigious wet t-shirt genre, Ken went on to star in hundreds of top films, TV shows and commercials that make him a recognizable figure worldwide.

Ken has played doctors, lawyers, school principals, shady businessmen, stuffy bureaucrats, schoolteachers, child molesters, mobsters, bank robbers, politicians-even an "angry Jewish paraplegic" in more than 50 top television shows. These include "NYPD Blue," "Chicago Hope," "ER," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Judging Amy," "The Drew Carey Show," "Dharma and Greg," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Diagnosis Murder," "JAG," "LA Law," "Family Ties," "Newhart," "The Commish," and "Hill Street Blues."

Although none of Ken’s subsequent film work could hope to top the high-caliber of "Gas Pump Girls," he has nonetheless appeared in "Unlawful Entry," "The Doctor," "The Fabulous Baker Boys," "The Running Man," "The Story of Us," "Immediate Family," "Irreconcilable Differences," "Project X" and many others. Ken has also starred in memorable commercials for Snickers, Federal Express, Immodium, McDonald’s, Toyota, Delta Airlines, Kitchen Aid and others. He soon will appear in a Metamucil commercial talking to his—oh, never mind that one.

Ken began teaching for his mentor, the late Roy London, who gave Ken the honor of being his first student teacher 12 years ago. Since then, Ken has shared his knowledge and passion for acting with thousands of students who study cold reading and scene study or get private coaching with him. He has helped many actors get pilots, TV shows and movies as well as find the freeway back to their auditions and take courage in the cold, cruel world.

For those who want to study Ken further, the Lerner Family Shrine, a statute honoring Ken Lerner and the dynasty that produced him, and a guided walking tour, are available in Brooklyn, sponsored by the Ken Lerner Historical Society. For those who want to study with Ken at his respected Ken Lerner Studio, click here.

The editors of the Ken Lerner biography wish to thank the Encyclopedia Britannica for its generous allowance of plagiarism from its Ken Lerner article.

For information on acting classes, call 818-753-7744

Email: TheKenLernerStudio@gmail.com.

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