Alan Rosenberg (born October 4, 1950)[1] is an American actor who portrayed the character Eli Levinson in both Civil Wars and L.A. Law. From 2005 to 2009, Rosenberg was president of the Screen Actors Guild, the principal motion picture industry on-screen performers' union.
Rosenberg was born on October 4, 1950, and raised in Passaic, New Jersey, in a Conservative Judaism household.[1][2][3] Rosenberg's late brother, Mark, was a political activist in the 1960s, later a film producer. Their first cousin, also from Passaic, is musician/songwriter Donald Fagen, co-founder of the group Steely Dan.[1]
Rosenberg attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His parents gave him money to apply to graduate school,[3] but he has stated that upon graduation in 1972, he found another passion, poker, and subsequently gambled away most of the money his parents sent him, leaving him only able to afford one application — to Yale School of Drama. However, he dropped out halfway through his second year. His "greatest influence and best friend" while there was classmate Meryl Streep.[1]
In 1991, he appeared in the TV film The Boys. In 1995, he received an Emmy Award nomination for a guest-starring role in the hit drama ER. He starred in The Temptations miniseries in 1998 as long-time manager Shelly Berger.
In 1999, he began a recurring role as the hospital legal counsel, Stuart Brickman, on Chicago Hope. Halfway through their final season, he was added to the opening titles as a series regular. He performed in the legal drama The Guardian as Alvin Masterson.
He appeared on Broadway in What's Wrong With This Picture and Lost In Yonkers, and off-Broadway in Isn't It Romantic, A Prayer for My Daughter, and Kid Champion. He most recently starred at the Delaware Theatre Company production of Partners, written by Allan Katz.
He was elected the 24th president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on September 23, 2005, succeeding Melissa Gilbert, who had served as president since 2001 and chose not to run for a third two-year term. He received 39.99 percent (10,748 total votes) of the nationwide vote of the Guild's general membership, defeating Morgan Fairchild and Robert Conrad.
In 2005, he appeared as shady defense attorney Adam Novak in an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation co-starring alongside his real-life wife Marg Helgenberger. Novak was portrayed as a womanizer who encounters Catherine (Helgenberger) in a bar and later became the prime suspect in two homicides. In a 2007 episode "Leaving Las Vegas" he appears as a lawyer defending a client who turns out to be guilty of two separate crimes, and yet the evidence fails to pin him down, resulting in a not guilty verdict which annoys Catherine so much that she undertakes further investigation.
In 2006, he had a recurring role as Bruce Steinerman, the divorce attorney of Dr. James Wilson in the television-series House M.D. He has hosted episodes of the public television program, Life: Part 2,[4] which began in 2007 and is produced in St. Paul, Minnesota. The show features panel discussions about issues that baby boomers face as they age.[5]
In 2015, he appeared as Dr. William Golliher in the Amazon original series Bosch.[6] In 2016, he had a recurring role as shady investor William Sutter on the USA Network drama Suits.
Rosenberg's first marriage was to actress Robin Bartlett, from 1976 to 1984.[7]
He met Marg Helgenberger in New York City in 1984, while guest-starring on her soap opera Ryan's Hope. The two became friends and began dating in 1986. They married in 1989 and have a son, Hugh Howard Rosenberg (b. October 21, 1990).[8]
As a result of Helgenberger's mother's 27-year battle with breast cancer, Helgenberger and Rosenberg became involved in the fight against the disease. They hosted an annual benefit, Marg and Alan's Celebrity Weekend, in Omaha, Nebraska, beginning in 1999.[citation needed]
On December 1, 2008, Rosenberg and Helgenberger announced their separation;[8] the divorce was finalized in February 2010.[9]
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