Sam Lerner

Sam Lerner got his start in show business at the age of nine, after he happened to strike up a conversation with actress/director/writer Ellen Gerstein and actress Dot-Marie Jones at a New Year's Eve party he was attending with his family. Thinking Sam a natural for the business, Gerstein offered to introduce Sam to respected Hollywood talent manager, Susan Curtis. Sam's parents initially balked but Sam begged for the opportunity. When, two weeks later, he took the microphone at his sister's Bat Mitzvah party and began roasting his sister with the assurance and panache of a Vegas master of ceremonies, Sam's parents realized that Sam did indeed have the show biz gene and agreed to let him pursue acting. His sister's Bat Mitzvah photographer snapped Sam's first headshot. Sam met with Curtis and soon was alternating auditions with school, baseball, basketball, Hebrew School, and skateboarding. Sam's big break came four months later when Barry Levinson cast him in the movie, "Envy," which