Actor Ned Eisenberg had an incredible acting career, racking up over 75 screen credits since making his debut in the 1980 revenge movie classic The Exterminator. Sadly, his family has confirmed that Eisenberg passed away over the weekend at the age of 65. His wife Patricia told TMZ,
As Ned would say, he was attacked by two very rare assassins — cholangiocarcinoma and ocular melanoma. Over the course of two years, he bravely fought the cancers in private while continuing to work in show business to ensure that his medical coverage paid for himself and his family.”
Adam Marcus, the director of Jason Goes to Hell, was Eisenberg’s nephew, and he wrote a great tribute to his uncle on Facebook. Here’s part of it:
Yesterday, my Uncle Ned passed away after a long, protracted battle with Cancer. The first one appeared ten years ago and took one of his eyes (yeah, that’s how fucking good an actor he was, you had no freakin’ idea, did you). And this last one took the rest of him. And as the world lost one of the kindest, most talented, and fiercest fighters for all things democratic and just, those of us in his family have lost so much more. His friends, George and Frankie lost their brother. His nephews Kipp and Adam and his nieces Katie and KC lost their Uncle. His sister Susan lost her baby brother. His extraordinary wife, Patricia lost her husband. And worst of all, his son Lino lost his dad. We’ve all lost one of the best parts of us. And while we will forever be without that part of us, we do have a wonderful solace in that we have the most spectacular home movies of this beautiful man. Home movies directed by the likes of Oliver Stone, Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood, Walter Hill and countless others that we can watch any time we want. He starred in Tony Award winning shows on Broadway. He acted in Academy Award Best Pictures. He’s in so many Law and Order episodes I can’t help but think “Duh-duh” every time I see his face. So as far as the guy who had to eat other peoples leftovers to survive…. Yeah that guy was the headline story of Deadline and IMDB all day yesterday. Guess you did everything you set out to do, Neddy. And so much more. And I, along with so many others, will love you forever.
Eisenberg’s credits include The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Blacklist, Mare of Easttown, multiple Law & Order shows, Person of Interest, 30 Rock, Flags of Our Fathers, World Trade Center, Million Dollar Baby, Last Man Standing, The Fanelli Boys, Air America, Miami Vice, The Equalizer… and the two films I’ll always remember him best for, The Burning and Moving Violations.
In the slasher The Burning, Eisenberg played Eddy, one of the people who fell victim to the maniac Cropsy in that awesome raft massacre scene. In Moving Violations, he played a character named Wink Barnes, a horror fan who has lines like, “Go to your local video store and rent The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It will relax you.” and uses “Did you see Friday the 13th?” as a pick-up line.
I haven’t seen most of Eisenberg’s acting work, he did have a lot of credits, but every time I saw him in something he made an impression. He made his characters memorable.
Our condolences go out to Eisenberg’s family, friends, and fans.