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Nothing wrong with Rosenberg's picture

Alan Rosenberg, star of What's Wrong With This Picture? on Broadway, is the picture of contentment -- as well as success.

The star of the short-lived bittersweet Broadway comedy, about a Jewish family struggling to survive the mother's death, has made quite a living out of portraying sensitive Jewish men.

But it's no act. Rosenberg, 44, is just that -- a man without affectations visibly affected by life's whims and vagaries.

His latest effort strays somewhat from familiar territory. Rosenberg is co-starring in TV's Cybill, portraying one of Cybill Shepherd's former husbands, a novelist whose personal table of contents always has a seat available for young, beautiful blondes. The comedy airs on CBS-TV Monday nights at 9:30.

This isn't Rosenberg's first encounter with TV -- although it's the first in a long time where he hasn't been known as Eli Levinson.

Rosenberg portrayed Jewish attorney Eli on Civil Wars. When that show was canceled, he packed up the character in his brief case and moved him to L.A. Law for a limited run.

Rosenberg makes a case for actors shining through in a medium not always hospitable to those whose looks are less than classic leading man.

Indeed, the Passaic native is carving a career as a character actor, with Cybill showcasing his character's split personality: an exhusband on the prowl who still hasn't given up on his former spouse.

There is no rhyme or reason for an actor finding success in Hollywood, and Rosenberg well understands this. His one-shot role as Eli developed into one of Civil Wars' more interesting ongoing characterizations.

"Eli fit like a glove," says the actor. "I was able to use everything from my life with that character."

Life has a way of working out. When he went in to audition for the role, Rosenberg was feeling somewhat down. "I had just lost a big job, blew an audition for Reasonable Doubt, and it was great money, " recalls Rosenberg of the lost opportunity on another series.

So, going into the audition for Eli, a character who suffers a nervous breakdown, "I played the darkness."

He also lit up the room. "It was bashert," says Rosenberg of losing one job, getting another.

Rosenberg has garnered acclaim for his work on Civil Wars, L.A. Law and for a guest shot as a dying heart patient on the pilot of ER.

That role hit home for the actor, whose brother and father both suffered heart attacks.

"Mark was such a wonderful person," says Rosenberg of his late brother, who had been president of Warner Brothers Pictures and who died two years ago at the age of 44.

It was heartfelt loss for the younger brother -- the two Rosenberg boys had always been close. "He was my best friend."

He takes some solace from being part of an extended family -- that of the Jewish people. "It is a great support system," says Rosenberg, while conceding with a laugh, "it can also drive you crazy."

But the shiva process meant a source of sanity, he says. "It's an ingenious process, salving the wounds, with people to pick you up, sharing memories, lightening the load, the entire community there for you."

Judaism wasn't always there for him, however -- not that Rosenberg was looking for it. "In the last several years, I've become more spiritual, " he says. "Judaism has become more important."

That wasn't always the case. "When I was a young man in the turbulent '60s, I was a political radical who thought that religion was an opiate of the people," notes Rosenberg.

In the past several years, Judaism has gained a more important foothold in the actor's life. But he understands that clouds and sunshine were meant to coexist.

"I have been through some dark times," says Rosenberg, "but I am blessed with a beautiful son and wife." He's married to actress Marg Helgenberger and father of a four-year-old son.

For every blessing, there is tsuris, he understands. "God giveth and taketh away," says Rosenberg. "Everything happens for a reason."

Michael Elkin, Nothing wrong with Rosenberg's picture. , MetroWest Jewish News, 03-02-1995, pp PG.