 A veteran of stage, film and television, Portnow was named one of the "Actors We Love" from the actors' trade newspaper "Back Stage West" with the newspaper saying "Portnow knows exactly how to hook an audience with every character".He graduated with a BA degree as a speech and theater major from Brooklyn College.Portnow played the role of defense attorney Harold "Mel" Melvoin on the Emmy-winning HBO series "The Sopranos" (1999), the lawyer for Uncle Junior.