Born in L.A. on January 25, 1930, Axelrod served as a corporal in the US Army, stationed in Germany from February 1953 to February 1955. He later majored in architecture at UC Berkeley and eventually became licensed as an architect in the state of Washington, as per Variety.

Axelrod portrayed the role of Victor Jerome on the tele-series General Hospital for 40 episodes from 1987 to 1989. Apart from that, he was also known for his roles as the Electrolarynx Guy on My Name Is Earl and patient Charlie Yost, who was in a semi-comatose state at Seattle Grace, on Grey’s Anatomy.

Additional television credits include Dallas, Hill Street Blues, Dynasty, Outlaws, Night Court, Knots Landing, Everybody Loves Raymond, Alias, Frasier, Malcolm in the Middle, Scrubs, Star-ving, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Hot in Cleveland, Baskets, Speechless, Ray Donovan, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Modern Family, as per Variety.

He made his film debut in the film Bananas. Apart from that, he appeared in films like Vice, Road to Redemption, Hancock, and Little Fockers among others.