Jerry Orbach

Jerome Bernard "Jerry" Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor best known for his starring role as the street-smart, wisecracking NYPD Detective Lennie Briscoe in the Law & Order television series and for his musical theater roles.

Related Topics:
October 20 - 1935 - December 28 - 2004 - American - Actor - Law & Order - Television series - Musical theater

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Orbach was born in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, to a Polish American mother and a German-Jewish father. He was raised Roman Catholic, the faith of his mother. While he was still a child, his family moved to Mount Vernon, New York, Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, Pennsylvania, Springfield, Massachusetts and Waukegan, Illinois. He studied drama at Northwestern University, then went to New York, where he studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Related Topics:
The Bronx - New York City - Polish American - German - Jewish - Roman Catholic - Mount Vernon, New York - Wilkes-Barre - Scranton, Pennsylvania - Springfield, Massachusetts - Waukegan, Illinois - Northwestern University - Lee Strasberg - Actors Studio

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Orbach was an accomplished Broadway and off-Broadway actor. His first major role was that of El Gallo in the original cast of the decades-running hit The Fantasticks. He also starred in Carnival! the musical version of the movie "Lili." The play co-starred Anna Maria Alberghetti. Guys and Dolls (Tony Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical nominee), Promises, Promises (Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical), the original productions of Chicago (Tony Award Best Actor in a Musical nominee) and 42nd Street, and the revival of The Cradle Will Rock.

Related Topics:
Broadway - Off-Broadway - The Fantasticks - Carnival! - Guys and Dolls - Tony Award - Promises, Promises - Chicago - 42nd Street - The Cradle Will Rock

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In the 1980s, he shifted to film work, including prominent roles as Jennifer Grey's father in Dirty Dancing, a cold-blooded killer in the Woody Allen drama Crimes and Misdemeanors, and the voice of the candle Lumiere in Disney's animated musical Beauty and the Beast. He starred in the short-lived 1987 crime drama The Law and Harry McGraw (playing a role he reprised as a regular guest star on Murder, She Wrote for several years), which foresaw his best-known role of all - Detective Lennie Briscoe in the series Law & Order (1992 - 2004). Orbach also voice acted the character for the video game spin-offs of the series. Orbach was signed to continue in the role on '. He appeared in only the first two episodes of the series, which aired in March of 2005, after his death. The fifth episode of the series, "Baby Boom", was dedicated to his memory.

Related Topics:
Jennifer Grey - Dirty Dancing - Woody Allen - Crimes and Misdemeanors - Voice - Beauty and the Beast - 1987 - The Law and Harry McGraw - Murder, She Wrote - Lennie Briscoe - Law & Order - 1992 - 2004 - Voice acted - Video game - 2005

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In early December 2004, it was announced that Orbach had been receiving treatment for prostate cancer since Spring 2004; he died at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York on December 28. His agent, Robert Malcolm, announced at the time of his death that Orbach had been diagnosed with prostate cancer more than ten years before.

Related Topics:
Prostate cancer - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - December 28

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Orbach was married in 1958 to Marta Curro, by whom he had two sons, Anthony Nicholas and Christopher Benjamin; they divorced in 1975. In 1979, he married Broadway dancer, Elaine Cancilla, whom he met while starring in Chicago.

Related Topics:
1958 - 1975 - 1979

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On February 5, 2005, he was posthumously awarded a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.

Related Topics:
February 5 - 2005 - Posthumously - Screen Actors Guild Award

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