"Were you lying then? Or are you lying now?" -- Sam Waterston as Jack McCoy, Law & Order.
Jerry Orbach Dies at 69
Jerry Orbach died. That quote has nothing to do with it, other than that it's from Law & Order, and Orbach starred on L&O for a dozen years. I'm not suggesting Orbach was a liar.
I've watched L&O regularly since it premiered in 1990 (the pilot was actually shot in 1988 -- there's a framed photo of the President -- Reagan -- in an office shot), and I remember when Orbach was new -- after both George Dzundza and Paul Sorvino in the lead cop role.
This is a composite of a couple of article/obits on Orbach:
Jerry Orbach was mourned with music and meditations Friday, December 31, 2004 during a funeral where he was remembered as the quintessential New Yorker on the long-running police drama "Law & Order."
"He always knew his lines - and yours too," said choked-up co-star Sam Waterston, who joined 300 people for the hourlong service at Riverside Memorial Chapel on Manhattan's West Side.
Orbach, a Broadway song-and-dance man who achieved his widest fame as Detective Lennie Briscoe on TV's "Law & Order," died of prostate cancer Tuesday night at age 69.
Show business figures including Chris Noth, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Tony Roberts, Michael Imperioli, Brian Dennehy, Benjamin Bratt and Malachy McCourt attended the secular service, where Orbach lay in a simple wooden coffin draped with white blossoms under the chapel's vaulted, blue-and-gold ceiling.
Broadway legend Chita Rivera had fond memories of Orbach, who appeared with her in "Chicago" in 1975. "This huge silhouette would appear in a fedora, smoking a cigar," she said. "There was our anchor. There was our rock in a pinstriped suit."
Ed Sherin, executive producer of "Law and Order," said, "Jerry was my best friend, and I imagine there are a lot of people here who would say the same."
He costarred in a string of hit Broadway musicals including "Carnival!," "Promises, Promises," "Chicago" and "42nd Street."
Among Orbach's film credits were "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight," "Prince of the City," "Postcards From the Edge," "Crimes and Misdemeanors," and "Dirty Dancing." He also sang in the Disney animated feature "Beauty and the Beast" as the voice of the candlestick Lumiere.
He played Briscoe for 12 years on "Law & Order," and is expected to appear in early "Law & Order: Trial By Jury" episodes when the show premieres in March.
Orbach won a Tony Award in 1969 for "Promises, Promises" and earned three Emmy nominations: in 2000 for "Law & Order," in 1992 for an ABC production of Neil Simon's "Broadway Bound" and in 1990 for an episode of "The Golden Girls."
The new "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" will go on sans Orbach.
Upon news of his passing Wednesday, a publicist for Trial by Jury confirmed to E! that NBC would continue production on the series and will air episodes featuring Orbach. The actor appeared in three of the six episodes shot so far. The network has not announced an air date for the new show, but it is expected to debut in early 2005, most likely in late February or March.
The fourth edition of the Law & Order franchise, Trial by Jury costars Bebe Neuwirth, former Senator Fred Thompson (reprising his L&O role of D.A. Arthur Branch), Amy Carlson and Kirk Acevedo, and devotes many its ripped-from-the-headlines formula to the inner workings of the Big Apple's judicial system.
L&O mastermind Dick Wolf told the New York Times that Orbach's declining health was the main reason producers retired his tough-talking top cop from active duty on the original series after 12 seasons and transferred him to the new spinoff, where he would appear less frequently as an investigator for the district attorney's office.
Orbach agreed to the switch earlier this year to give him more time to focus on his recovery--the shooting schedule on Trial by Jury called for him to work the beat only two days a week. Wolf tapped Dennis Farina to replace Orbach on the original L&O this season.
NBC says it will soon begin the search for an actor to fill Orbach's slot on the new series.
Wolf said Orbach's "loss is irreplaceable" and called the actor "a legendary figure of 20th century show business."
Former New York City Mayor Rudi Giuliani also paid tribute to Orbach, hailing him a "friend to all New Yorkers" and a "devoted ambassador of the city."
And S. Epatha Merkerson, who acted alongside Orbach for years on Law & Order told USA Today, said, "He was always such a feisty and strong character and person. It never occurred to me [his cancer] would go this far."
Broadway marquee lights were dimmed for one minute Wednesday night in tribute to Orbach, who was survived by his second wife, Elaine, and two adult sons from his first marriage.
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