I just heard this on the news--don't have a link to confirm it yet. Perhaps best known for his role as Lennie Briscoe in TV's "Law and Order", he also was a veteran of Broadway, as well as providing the voice for Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast and playing the father in Dirty Dancing. Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I think he retired from Law and Order for health reasons, but I don't now that for sure.
Bummer. He was great on Law and Order. He was also very good in Prince of the City, one of the best cop movies ever.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
He left Law and Order to take a part in the new spinoff series, and left production of that when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, expecting to return soon.
I thought he was a great actor. Even in Dirty Dancing (which I hated) he managed to transcend the typical grumpy father in such films.
Dagonee
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I HATE that movie.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Which spinoff was he going to be part of?
Posted by Ralphie (Member # 1565) on :
Man, that's sad. I really dug Jerry Orbach.
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Aw. That stinks.
Posted by Megachirops (Member # 4325) on :
He was the best thing about that show.
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
It's so sad - he was like a New York institution. He was a great actor and everyone said he was a great person, too.
Kwea, why do you hate Dirty Dancing?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Posted by Derrell (Member # 6062) on :
Posted by jexx (Member # 3450) on :
I knew he had cancer, but I thought he had beat it.
I will remember Mr. Orbach tonight.
I remember being very mad when his character retired from the show, and then encouraged to learn of (yet another! heh) LandO spin-off with him in it.
All that I have read of him (as a person) speaks of his graciousness and gentle humor.
I'm glad we've been able to enjoy his acting for so long.
My thoughts are with his family.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
I saw a pic of him on tv, and now I know who he was. I know him as the dad in Dirty Dancing. I know I have seen him in other things, but cannot remember what. Very sad.
Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
He was the Candlestick in Beauty and the Beast. He sang Be Our Guest.
I'm so depressed about this. I have been biding my time with Law & Order, just waiting for Trial By Jury to begin.
Posted by Ryuko (Member # 5125) on :
I'm just... really really sad about this.
I'm really sad.
Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :
I love Law & Order. I didn't know that about Beauty and the Beast. Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:The secular service drew dozens of show business figures, including Chris Noth, Olympia Dukakis, Danny Aiello, Tony Roberts, Michael Imperioli, Brian Dennehy, Benjamin Bratt and Malachy McCourt.
Broadway legend Chita Rivera remembered Orbach from their "Chicago" onstage partnership in the 1970s. "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 & Order," called Orbach "my best friend -- and I imagine there are a lot of people here who would say the same."
He described Orbach as a man who would "break into song" at any moment, while also enjoying a reputation as "a deadly poker player" and avid golfing partner.
"I loved playing golf with Jerry more than I loved golf," said Sherin, adding that Orbach was not a strict scorekeeper when playing with a friend.
The actor was equally gracious on the set of "Law & Order," the director said, pouring juice for nervous, dry-mouthed colleagues or whispering lines to them if they forgot them.
Orbach lay in a simple wooden coffin draped with white blossoms under the chapel's blue and gold vaulted ceiling. A half dozen pews marked "Friars Club" were filled with fellow members of the New York organization famed for its celebrity roasts.
The service was led by family friend Elizabeth Hepburn, who started and closed the ceremony by leading mourners in a breathing meditation, interspersed with John Denver's "Perhaps Love" played on a guitar.
The service ended with a guitar rendition of "Lullaby of Broadway" and "Try to Remember" -- the signature song of the off-Broadway hit "The Fantasticks" that launched Orbach's rise in New York theater in 1960, as El Gallo.
Orbach costarred in a string of hit Broadway musicals including "Carnival!," "Promises, Promises," "Chicago" and "42nd Street," and in the off-Broadway hit comedy, "Scuba Duba."
Among his 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 was the voice of the candlestick Lumiere in the Disney animated feature "Beauty and the Beast."
Orbach, who won a Tony Award in 1969 for "Promises, Promises," played Briscoe on "Law & Order" for a dozen years and was already at work in an upcoming spinoff series, "Law & Order: Trial by Jury."
Sounds like he lived his life doing what we loved, doing it well, and touching people everywhere he went. Not a bad legacy.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)