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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."

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