I just learned Jerry Orbach, who played Detective Lenny Briscoe on Law and Order, died from prostate cancer. RIP. One of my favorite actors. He will be missed.
Jerry Orbach dies of prostate cancer
NEW YORK (AP) Actor Jerry Orbach, who played a sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV's Law & Order and scored on Broadway as a song-and-dance man, has died of prostate cancer at 69, a representative of the show said Wednesday.
Jerry Orbach was nominated for an Emmy in 2000 for his work on Law & Order.
By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY
Actor Jerry Orbach, who played a sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV's Law & Order and scored on Broadway as a song-and-dance man, has died of prostate cancer at 69, a representative of the show said Wednesday.
Orbach died Tuesday night in Manhattan after several weeks of treatment, Audrey Davis of the public relations agency Lippin Group said.
When his illness was diagnosed, he had begun production on NBC's upcoming spinoff Law & Order: Trial By Jury, after 12 seasons playing Detective Lennie Briscoe in the original series. His return to the new show had been expected early next year.
On Broadway, the Bronx-born Orbach starred in hit musicals including Carnival,Promises, Promises (for which he won a Tony Award), Chicago and 42nd Street.
Earlier, he was in the original cast of the off-off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks, playing the narrator. The show went on to run for more than 40 years.
Among his film appearances were roles in Dirty Dancing,Prince of the City and Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Orbach is expected to appear in early episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, for which he continued as Briscoe in a secondary role, when the series premieres later this season, Davis said.
"I'm immensely saddened by the passing of not only a friend and colleague, but a legendary figure of 20th Century show business," said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the Law & Order series, in a statement. "He was one of the most honored performers of his generation. His loss is irreplaceable."
In a 2000 Associated Press interview, Orbach said the role in the acclaimed Law & Order brought him "wonderful security" rare in the life of an actor.
"All my life, since I was 16, I've been wondering where that next job was gonna come from," he explained. "Now I take the summer off, relax, and I know that at the end of July we're gonna start another season."
He said he didn't know "where I stop and Lennie starts, really. ... I know he's tougher than me and he carries a gun. And I'm not an alcoholic."
"I know I wouldn't want to be him," Orbach sums up. "I guess THAT'S where I stop and he starts."
In 1987-88, he starred in the series The Law and Harry McGraw, a spinoff featuring a character he created in Murder, She Wrote. In 1990, a shot on The Golden Girls brought him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a comedy series.
"There's a pace in TV I like," he said in a 1993 interview. "I like to work fast. I don't like to dwell all day over one scene as you do in a big feature. Big feature films are another world."
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Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Jerry Orbach dies of prostate cancer
NEW YORK (AP) Actor Jerry Orbach, who played a sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV's Law & Order and scored on Broadway as a song-and-dance man, has died of prostate cancer at 69, a representative of the show said Wednesday.
Jerry Orbach was nominated for an Emmy in 2000 for his work on Law & Order.
By Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY
Actor Jerry Orbach, who played a sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV's Law & Order and scored on Broadway as a song-and-dance man, has died of prostate cancer at 69, a representative of the show said Wednesday.
Orbach died Tuesday night in Manhattan after several weeks of treatment, Audrey Davis of the public relations agency Lippin Group said.
When his illness was diagnosed, he had begun production on NBC's upcoming spinoff Law & Order: Trial By Jury, after 12 seasons playing Detective Lennie Briscoe in the original series. His return to the new show had been expected early next year.
On Broadway, the Bronx-born Orbach starred in hit musicals including Carnival,Promises, Promises (for which he won a Tony Award), Chicago and 42nd Street.
Earlier, he was in the original cast of the off-off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks, playing the narrator. The show went on to run for more than 40 years.
Among his film appearances were roles in Dirty Dancing,Prince of the City and Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Orbach is expected to appear in early episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, for which he continued as Briscoe in a secondary role, when the series premieres later this season, Davis said.
"I'm immensely saddened by the passing of not only a friend and colleague, but a legendary figure of 20th Century show business," said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the Law & Order series, in a statement. "He was one of the most honored performers of his generation. His loss is irreplaceable."
In a 2000 Associated Press interview, Orbach said the role in the acclaimed Law & Order brought him "wonderful security" rare in the life of an actor.
"All my life, since I was 16, I've been wondering where that next job was gonna come from," he explained. "Now I take the summer off, relax, and I know that at the end of July we're gonna start another season."
He said he didn't know "where I stop and Lennie starts, really. ... I know he's tougher than me and he carries a gun. And I'm not an alcoholic."
"I know I wouldn't want to be him," Orbach sums up. "I guess THAT'S where I stop and he starts."
In 1987-88, he starred in the series The Law and Harry McGraw, a spinoff featuring a character he created in Murder, She Wrote. In 1990, a shot on The Golden Girls brought him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a comedy series.
"There's a pace in TV I like," he said in a 1993 interview. "I like to work fast. I don't like to dwell all day over one scene as you do in a big feature. Big feature films are another world."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
