Jerry Orbach: A Funny Man, Even At The Poker Table

By MIKE DIMAURO
Day Assistant Sports Editor, Sports Columnists
Published on 1/14/2005

He was the best TV cop of them all.

I know, I know. He'd get quite a run from Andy Sipowicz of “NYPD Blue.” But while Sipowicz tests the bounds of hyperbole, Lennie Briscoe, the wisecracking backbone of “Law and Order,” was a regular guy.

Lennie Briscoe, otherwise known as Jerry Orbach, died recently from prostate cancer. The television business, not to mention the art of channel surfing, just lost a Hall of Famer. Because this much I know: When wearing out your thumb with the remote searching for programming, you always stop when Lennie Briscoe's face appears.

Orbach's character loved to bet the horses on “Law & Order,” and in real life, Orbach spent ample time in our little corner of the world, playing poker at Mohegan Sun.

“I spent four or five hours with him there one day,” recalls Jim Spinnato of New London, the funniest man in eastern Connecticut. Spinnato, a noted hypnotist and comedian, has entertained throughout the country, including many, many school-sponsored graduation parties in the region.

Two eminent senses of humor, one poker table ...

“He sat next to me and we got to talking,” Spinnato says. “He asked me what I did and people I worked with. When I mentioned Pat Paulsen and Professor Irwin (Corey, a comedian), Jerry said, ‘Geez, I worked with those guys.' ”

That's when Orbach began talking about his days with Professor Irwin.

“Jerry talked about the conversations they'd start just to see the reaction on people's faces,” Spinnato says. “He'd say, ‘Hey, Irwin, I went to Sears today.'

And Irwin would say, ‘To buy that dishwasher? Did you buy that green one?' Jerry said, ‘No the red one, it's self-cleaning.' Irwin would say, ‘I figured you'd get the yellow one.' And then they'd look at the way people were looking at them and start laughing.”

Orbach, sensing Spinnato's adeptness, couldn't resist at the poker table.

“All of a sudden, Jerry says, ‘Hey, Jim, I went to Sears today,' ” Spinnato says.

Spinnato picked up on the joke.

“So I said, ‘Oh yeah? What did you get?” Jerry says, ‘That grill.' I said, ‘The charcoal one or the electric? Wasn't that on sale?' He says, ‘No, it was gas with one of those side plates. And what a deal.' I said, ‘No kidding?'

“And every time a new dealer would come to the table, Jerry would start it again and we cracked ourselves up,” Spinnato says.

Later that day, Spinnato met Orbach's wife, Elaine, who is from Pittsfield, Mass. Spinnato knew some people in her family.

“Small world, isn't it?” Spinnato says. “I couldn't get over it. I'll tell you, Jerry Orbach was a really, really nice man.”

Orbach's career was a success even before Lennie Briscoe.

He originated the roles of El Gallo in the off-Broadway “Fantasticks,” Billy Flynn in the original mid-'70s Broadway run of “Chicago” and Julian Marsh in the revival of “42nd Street.”

He won a Tony for his performance in 1968's “Promises, Promises,” a Neil Simon/Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical version of the 1960 movie “The Apartment.”

And he was the voice of Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast.”

Mostly, though, Jerry Orbach will be remembered as Lennie. Next time you're playing poker, or at Sears buying a grill, don't be afraid to chuckle.

Jerry Orbach will be missed.

This is the opinion of Mike DiMauro