Jerry Orbach Well Remembered

By Bridget Byrne

The stars turned out Friday in New York to remember, mourn, and memorialize Jerry Orbach as a great song and dance man, an astute poker play, an avid golfer, a fine friend and co-worker, and a quintessential New Yorker.

The Bronx born Tony winner, most famous as the sleepy-eyed, seen-it-all, wisecracking detective Lennie Briscoe on Law & Order, died of prostate cancer, Tuesday, aged 69.
Among the 300 or so joining Orbach's family at the hour long secular service at Riverside Memorial Chapel on the West Side of Manhattan, where many actors who had co-starred with Orbach during his twelve seasons on the NBC crime series, including Sam Waterston, who plays Assistant D.A. Jack McCoy, Chris Noth and Benjamin Bratt (news), who played Det. Mike Logan and Det. Rey Curtis, both sometime partners of Briscoe, Jesse L. Martin, his final sidekick Det. Ed Green, Crossing Jordan star Jill Hennessy (news), who was Assistant D.A. Claire Kincaid, and S. Epatha Merkerson, who is Lieutenant Anita Van Buren.

Also present were fellow members of The Friars Club, famous for their no-holds barred celebrity roasts, former New York Mayor David Dinkins, veteran character actors like Olympia Dukakis (news), Danny Aiello and Brian Dennehy (news) (who'd worked with him on the 1986 thriller F/X), and stars who'd hoofed and sung with him in numerous Broadway shows.

Chita Rivera who co-starred with Orbach in the 1970s in the musical Chicago, recalls how he looked originating the role of Billy Flynn. "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."
Referring to Orbach's easy re-assuring presence and his innate professionalism, Waterston joked, "He always knew his lines - and yours too." Addressing the mourners, Waterston struggled to keep his composure, recounting how even during Orbach's final weeks of illness at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center his spirit and determination were strong as he strove to enjoy life all the way to the end. "He chose a certain life, lived it as himself - and it worked out," said Waterston. "He didn't quit the show before it was over."

The Associated Press reports Orbach lay in a simple wooden coffin draped with white blossoms. Family friend Elizabeth Hepburn, who said, "His was a glorious and outrageous talent," led the gathering in breathing meditation, while cabaret singer Alice Evans' performed the John Denver song "Perhaps Love."

According to Ed Sherin, an executive producer of Law & Order, Orbach was someone who would "break into song" at any moment. Sherin said Orbach was "my best friend - and I imagine there are a lot of people here who would say the same." He described him as "deadly poker player" and a great golf partner, easy-going about the rules if playing with someone less skilled than himself.

Orbach won his Tony in 1969 for Promises, Promises, and Broadway dimmed its lights in honor of his memory earlier in the week. The service included a guitar rendition of "Lullaby of Broadway" and "Try to Remember", the signature tune of the off-Broadway hit The Fantasticks in which Orbach had first found fame originating the role of El Gallo.

Orbach, who, after being diagnosed with cancer, left Law & Order for the less taxing schedule of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, will be seen as Briscoe in three episodes of the spin-off series when it premieres early this year.