• Jerry Orbach was an American Tony Award-winning actor, singer and stage performer. He made his Broadway debut in The Threepenny Opera and starred in Guys and Dolls, Annie Get Your Gun, Chicago and 42nd Street. He became a household name from his roles on Murder She Wrote and Law & Order. He is only one of four actors, along with Jessie L. Martin, Fred Thompson and Leslie Hendrix, to appear in all four versions of Law & Order.

  Orbach died on December 28, 2004, after suffering from prostate cancer. Orbach's wife, Elaine, died on April 2, 2009, from pneumonia.Playbill News: Elaine Cancilla Orbach Dies at 69 (April 2, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Full name: Jerome Bernard Orbach
  2. Born: October 20, 1935
  3. Birthplace: New York City, New York State
  4. Died: December 28, 2004
  5. Won a Tony awardin 1976 for his role in Chicago
  6. Corner by 53rd St. and 8th Avenue in New York City was renamed Jerry Orbach Way
  7. Was the voice of Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast
  8. Spouse: Elaine Cancilla Orbach
  9. Elaine Orbach died on April 2, 2009 from pneumonia

• Notable Films

  • 1955: Guys and Dolls as Barbershop customer
  • 1986: F/X as Nicholas DeFranco
  • 1987: Dirty Dancing as Dr. Jake Houseman
  • 1989: Crimes and Misdemeanors as Jack Rosenthal
  • 1991: Beauty and the Beast (voice) as Lumiere

• Television Roles

  • 1986: The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers as Zachary Foxx
  • 1987-1988: The Law and Harry McGraw as Harry McGraw
  • 1985-1991: Murder, She Wrote as Harry McGraw
  • 1996-1999: Homicide: Life on the Street as Det. Leonard Briscoe
  • 1999-2000: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as 1999-2000
  • 2001-2002: House of Mouse as Lumiere
  • 1991-2004: Law & Order as Det. Lennie Briscoe
  • 2005: Law & Order: Trial by Jury as Det. Lennie Briscoe

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Fred Thompson | Perry Mason | Raymond Burr | Disney's Beauty and the Beast | Dennis Farina | Dianne Wiest | Murder, She Wrote | Angela Lansbury | Jesse L. Martin | Benjamin Bratt | Ean Evans

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