‘Law & Order’ Star Jerry Orbach Dies
James Joyner
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Wednesday, December 29, 2004
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4 comments
‘Law & Order’ Star Jerry Orbach Dies (ABC-AP)
“Law & Order” star Jerry Orbach has died of prostate cancer at age 69, a representative of the show said. Orbach announced last month he had been diagnosed with the disease. Orbach, 69, starred for 12 seasons in the original “Law & Order” series, but left to head the spin-off “Law & Order: Trial by Jury,” set to debut next year. His representatives had said Orbach was receiving treatment since spring, but refused to discuss how advanced the illness was or the nature of the treatment.
Orbach began playing Detective Lennie Briscoe in 1992, the original show’s third season.
Born in the Bronx, he was in the original cast of the off-off-Broadway hit “The Fantasticks” and has appeared in such films as “Dirty Dancing,” “Prince of the City” and “Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
A shame.
Photo courtesy of TV Tome, which has information on Orbach’s career. The NBC cast biography has more.
See also Steven Taylor, Jeff Quinton, and Laurence Simon
It was just a few weeks ago that the news was reporting that he’d make a full recovery. Now, all of a sudden, he’s dead. Was this just a bad prognosis on the part of the doctors, or was it just putting on a game face for the media?
I’m so sorry for your loss. My dad died at age 55 in l966, so as Jerry Orbach aged in his movies I often thought of how my dad would have looked at his age. It’s like I lost my dad again, so to Jerry’s family I thank you for allowing him the time to make movies and TV series and I’m sorry again for your loss. I often wanted to write Jerry before he died to let him know how I felt, but was afraid he would think I was some crazy fan. Sometimes we touch people and we have no clue. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to e-mail.
Jerry, we will all miss you tremendously. You were the best and there will be an empty space on the set of Law & Order for sure. Your shoes will be difficult to fill.
So sorry to hear of Jerry’s passing. Law & Order won’t be the same. My thoughts are with his family.