Originally posted in his Obit thread.
About 6 years ago, I spent a week with Jerry and his wife Elaine. In Marrakech, Morrocco. I was shooting a job with Robin Leech for the Food Network. Jerry and his beloved were hosting a segment and they were with us for the week.
As is frequently the case when on the road, the lines that usually separate crew from talent soften a bit. Add to that the fact that he was regular people, and just trust me when I say the crew enjoyed every moment with him that week.
The day before we flew out, I demurred from the group’s plans to go to the Suik ( pronounced Shook ), the huge open-air market, to buy gifts. My father was having open-heart surgery that day. I needed to stay close to the hotel through the midday into afternoon Marrakech time to get updates from the east coast of the USA. ( 6 hours off the clock ). Jerry and Elaine also chose to spend a quiet day at the hotel.
I was at the pool, reading my book. They came and sat a few rows away, and when they saw me, Jerry called me to come over and sit with them. They were kind and supportive when I told them why I’d held back. When lunchtime came, they insisted that I sit and have lunch with them as well. After maybe a 2-hour visit, they went to nap and I stayed at the pool.
I asked why they didn’t go shopping, and it was then that Jerry told me face to face of the illness.
I’ve never told this story to a soul until now,. Since he has died it seems highly irrelevant to protect his privacy. He didn’t talk about it more than a few sentences, and I sure didn’t badger him with questions. He chose to share, with the explicit feeling that I was not a gossip. The celebrity angle is not an issue- when somebody looks you in the eye, and says " people do not know about this back at home ", that means they never will. Not from me. I never betrayed that trust.
They were very much in love, those two. I’m extremely sad to hear that he finally has died. The guy was easy-going, humorous, FILLED with stories. I asked him about Broadway and boy did he love talking about the old days. When I told him I’d been in “Annie Get Your Gun” in the 7th grade, he just cracked up.
I never worked “Law & Order”, and so never had any other contact with Jerry or Elaine. He was a fun, gentle soul and the world can always use more of those.
ETA: He said something to me that day that I’ve just remembered in re-reading this old post. He did talk about L&O. He said words to the effect that " Once you’ve had it and lost it, and get a chance to have it again, every single day is a gift. I go to work knowing I got a second chance. " His career really slowed and stuttered for quite a while before L&O. Dude was appreciative and humbled by the work.
Sigh.
