# Jerry Orbach dead at 69 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095 "2004-12-29T14:48:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/1 "2004-12-29T14:48:24Z")
[DAMN!](http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_364094126.html) I’m in the library and starting to cry. The man was fantastic! ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/2 "2004-12-29T14:49:13Z")
What a loss. ☹ Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/3 "2004-12-29T14:51:08Z")
He hardly had any time to enjoy his retirement. What a terrible blow. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/4 "2004-12-29T14:55:03Z")
Oh, the gangster guy from F/X and one time extra-marital fling with Dorothy on Golden Girls. Didn’t know who this was until I saw the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/5 "2004-12-29T14:58:59Z")
He also starred in the original musical The Fantastics. Deep in December, it’s hard to remember… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/6 "2004-12-29T15:00:08Z")
Oh man, what a bummer. If anyone fit a role perfectly, it was Jerry Orbach on ‘Law and Order’. It was just tailor-made for him. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/7 "2004-12-29T15:02:04Z")
I’ve never watched _Law and Order_ or its spinoffs, but I’ve seen and enjoyed much of the rest of Orbach’s work. Terribly sad. 69 is way too young for anyone to die. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/8 "2004-12-29T15:04:24Z")
I saw him in _42nd Street_ (the show, not the street) when it first opened—top-rate musical-comedy actor. I thought the show sucked, but he was terrific. (So, I guess he and Susan Sontag are the “people who died too late to be in magazines’ year-end round-ups” this year?) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/9 "2004-12-29T15:04:52Z")
He was a major star on [Broadway](http://ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=55157) as well as in [movies and TV](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001583/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9b3JiYWNofGh0bWw9MXxubT1vbg__;fc=1;ft=20;fm=1). The entertainment world overall just lost one of their best. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/10 "2004-12-29T15:06:46Z")
That sucks. I couldn’t help but think that, on a show that specializes in stories “ripped from the headlines,” that this would be one headline that deserves to be ripped. The death of Briscoe would make a great episode. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/11 "2004-12-29T15:09:55Z")
Fred Ebb, Cy Coleman and now Jerry Orbach. Broadway is hurting. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/12 "2004-12-29T15:10:54Z")
So long, Lenny! I’ve always liked Orbach’s work, but he was especially good as detective Lenny Briscoe. I’ll be watching more reruns on TNT (and, I think, A&E). It’s a damn shame he didn’t have more time. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/13 "2004-12-29T15:19:52Z")
From a different generation, I knew him best as Mr. Houseman in _Dirty Dancing_ and Lumiere the Candlestick in _Beauty and the Beast_. He become one of my favorite faces and voices to watch for, and always delivered a fine performance. He was a guy I believed as “Dad.” Condolences to those who actually knew him - I’m saddened who only knew the characters he created. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Captain\_Crunchy\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Crunchy_Crunch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/14 "2004-12-29T15:21:04Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > He hardly had any time to enjoy his retirement. What a terrible blow. ☹ He wasn’t in retirement. He was filming the latest Law & Order spinoff, **Law & Order: Trial By Jury** , which was going to be based around him as the lead character. This is awful news! He was a great man and a fantastic actor. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/15 "2004-12-29T15:24:13Z")
I think we should officially ban agents/PR folks from saying that someone is going to make a “full recovery.” It only gets our hopes up and hurts that much more when they’re terribly, horribly wrong. What a loss to both Hollywood and Broadway. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/16 "2004-12-29T15:27:42Z")
Oh no! I had heard he was having prostate troubles but had no idea it was so serious! What a loss! I’m a huge theater fan and he was a great booster of the stage; he still had his singing chops and sang recently at a great number of benefits and fundraisers. He was a popular fixture of NY society and got his smiling face in a tux in all the papers at this or that big party or charity ball. Here’s his [Broadway credits](http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?id=55157) from the Broadway IMDB. NYC Dopers, keep an eye out for dimmed marquees at curtain time today or tomorrow on Broadway. I’m listening to ‘Try to Remember’ right now, and I’ve queued up ‘Round and Round’ and the tour-de-force ‘I Can See It’. I’ll pick up the original CHICAGO cast recording today–in the recent Broadway PBS documentaries we did get to see him perform his Billy Flynn. Cy Coleman, Fred Ebb, Uta Hagen, now Jerry–all irreplaceable. _Deep in December it’s nice to remember Without a hurt the heart is hollow…_ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/17 "2004-12-29T15:28:47Z")
No no no no no no. It can’t be! Not Lennie! He didn’t look sick on his last episode. I agree with **Snoooopy**. They need to work his death into the show. What a fitting tribute. And no passing comment from Van Buren either. I want to see Detective Green weeping over his coffin. I’m sure the actor is already crying anyway. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/18 "2004-12-29T15:30:26Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > I’m listening to ‘Try to Remember’ right now, and I’ve queued up ‘Round and Round’ and the tour-de-force ‘I Can See It’. I’ll pick up the original CHICAGO cast recording today–in the recent Broadway PBS documentaries we did get to see him perform his Billy Flynn. > > Cy Coleman, Fred Ebb, Uta Hagen, now Jerry–all irreplaceable. > > _Deep in December it’s nice to remember > Without a hurt the heart is hollow…_ That’s almost scary, **Mehitabel**. I’m listening to the AccuRadio Broadway feed, and they played “Try to Remember” pretty much the same time you were listening it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/19 "2004-12-29T15:33:39Z")
I just started watching Law and Order recently, but I’m very sorry to hear this. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095/20 "2004-12-29T15:53:22Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > NYC Dopers, keep an eye out for dimmed marquees at curtain time today or tomorrow on Broadway. Headed to RENT tonight and was thinking that the lights will probably be dimmed ☹ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jerry-orbach-dead-at-69/282095.md?page=2)