Of course he also voiced Lumiere and he sang what is probably one of the most popular Disney songs ever.
He was really great.
One more, “wow” to the pile.
I always loved watched Briscoe and Logan on L&O, and while I never saw any of it, I was aware of his theatrical work. Plus, he was a damn good pool player.
See ya, Lennie.
“…the tyranny of time.”
He had a very interesting life. Some excerpts-
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Jerry was born in the Bronx. His father, Leon, was a former vaudevillian actor and his mother, Emily, was a radio singer.
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He studied drama at the University of Illinois and at Northwestern. He then went to study acting in New York and got constant work in musicals. He slowly pushed to get acting roles in tv and movies, but was frequently overlooked because of his musical roots.
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He created the roles of El Gallo in “The Fantasticks”, Billy Flynn in “Chicago” and Julian Marsh in “42nd Street” on the New York stage.
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He was partying at the Copacabana with famed New York mobster Joey Gallo hours before he was shot dead at Umberto’s Clam House in New York City.
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He worked as a chauffeur for Mae West.
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He had read for the roles of Max Greevey and Phil Cerreta on Law and Order before finally being cast as Lennie Briscoe.
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He played a defense attorney in the second season of Law and Order before getting the role of Det. Briscoe on the show a few years later.
But this is huge-
The New York Landmark Conservancy declared him a Living Landmark.
Yeah.
Not to be flip in an obit thread or anything, but if you’re declared a living landmark, do you have to get permission from the Conservancy to get things, er, renovated? 
Typical. He’ll probably be a parking lot for two years, then they’ll put up Leonardo DiCaprio where he used to be.
Moriarity, IIRC, is a total nutjob, but Noth is still civil with Wolf and co-they DID do that Exiled TV movie.
Lennie (And Jerry!) deserves a big sendoff-the last show he was on totally sucked.
I never much liked L&O, but I liked Lenny enough to watch it anyway. I hadn’t heard of the new spinoff. Damn.
(For those who remember Barney Miller, Lenny sometimes struck me as Fish on antidepressants. Yes, my mind makes bizarre connections.)
and…
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He won a Tony for his performance in Merrick’s “Promises, Promises,” the Neil Simon-Burt Bacharach-Hal David musical based on the film “The Apartment.” He played Chuck Baxter, the role originated in the movie by Jack Lemmon.
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He earned Emmy nominations for his work on “Empty Nest” and Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound.
Also, early reports are saying Orbach still is expected to appear in early episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury.
I really hope L&O writes in a farewell episode as well.
Lenny’s gone 
sniffle
I’m a “Law & Order” addict, often watching the re-runs on TNT, and will probably own the series on DVD someday. Briscoe has long been one of my favorite characters on that show…possibly the most favorite. Orbach’s departure from the series last season was a downer for me, and to hear of his passing is sad, sad, sad.
My condolences go out to his family and friends.
He was also a victim of identity theft.
Late at night on AM radio, there is a commerical with Orbach about identity theft. “Hi, I am Jerry Orbach. Don’t be a victim of identity theft, I should know, I too was a victim of identity theft.”
I couldn’t picture someone running around pretending to be Jerry Orbach.
I think that stems from a lawsuit he filed against eBay. Someone put a couple of old contracts of his up for sale, which included his SSN.
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.
Cartooniverse
That’s a lovely story, Cartooniverse, thanks for sharing it.
I didn’t know about this untill I saw the tribute screen to Orbach during the 8:00 L&O on TNT. Quite an unfortunate shock, I greatly admired his work. I hope he allowed himself to take pride in his career, he certainly earned it.
is still in shock, can’t believe it
Cartooniverse, what a beautiful, bittersweet story. Thank you.
I was running around a lot on Wednesday, and the whole time I was in the car, I was listening to CDs, not the radio. I didn’t know he had died until I was watching a L&O rerun at 9PM on TNT and they did a tribute screen.
I don’t much care for the pre-Lennie L&O episodes, or the ones since he left, but, damn, I loved the Lennie years!
And even though I didn’t know very much about his work on Broadway, having seen the movie Chicago, and heard Orbach’s singing as Lumiere, I can so picture him as Billy Flynn!
RIP, Mr. Orbach.
He was THE Billy Flynn. There can be no other. I got the original soundtrack after working on a production of the show. It’s an abolsutely fantastic performance, the persona he exudes is perfect, his voice is the perfect balance of gravelly and smarmy so that he sounds like the ultimate ringleader who could convince you that elephants can fly.
I’ve never seen another version of Chicago since, and I’ll never see the movie. After just hearing Orbach as Billy Flynn, no other actor can play the part for me – it would disappoint. Orbach was the only real Billy Flynn.
And in all honestly, I don’t think “Law and Order” would have survived without Orbach as Lennie. He was the perfect mix in the equation that was almost the right blend, but hadn’t found that crucial “spice”. The concept was there, but George Dzundza and Paul Sorvino weren’t able to make it really zing! Then came Orbach and Lennie – from that point, it didn’t matter who his partner was. He made the first half of the show with that character and became an institution. He was the essential ingredient to the formula and how else could Law and Order start? You have a grisly discovery of a body, Lennie cracks a tasteless joke to make you roll you eyes (and by later season it had become so perfunctory, it was alomst self-parody, but you had to love it anyway), cue theme song and opening credits!
Man, he’ll be so missed in both the theatre world and television.
How often is someone both an outstanding song-and-dance man and a dramatic actor? Jerry Orbach could do it all and back again.
Did ya’ll know that Jerry was the voice of the slutty candle in “Beauty and the Beast?”