Jerry Orbach

Jerry Orbach
Birth name	Jerome Bernard Orbach
Born	October 20, 1935 in New York, New York, USA
Died	December 28, 2004 in New York, New York, USA from prostate cancer
Notable Roles
Notable Episodes
Awards

Roles

Starring Roles

Series	Role	Year(s)	Season(s)
The Law & Harry McGraw	Harry McGraw	1987–1988	1
Law & Order	Lennie Briscoe	1992–2004	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	12	13	14

Guest Starring Roles

Series	Role	Episode	Airdate
The Nurses	Steve Ford	1x31 - Field of Battle	May 30, 1963
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century	Lars Mangros	1x21 - Space Rockers	February 21, 1980
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	1x15 - Tough Guys Don't Die	February 24, 1985
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	2x17 - One Good Bid Deserves a Murder	February 23, 1986
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	3x16 - Death Takes a Dive	February 22, 1987
Tales from the Darkside	Robert	3x17 - Everybody Needs a Little Love	February 22, 1987
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	5x19 - Double Exposure	April 30, 1989
Hunter	Sal Scarlatti	6x13 - Son and Heir	February 3, 1990
The Golden Girls	Glen O'Brien	5x22 - Cheaters	March 24, 1990
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	7x16 - From the Horse's Mouth	February 24, 1991
Murder, She Wrote	Harry McGraw	7x22 - The Skinny According to Nick Cullhane	May 12, 1991
Law & Order	Frank Lehrman	2x02 - The Wages of Love	September 24, 1991
Empty Nest	Arthur	4x16 - The Mismatchmaker	February 1, 1992
Empty Nest	Arthur	5x04 - ... Or Forever Hold Your Peace	October 10, 1992
Homicide: Life on the Street	Det. Lennie Briscoe	4x12 - For God and Country (2)	February 9, 1996
Homicide: Life on the Street	Det. Lennie Briscoe	6x05 - Baby, It's You (2)	November 14, 1997
Homicide: Life on the Street	Det. Lennie Briscoe	7x15 - Sideshow (2)	February 19, 1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Lennie Briscoe	1x03 - ...Or Just Look Like One	October 4, 1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Lennie Briscoe	1x04 - Hysteria	October 11, 1999
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Lennie Briscoe	1x15 - Entitled (1)	February 18, 2000
Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Detective Leonard Briscoe	1x07 - Poison	November 11, 2001

Awards and Accolades

Tony Awards

(1 Win in 3 Nominations)

• Won: Best Leading Actor in a Musical (1969)

Promises, Promises

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• Won: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2005)

Law & Order

Trivia

• His mother, Emily was a radio singer and a greeting card manufacturer and his father, Leon was a vaudeville performer and a restaurant manager
• Because Jerry and his family moved around frequently, he resided in Mount Vernon, New York; Pennsylvania (in Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke & Scranton), Springfield, Massachusetts and Waukegan, Illinois
• Graduated from Waukegan High School in 1952
• Attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and Northwestern University
• Moved to New York City in 1955 and studied acting at the Actors Studio
• Was married to Maria Curro from 1958 to 1975; they have two sons: Tony and Chris Orbach, who is an actor
• Married his second wife, Elaine Cancilla in 1979
• Was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1994
• Inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1999
• Was named a "Living Landmark" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 2002 (along with his Law & Order co-star Sam Waterston)