Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City

Book excerpt: Today the late actor Jerry Orbach (1935-2004) is best remembered as the world-weary New York City Detective Lennie Briscoe from the Emmy Award-winning NBC television series Law and Order. But that work only accounts for 12 years of a 50-year career that spanned stage, screen, and television. From the moment he landed the role of the Street Singer in the 1955 off-Broadway revival of The Threepenny Opera, he distinguished himself as a major performer in popular musicals and plays, including The Fantasticks, Carnival, Scuba Duba, Promises, Promises, 6 RMS RIV VU, Chicago, and 42nd Street. Jerry Orbach also appeared in over 40 films, with Crimes and Misdemeanors; Prince of the City; Dirty Dancing; and the voice of the candlestick, Lumière, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast topping the list. From the '60s through the '90s, he was a guest or featured actor on major TV hits like The Defenders; Love American Style; Murder, She Wrote; The Golden Girls; and Frasier. Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City is the story of this versatile performer – his triumphs and tragedies public and private. Most of all, it is a study of a gifted actor's craft as told through the observations, insights, and reminiscences of those who knew him best. Listen to John Anthony Gilvey live at Book Expo America on the BEA Podcast.