I am devastated by his death. He was the one person on any TV show that had really gotten to me. I didn't start watching L&O until about a year ago, because we really didn't watch TV much. Somehow, with the move to Denver and the two recliners in front of an HDTV screen, both of us became TV junkies. In my defense, I work while I watch so it isn't as much of a waste of time as it could be.
Anyhow, I fell in love with the show and started watching it (all three shows), and all the reruns on TNT and USA. When they announced last spring that Jerry Orbach was leaving the show, I was very disappointed; then elated to learn that he would return in the new, upcoming L&O Trial By Jury.
Somehow I missed the news early in December that he was being treated for prostate cancer, and his death really came as a total surprise. His manager said he had been undergoing treatments since the spring, so his departure from the original show must have been because of his illness. He was filming episodes of the new show around his treatment schedule. (There are 6 complete, with 2 or 3 featuring Orbach).
One of the big losses beyond what is obvious is that Orbach made a major contribution to the scripts because of his intimate knowledge of NY. I "knew" that, just from the lines; I would often marvel at the jokes that only a New Yorker could possibly appreciate (I lived there for the first 40 years of my life). Like some S&G lyrics, what is obscure or meaningless to most people is instantly clear to any NYer.
He was a great actor and apparently a great man as well. He will be missed.
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Valerie Magee
Visit my business site at
mageenet.biz, Hamilton Camp's Offical Web Site at
hamiltoncamp.com , and Cathy Cowette's web site at
cathycowette.com. Also visit
Dr. Jack's Lightfoot page.
- Borderstone
