Jerry Orbach

Created the roles of El Gallo in "The Fantasticks," Billy Flynn in "Chicago" and Julian Marsh in "42nd Street" on the New York stage.

W. 53rd St. in Manhattan has been named Jerry Orbach Way.

In 1969, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) for his 1968 role of Chuck Baxter in the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical "Promises, Promises", a stage adaptation of Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960). This was preceded by a 1965 Tony nomination as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for a revival of "Guys and Dolls," and followed by a 1976 Best Actor (Musical) nomination for the original production of "Chicago."

In 1976, he was nominated for the Tony Award® for "Best Actor in a Musical" for his performance in "Chicago."

Had read for the roles of Max Greevey and Phil Cerreta on Law & Order (1990) before finally being cast as Det. Lennie Briscoe.

Received the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence at the 1999 Lucille Lortel Awards.

On March 20, 2000, he sued online auctioneer eBay Inc. in Manhattan Federal Court for displaying his Social Security number on the Internet. The suit alleges that eBay began broadcasting the confidential information on its website on March 15, 2000, when it advertised the sale of two of his contracts from 1958.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 405-407. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Jerry Orbach was born in the Bronx, New York, the only child of Leon Orbach, a former vaudevillian actor, was a German Jewish immigrant, who was born in Hamburg, Germany, and Emily (nee Olexy), a radio singer, was born in Pennsylvania to immigrant Polish-Lithuanian Roman Catholic parents, Alexander Olexy and Susanna (nee Klauba). The family moved frequently. He spent part of his childhood in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania and eventually settled in Waukegan, Illinois, where he went to high school. The constant moving made him the new kid on the block and forced him to become "a chameleon" to blend in his new settings. He studied drama at the University of Illinois and at Northwestern University. He then went to study acting in New York and got constant work in musicals. He slowly pushed to get acting roles in television and films after being overlooked due to his musical roots. Orbach died at age 69 on December 28, 2004, after a decade-long battle with prostate cancer.

On Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005), when he was so ill that he couldn't speak above a whisper, they rewrote the scene so that he and the other characters around him all had reason to whisper (outside of a courtroom door).

The Jerry Orbach Theater, which opened in 2006, is on the third floor of the Snapple Theater Center complex, 210 West 50th Street, in New York City.

In 2008 his oldest son Tony and grandson Peter appeared on the series "Cash Cab" together.

His widow, Elaine Cancilla Orbach died on April 1, 2009, from pneumonia.

His mother Emily Orbach died on July 28, 2012, at the age of 101.

Has four grandchildren: Sarah Kate Orbach and Peter Orbach are his oldest son Tony's kids; Aaron Orbach (b. 2014) and Emilia Orbach (b. 2019) are the children of youngest son Chris Orbach and daughter-in-law Nicole.