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Jerry
Orbach was born in the Bronx, New York on October 20th 1935 to
parents Leon (vaudeville entertainer) and Emily (radio singer).
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Growing
up in a show-biz family taught him the ropes of the entertainment
business, but it was also hard on the young child. He moved around
from town to town until his family settled in Wakegan, Illinois.
There he went to High School and eventually went to the University
of Illinois at Northwestern where he majored in drama.
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After
school he began to appear in the regional theaters. His first
professional debut was in the Typewriter Man in Illinois in
1952. A few years later he moved to New York City and made his
Broadway debut in a bit part in Streetsinger in 1958.
However, his first real role came only two years later when he
appeared as as Mack the Knife in The Threepenny Opera.
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He
was married to his first wife, Marta Curro in June 1958. They had
two children and were divorced in 1975. His son is musician Chris
Orbach,
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In
1960, he took on the role of El Gallo in the original cast of the
now infamous, long-running, off Broadway hit, The Fantasticks,
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His
role in the Broadway performance in Guys and Dolls in 1965
was spectacular and he was nominated for his first Tony Award for
Best Featured Actor in a Musical.
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He
won a Tony Award in 1969 for Lead Male in a Musical for his
portrayal of Chuck Baxter in the musical Promises, Promises.
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He
was nominated for another Tony Award in 1976 for Best Actor in a
Musical (as Billy Flynn in the original Broadway cast of Chicago).
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He
was married to his second wife, Elaine Cancilla in October of 1979.
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In
addition to the roles listed above, over the three decades between
1960 and 1990 he appeared and starred in many roles on and off
Broadway, in movies and on Television. Including: Broadway roles in
Carnival!, Annie Get Your Gun, The Natural Look,
6 Rms Riv Vu and 42nd Street. He also had a memorable
role in the motion picture Dirty Dancing in 1987. He was
even nominated for an Emmy for his appearance on an episode of the
Golden Girls in 1990.
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In
1992 he landed his big break in Television and became known for his
role as Lennie Briscoe on Law and Order, which he maintained
for twelve years. Note, however, he also appeared as other
characters on the show before settling in as Brosco. The cast of
the show was nominated for the Actors Guild Award for Outstanding
Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series every year from 1997
through 2003. He also received an Emmy Award nomination for
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2000.
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In
1992 he was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting
Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for Broadway Bound.
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In
1997 he was awarded with the Crystal Award from the New York City
Mayor’s Office of Film, Television and Broadcasting. He also
received the Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for
Voice Acting by a Male Performer in an Animated Feature Production.
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In
2000, he stirred up some controversy when he sued Ebay for selling
some of his old contracts that showed his Social Security Number.
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It
was announced in early December 2004 that he had prostate cancer. A
few weeks later, on December 28, 2004, he died. He will be missed
by all.
Biography by Ian Ripley,
PopStarsPlus.com, Sr. Staff Writer
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