Jerry Orbach (October 20, 1935 - December 28, 2004)

Whenever I hear his name I immediately just think of the words "The Man" On Broadway he brought his style and class to Annie Get Your Gun, Guys and Dolls and The Fantasticks just to name a few... In 1955 he made his first film appearance and would go onto to appear in more than two dozen films including Guys and Dolls, Mad Dog Call, Brewster's Millions, F/X, I Love N.Y., Dirty Dancing, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Out for Justice, Toy Soldiers, Beauty and the Beast and Universal Soldier... On television he found another home however. From 1980 to 1981 he was a recurring player on the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live." In 1985, he made a guest appearance on the CBS mystery series "Murder, She Wrote" starring Anglea Lansbury. His character, PI Harry McGraw quickly became a favorite with audiences and in 1987 "The Law and Harry McGraw" debuted on CBS. Sadly the series only lasted one season but the Harry McGraw character continued to make occasional guest appearances on "Murder, She Wrote" until the spring of 1991. On September 24, 1991 he made his first appearance on "Law & Order" but not as Detective Briscoe but rather as defense attorney Frank Lehrman. On November 25, 1992 Detective Lennie Briscoe made his first official appearance replacing the departing Paul Sorvino. Even though he joined the series during its third season he became one of the most beloved and recognizable characters in the show's history. After more than 200 hundred appearances he made his final appearance on May 19, 2004. At the time the actor was suffering from prostate cancer but had an optimistic outlook and signed on to appear as Lennie Briscoe in a reduced role on the spin-off series "Law & Order: Trial by Jury." Saldy he was only able to appear in the first two episodes. His final episode originally aired on March 4, 2005 three months following the actor's passing... He also brought Detective Lennie Briscoe to "Homicide: Life on the Street", "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." His final film role was in Manna from Heaven in 2002 and his final television guest role was a reprisal of his "Beauty and the Beast" role on the animated series "Mickey's PhilharMagic" in 2003... His other television credits include (this list is incomplete): "Toast of the Town" "The Shari Lewis Show" "The Kraft Music Hall" "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" "The Mike Douglas Show" "Super Password" "Larry King Live" "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" "Love, American Style" "The Nurses" "The Defenders" "Medical Center" "Kojak" "Trapper John, M.D." "Ryan's Hope" "The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers" "Who's the Boss?" "The Golden Girls" "Empty Nest" "Frasier" In Memoriam Remembers: Jerry Orbach

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Cast of "Make Room for Daddy" / "The Danny Thomas Show" (583)

It was one of the longest running family sitcoms in television history.  Right there along side "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" it was one of the most beloved programs of the day.  It began on ABC as "Make Room for Daddy" on September 29, 1953.  After 120 episodes the title changed to "The Danny Thomas Show" and in 1957 the program moved to CBS.  After a healthy eleven year run the show ended on April 27, 1964 after producing 351 episodes total.  In 1970 a majority of the cast returned for the show "Make Room for Granddaddy" which lasted from 1970 to 1971 producing 24 episodes.  The cast was headed up by Danny Thomas who played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams.  Jean Hagen played his wife Margaret, Rusty Hamer played his son Rusty and Sherry Jackson played his daughter Terry.  Jackson played Terry from 1953 to 1958 followed by Penny Parker who played the role from...
Read more

Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 - March 31, 1979)

She began in New York on Broadway and then started appearing on radio. Some of her radio credits include "Henry Aldrich" and "Mr. & Mrs. North." When she became a widow in 1953 she relocated to California where she began appearing on film and on television. Her first film was Meet Me at the Fair. She also appeared in The Perils of Pauline in 1967. She is best remembered as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Beaver's Principal on "Leave it to Beaver." She also had a recurring role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Her final film appearance was in Shampoo in 1975... Other Television Credits: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre" "The Bob Cummings Show" "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" "I Love Lucy" "Lux Video Theatre" "The Jack Benny Program" "The Thin Man" "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" "Maverick" ...
Read more