Jerry Orbach, Prince of the City

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 Lumire 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.