"I used to say when I was working in the theater that if I ever had five seasons of a hit TV show I'd never have to worry about money and wouldn't have to do anything I didn't want to do."
Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer best known for both providing the voice for Lumière the candelabra in Beauty and the Beast and his long-running role of Detective Lennie Briscoe across several iterations of Law & Order.
However, his career was a lot more diverse than the grizzled homicide detective would indicate. He started in theatre; his first major role was El Gallo in the original cast of The Fantasticks. The theater the 2006 revival performed in was named in his honor. He was nominated for three Tony Awards and two Drama Desk Awards, winning one of each as Chuck Baxter in Promises, Promises.
Theatrical roles with TV Tropes pages:
- 42nd Street: Julian Marsh (original Broadway cast)
- Annie Get Your Gun: Charlie Davenport (Broadway revival)
- Carnival: Paul Berthalet (original Broadway cast)
- Carousel: Jigger Craigin (Lincoln Center revival)
- Chicago: Billy Flynn (original Broadway cast; nominated for Tony and Drama Desk awards)
- The Fantasticks: El Gallo (original off-Broadway cast)
- Guys and Dolls: Skye Masterson (1965 Broadway revival; nominated for Tony award)
- Promises, Promises: Chuck Baxter (original Broadway cast; won Tony and Drama Desk awards)
- The Threepenny Opera: Streetsinger, Smith and Macheath (1955 off-Broadway cast)
Live-action film roles with TV Tropes pages:
- Guys and Dolls (1955): Barbershop extra
- Marty (1955): Ballroom extra
- The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight (1971): Salvatore "Kid Sally" Palumbo
- Prince of the City (1981): Detective Gus Levy (nominated for National Society of Film Critics and New York Film Critics Circle awards)
- F/X: Murder by Illusion (1986): Nicolas DeFranco
- Dirty Dancing (1987): Dr. Jake Houseman
- Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989): Jack Rosenthal
- Out for Justice (1991): Captain Ronnie Dozinger
- Straight Talk (1992): Milo Jacoby
- Universal Soldier (1992): Dr. Christopher Gregor
Television roles with TV Tropes pages:
- Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: 1 episode
- Empty Nest: 2 episodes
- Frasier: 1 episode
- The Golden Girls: 1 episode
- Homicide: Life on the Street: Detective Lennie Briscoe (from Law and Order), 3 episodes
- Hunter (1984): 1 episode
- Kojak: 1 episode
- Law & Order: Detective Lennie Briscoe
- Murder, She Wrote: Harry McGraw (6 episodes)
- Tales from the Darkside: 1 episode
- Who's the Boss?: 1 episode
Voice acting roles with TV Tropes pages:
- Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers: Zachary Foxx (series regular)
- Aladdin and the King of Thieves: Sa'luk
- Beauty and the Beast: Lumière; he continued to perform the voice until his death.
- The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management): Pierre
