May he rest in peace

Jerry Orbach
October 20 1935 - December 28 2004

from the AP

Jerry Orbach had a gift for charming audiences his entire career — first as a song-and-dance man who starred in musicals on and off Broadway, then for 12 years as a sharp-tongued cop on TV's "Law & Order."

Along the way, he made films as varied as the gritty crime drama "Prince of the City" and the smash romance "Dirty Dancing."

Orbach, who died of prostate cancer Tuesday in Manhattan, was beginning another chapter at age 69: He had taken his signature role as Detective Lennie Briscoe to NBC's upcoming spinoff "Law & Order: Trial By Jury."

From tsunami victims too numerous for my mind to fully comprehend, to the loss of one man who makes death seem all to real again.

I don't know about your house, but in mine Jerry Orbach was a member of the family. For over a decade my family gathered around the TV to watch Law and Order. It was a nightly tradition. My father would even record it for me when I was busy.

...and all these years after my fathers passing, watching Jerry Orbach play Lennie Briscoe was still a near nightly routine. I never met the man, but it sure feels like I knew him.

...he truly will be missed.