I just finished my usual lunch hour viewing of a Law and Order rerun. And once again, I am in awe of the late, great Jerry Orbach. That man can make me weep with one line. One of the most moving, amazing moments in any TV show I've ever seen occurred was when his character's daughter on Law and Order was murdered. Father and daughter had been estranged, and yet when he approaches her body, you can tell he is absolutely gutted. And then, as his partner helps him move away, he simply says, "She was my baby, Ray." And you know he's totally devastated.
I'm weeping just typing this, remembering. There's no Jerry Orbach there. The man is Lenny Brisco; that is his dead daughter. Suspension of disbelief? No. No "suspension" involved. I believe.
He's so believeable as Lenny, I could not convince my son he was the voice of Lumiere in Disney's Beauty and The Beast. He had to see his name in the credits, and even then, he was utterly gobsmacked.
The world lost an amazing performer when Jerry Orbach passed away.
2 comments:
I loved Jerry Orbach...he was the reason I watched Law and Order and I miss him. I remember first seeing him in Dirty Dancing as the dad. But he won my heart and became a favorite on Law and Order. It is amazing to think that he was Lumiere. To me he will always be Lenny.
That is an amazing episode. The other one that always sticks in my mind is when Clair is driving him home one night and they are hit by a drunk driver. The look on his face when he realized she was dead sent chills down my spine. Tremendous man.
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