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Jerry Orbach

Jerome Bernard Orbach (October 20, 1935 – December 28, 2004) was an American actor and singer described as "one of the last '' bona fide'' leading men of the Broadway musical".

Orbach's career began on the New York stage, both on and off-Broadway. He created roles such as El Gallo in the original off-Broadway run of ''The Fantasticks'' (1960), in which he was the first performer to sing that show's standard "Try to Remember". Orbach won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Chuck Baxter in ''Promises, Promises'' (1968–1972). He was also Tony-nominated for portraying Sky Masterson in ''Guys and Dolls'' (1965) and Billy Flynn in the original ''Chicago'' (1976).

Orbach gained worldwide fame for starring as NYPD Detective Lennie Briscoe on the NBC legal drama ''Law & Order'' from 1992 to 2004. For that role, he earned the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series as well as a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He reprised the role across several series, including ''Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1996–1999), ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–2000), ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2001), and ''Law & Order: Trial by Jury'' (2005).

On film, Orbach took supporting roles as a detective in the crime drama ''Prince of the City'' (1981), a coach in the comedy film ''Brewster's Millions'' (1985), an overly protective father in the romance film ''Dirty Dancing'' (1987), and a mobster in the drama ''Crimes and Misdemeanors'' (1989). He voiced Lumière in the Walt Disney animated musical film ''Beauty and the Beast'' (1991). Provided by Wikipedia