Jerry was born in the Bronx. His father, Leon, was a former vaudevillian actor and his mother, Emily, was a radio singer. His family moved frequently and eventually settled in Waukegan, Illinois where he went to high school. The constant moving made him the new kid on the block and forced him to become "a chameleon" to blend in his new settings. He studied drama at the University of Illinois and at Northwestern. He then went to study acting in New York and got constant work in musicals. He slowly pushed to get acting roles in tv and movies, but was frequently overlooked because of his musical roots.


On Monday, 20th March 2000 he sued on-line auctioneer eBay Inc. in Manhattan (New York) federal court for displaying his Social Security number on the Internet. The suit alleges that eBay began broadcasting the confidential information on its Web site on Wednesday 15th March 2000 when it advertised the sale of two of Orbach's contracts from 1958. Created the roles of El Gallo in "The Fantasticks," Billy Flynn in "Chicago" and Julian Marsh in "42nd Street" on the New York stage. Was partying at the Copacabana with famed New York mobster Joey Gallo hours before Gallo was shot dead at Umberto's Clam House in New York City Worked as a chauffeur for Mae West. In 1976, he was nominated for the Tony Award® for "Best Actor in a Musical" for his performance in "Chicago." In 1969, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor (Musical) for his 1968 role of Chuck Baxter in the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical "Promises, Promises", a stage adaptation of Billy Wilder's The Apartment (1960). This was preceded by a 1965 Tony nomination as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Musical) for a revival of "Guys and Dolls," and followed by a 1976 Best Actor (Musical) nomination for the original production of "Chicago." His manager, Robert Malcolm, announced in December 2004 that he has prostate cancer. However, Malcolm said, "We expect he'll be fine. He's been playing golf, shooting his episodes (of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005)) and doing real well". Had been battling prostate cancer for 10 years. Received the Edith Oliver Award for Sustained Excellence at the 1999 Lucille Lortel Awards. Appeared in episodes of three different series with Richard Belzer: "Law & Order" (1990), "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999). Along with Jesse L. Martin, Fred Dalton Thompson and Leslie Hendrix, he is one of only four actors to play the same character (Detective Lennie Briscoe) on all four "Law & Order" series ("Law & Order" (1990), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999), "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005)). Jesse L. Martin performed the song "Razzle Dazzle" from the musical "Chicago" at the 2005 Tony Awards just as the "In Memoriam" section of the show was finishing. The last photo shown during the memorial was that of Orbach, who was both Martin's costar on "Law & Order" (1990) and the first person to perform "Razzle Dazzle" in the original Broadway production of "Chicago". His character "Law & Order" (1990) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005) character, Detective Lennie Briscoe, was the longest running character on American prime time live action television from May 2004, when "Frasier" (1993) ended, to March 2005. Kelsey Grammer had played Dr. Frasier Crane in "Cheers" (1982) and "Frasier" (1993) since November 1984. Richard Belzer, who has played Detective John Munch in "Homicide: Life on the Street" (1993) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999) since January 1993, is the current holder of the title. The "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005) episode "Baby Boom" was dedicated to his memory. At the end, a message was shown that said "For Jerry". Along with Chris Noth, Dann Florek and Fred Dalton Thompson, he is one of four "Law & Order" (1990) cast members who later joined the regular cast of one of the spin-off series. He played Detective Lennie Briscoe in "Law & Order" (1990) from 1992 to 2004 and was a member of the original cast of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005). According to his book "Hollywood Animal", Joe Eszterhas said that when he was down and out, Orbach would fill his station wagon with groceries and deliver them to his house. Was an organ donor and upon his death he gave his eyes as a gift of sight. W 53rd St. in Manhattan has been named Jerry Orbach Way!.