Jerome Bernard “Jerry” Orbach was born on the 20th October 1935, in The Bronx, New York City USA, of Jewish, Polish and Lithuanian ancestry. He was an actor and singer, and was described as a very talented, versatile film and stage actor. Moreover, he was a well known celebrity on television as well as in Broadway musicals. Jerry Orbach passed away in December 2004, having been active in the entertainment industry since 1955.
How rich was the actor and singer? Authoritative sources estimated that the overall size of Jerry Orbach’s net worth was as much as $10 million.
Jerry Orbach Net Worth $10 Million
To begin with, Jerry Orbach was raised in The Bronx. His father, Leon Orbach, ran a restaurant while also performing as an actor; his mother, Emily Olexy, was a singer. He attended Northwestern University, apparently without graduating.
He made his stage debut off-Broadway in 1955 in the English adaptation of “The Threepenny Opera” by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The same year, he was cast in a small role in the film adaptation of “Guys and Dolls”. He was noticed for the creation of the role of El Gallo in the musical “The Fantasticks” by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones in 1960. In 1965, he performed the lead role in the musical “Guys and Dolls” for which he was nominated for Tony Award as the Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Afterwards, he starred in the television film “Annie Get Your Gun” in 1967. From 1968 to 1972, he appeared in the musical “Promises, Promises” by Neil Simon, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the role of Chuck Baxter earning him a Tony Award for the Best Actor in a Musical and a Drama Desk Award for the Best Performance. Orbach was also nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his roles in the musicals “Chicago” (1975–1977) by Bob Fosse, Fred Ebb and John Kander as well as “42nd Street” (1980–1985) by Michael Stewart, Mark Bramble and Bradford Ropes. His net worth was growing steadily.
The interpretation of the episodic role of the private detective Harry MacGraw, a friend of Jessica Fletcher, in the television series “Murder, She Wrote” (1985–1991), encouraged producers to give him the lead role in the spin-off “The Law and MacGraw” (1987-1988), however, it was the role of Lennie Briscoe in the television series “Law & Order” (1992–2004) which brought him popularity. With Jerry winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, and a number of nominations.
Talking about the big screen, Orbach created more than 40 roles. To give examples, he played the role of the detective Gus Levy in the film “Prince of the City (1981) by Sidney Lumet, and the father of Jennifer Grey in “Dirty Dancing” (1987) by Emile Ardolino. Jerry also starred in the films “Universal Solder” (1992), “Chinese Coffee” (2000) among others. He also lent his voice to Light in the animated feature film “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) and its sequels.
Finally, in the personal life of the actor, he married twice, firstly to Marta Curro from 1958 to 1975, with whom he had two children. In 1979, he married Elaine Cancilla; they were married until his death. The actor died in December 2004 from prostate cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
