Remembering Jerry: Author to speak about actor’s early life in Scranton as part of Library Lecture Series (2024)

Jerry Orbach played many roles in his decades on stage and screen, but for the residents of Northeast Pennsylvania, the late actor always will be remembered as one of their own.

Known best for acting in the television show “Law & Order” and the film “Dirty Dancing,” Mr. Orbach spent part of his childhood living in Scranton’s Hill Section and the Wilkes-Barre area, where his mother’s family also lived.

His heritage and time in the area kick off the biography, “Jerry Orbach: Prince of the City: His Way from ‘The Fantasticks’ to ‘Law & Order,'” by author John Anthony Gilvey, Ph.D. Dr. Gilvey will speak about his book and Mr. Orbach’s life and career Tuesday night during the Lackawanna County Library System’s Matthew F. Flynn Library Lecture Series. The free talk begins at 7 p.m. at Scranton Cultural Center at The Masonic Temple.

“You’ll see (Mr. Orbach’s) growth really as an artist from his earliest performances on stage through his films and ultimately his television career,” Dr. Gilvey said during a recent telephone interview.

A few years ago, Dr. Gilvey, who has a doctorate in educational theatre from New York University, was looking for a subject for a follow-up to his debut book, “Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical,” when he happened to look up while on the New York subway. A photo of the late Mr. Orbach stared back at him from an advertisement.

The image seemed to say, “What about me, John?”, Dr. Gilvey recalled, and he realized Mr. Orbach made “perfect sense” as a subject. Dr. Gilvey’s book traces Mr. Orbach’s life and career on stage and screen through the actor’s death in 2004 after battling prostate cancer for 10 years.

The idea for how to organize the biography came from the song “Try to Remember,” which Mr. Orbach sang in the musical, “The Fantasticks,” and became his theme song, according to Dr. Gilvey. He included the lyrics in the book and titled its sections with some of the song’s lines.

“When I looked at the lyrics to that song, I thought, ‘Oh, this is his life,” Dr. Gilvey said. “It’s all laid out, including the last line of the song: ‘Deep in December, it’s nice to remember/Without a hurt the heart is hollow.’ Well, he dies deep in December (2004).”

Born in Bronx, N.Y., Mr. Orbach lived for a few years in Lynnwood, Luzerne County, and Scranton, where he made his stage debut in a Christmas pageant and had his first communion and confirmation in St. Peter’s Cathedral. Mr. Orbach used to visit the firehouse near his Scranton home, Dr. Gilvey said, a pattern he repeated as an adult while playing Det. Lennie Briscoe on “Law & Order.” Mr. Orbach befriended New York City cops and firefighters and often would stop by to see them after work, Dr. Gilvey said.

“That goes back to his roots in Scranton,” he said. “And of course, the (New York Police Department) adored Jerry; they still do. … He really got it right as Lennie Briscoe. He was completely credible because he knew his stuff, and he had so many friends in the police force and so forth who would tell him the stories and mentor him, you got it. The whole persona of Lennie Briscoe comes as a result of Jerry’s rapport with the police and, to an extent, the fire department.”

Police and firefighters make up just part of the interviews Dr. Gilvey conducted to create the biography. Dr. Gilvey was able to draw from an interview he conducted with Mr. Orbach years before for his dissertation about Mr. Champion, a Broadway director and choreographer.

Also providing insight into Mr. Orbach’s life were several costars, “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf and many family members, including his sons; his widow, Elaine, who died before the book’s release; and his 101-year-old mother, Emily Olexy Orbach, who recently asked Dr. Gilvey to “give me a full report of your time in Scranton.”

“It’s a great thing to get the interviews with people like Chita Rivera and Epatha Merkerson and Sam Waterston,” Dr. Gilvey said. “Those things are to-die-for, of course. But when you have the cooperation of the family, that’s really important. That’s especially helpful.”

Mr. Orbach “had his friction in life like anybody else,” Dr. Gilvey said, but he was well-liked, and the people who knew and worked with him consistently spoke highly of him.

“He had time for people, and he had time for his fans,” Dr. Gilvey said.

Contact the writer: cheaney@timesshamrock.com

If you go

What: Matthew F. Flynn Library Lecture Series featuring author John Anthony Gilvey

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.

Where: Scranton Cultural Center at The Masonic Temple, 420 N. Washington Ave.

Details: Tickets are free with a library card and are available at all Lackawanna County libraries.

Originally Published:

Remembering Jerry: Author to speak about actor’s early life in Scranton as part of Library Lecture Series (2024)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Nicola Considine CPA

Last Updated:

Views: 6494

Rating: 4.9 / 5 (49 voted)

Reviews: 80% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Nicola Considine CPA

Birthday: 1993-02-26

Address: 3809 Clinton Inlet, East Aleisha, UT 46318-2392

Phone: +2681424145499

Job: Government Technician

Hobby: Calligraphy, Lego building, Worldbuilding, Shooting, Bird watching, Shopping, Cooking

Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.