Belated: Ode to Jerry Orbach (on the occassion of his death -Dec 2004)

I don't know if you knew, but I loved Jerry Orbach. I was sad when he died.

Jerry Orbach played the kind of roles (at least the ones I saw)
That were important for all kinds of reasons:
Fighting crime and a cop’s personal demons
Watching over teenage daughters’ personal revolutions
Delivering sarcasm and straight-talk
Pushing the boundaries of mandatory retirement and
Of the orangeness of age-defying cake make-up.
And always, in some way, having the last word.

Maybe my love for him (or was it for Lenny Briscoe)
Was a matter of a primal penchant for patriarchal men
Or plain grandfatherly family resemblances
Or successful manipulation by clever script-writers.
Probably all three
And all very mundane.

Just like the question
Where Jerry ends and Lenny starts.
The answer would, even if found,
Be somehow insignificant.

In the end, his role on Law&Order
Did not typecast him
But created a world in which
That certain New York City cop
Dangerously close to his professional expiration date
Could not be played by anyone
Except that tall and lanky guy.

‘Cause nobody puts Baby in a corner
Or Jerry Orbach into retirement.