HE: I have trouble thinking of Jerry Orbach as a musical performer. To me he’s narco detective Gus Levy in Prince of the City and Lenny Briscoe in Law And Order.
Friendo: Orbach starred in The Fantasticks, and was the original singer of this classic tune. There’s a soundtrack album. It’s interesting because we don’t usually think of him as a musical artist but he was. This clip is from a 1982 special, “Night of 100 Stars.”
HE: I think of him as Levy.
Friendo: I think of him as Lenny in Law And Order. And a murderer in Crimes And Misdemeanors.
HE: Orbach didn’t play a “murderer” in Allen’s film. I mean, he did but he wasn’t the actual killer. He played a brother who did an ugly favor for an older brother. He didn’t kill Anjelica Huston — he pushed a button on her. There’s a difference.
Friendo: AI begs to differ on whether Jerry Orbach played a murderer. Check your email.
HE: Obviously he facilitates the killing of his older brother’s ex-girlfriend, but he’s removed from the actual act of murder. Pushing a button isn’t the same as wielding an ice pick. Did Vito Corleone actually cut off the head of Khartoum, the Hollywood horse? No. Orbach made the murder happen…yes. This isn’t an exact analogy, but he pushed the button in roughly….okay, this is a stretch….but almost in the same way that Lyndon Johnson pushed several successive buttons that brought about the deaths of tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers. Was Johnson an actual murderer? No.
Friendo: Vito killed Khartoum, period. I don’t think horse lover Tony Soprano would have appreciated Vito’s role. Obviously there’s a legal distinction between a President’s actions and facilitating a common murder.
HE: Kennedy probably would not have facilitated the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers. That was a difference netween him and Johnson.