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Jerry Orbach: 69
Get to know me very well and you will learn that my favorite shows on television are Stargate and Law & Order (in their various respective incarnations).
Thus, it is with sadness that I tell you that Lenny Briscoe’s shield is being retired from the show. Jerry Orbach, 69 years old and a twelve year veteran of the original show (dating back to Jill Hennessey’s tenure), died late yesterday at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of prostrate cancer.
This isn’t a difficult death to take. He was an actor, even if he was one of my favorites. But the cause of death also hits close to home. My father was diagnosed earlier this year with prostate cancer and is about to begin radiation therapy to combat it. The prognosis is good, but when you hear of someone with Mr. Orbach’s notoriety dying from the same disease it does make you take a step back.
According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation:
Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in the United States. One in six American men will develop prostate cancer in the course of his lifetime. A little-known fact is that a man is 33% more likely to develop prostate cancer than an American woman is to get breast cancer.
My dad’s was caught early because he receives regular medical examinations. And this is one cancer that can be caught very early.
So, if you haven’t been examined lately, perhaps you should go schedule that check up now.
MickC @ December 29, 2004