Everyone's Friend, Jerry Orbach

There's a sweet article about the Lone Star Boat Club in Hell's Kitchen in the NY Times today. While there might not seem to be anything sweet about "Big H., Tony, Shimmy and Mickey [who] show up and trade their street clothes for T-shirts and shorts or towels around their waists" while they play pinochle and whose average age is 50, the sweet part is this was a hangout of Jerry Orbach - he was called "J.O." Jerry's widow, Elaine, has vowed to keep paying Jerry's dues as well as his share of costs of running the club, to help keep the club going. It also turns out that Jerry also introduced Chris Noth to the club, but Noth doesn't play cards: "It takes mental skill to play that game; guys like me play basketball." Gothamist doesn't have the mental skillz to play pinochle (we barely know what it is), but we like saying it! [Pinochle rules here.]

And on Saturday, Jerry was posthumously awarded the SAG award for best actor in a drama series. Elaine Orbach accepted the award, noting that Jerry always said, "Never leave a hit show" (scroll down for her acceptance speech). Gothamist is happy that they gave it to him, but it is sad this was his first solo nomination.

Gothamist on Jerry Orbach; also, we're working on our plan to get a street named after Jerry Orbach. We'll keep you updated!