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In an extremely angry letter to his stepmother, Jerry Orbach's son Chris blames her for the television detective's decision to donate the gift of sight to two New Yorkers. In a letter that was meant to be private but was leaked yesterday to the NY Post, Chris paints a nasty picture of Jerry Orbach's widow, Elaine Cancilla-Orbach, calling her a "double-dealing, lying, scheming, miserable fool."
Chris's anger stems from what he sees as his stepmother's manipulative role in the making of his father's will. Neither Chris nor his brother Tony can obtain their trusts in Orbach's $10 million dollar estate until Elaine Cancilla-Orbach passes away. All he claims to have been left is, "two sweaters, a pool cue, a few CDs and a pocketknife from the estate of one of television's best-known faces - a man who happened, incidentally, to be my father."
In regards to that face, Chris Orbach accuses his stepmother or pressuring his father to donate his eyes to charity. "Having to leave my father's deathbed so that some guy with an ice box could shuck his eyes out while they were fresh still makes me sick and furious to this day," he writes.
Elaine Cancilla-Orbach says she was "in shock" to receive the letter. She defends herself throughout the article, telling of the hard times that she and Jerry lived through before Law & Order and mentioning the $50,000 she just gave to Chris's brother Tony for the down payment of a house.
Previously on Gothamist, a video of Elaine Cancilla-Orbach at a community board meeting arguing to have a street in midtown named after her husband. (It later would be.)
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Sounds like the makings for a good Law & Order episode.
that story was in sunday's post, not today's.
Does junior want the eyeballs back?
I didn't think so.
Typical scum children want money when their parent dies. Oh and they object to his eyes being donated too. What, do they want 'em back? Gonna keep 'em hanging from your rearview mirror or what?
Guess what jerks: If your parent dies, and is married to someone alive, they get the money! Not you.
Let's be fair people, not every child of a deceased parent gets upset over the way the will was handled just because they're spoiled rotten rich kids looking for easy street. Often times it's more the anger over someone getting the money who doesn't deserve it...like a manipulative spouse for example. I mean why is the stepmom getting zero flack here? Is she any less innocent just because she was handed full control of his estate and doesn't have to argue over being cut out? Point is, you don't know the facts here. She may very well have orchestrated the kids not getting a penny until she dies which isn't fair. They're grown adults, not young children who need someone to watch over their inheritance for them. Maybe their trusts aren't secure so they only get it if she doesn't blow it all before she dies. I'd be pissed too. That isn't fair and I'm sure their dad didn't intend for them to not benefit from all his years of hard work. As for his eyes...I bet they're less upset over their dad's donation of them, but more because they weren't told and had to find out shortly after he passed when someone interrupted them grieving over him to remove them. I think it would set most people off in the moment.
As for who leaked his personal letter to her....my guess is she or her lawyers did in attempt to paint the guy in a bad light to better support her position as keeper of the estate. Which only makes me think less of her and her character.
Obviously this kid is spoiled and was hoping to not have to lift a finger to make his own money in his adulthood. I bet his father knew he was banking on that money, and that's why he left the money in the hands of his wife. He worked hard for his money, why shouldn't his kids work hard too?
As I see it, nobody's obliged to make it so their kids won't have to find their own vocation and work at it, like everyone else.
Personally, I wouldn't leave my kids a dime unless they were suffering from some sort of disability. And I'd leave my knees to the needy.
"Shuck his eyes out". There goes my appetite.
I have always liked Jerry Orbach as an actor, but liked him even more after learning more about his background and career.
Life is too short for family disputes like this and it is sad indeed to read about it.
What's the big deal? It's not like Orbach was going to need his eyes anymore. It gets mighty dark in a closed coffin. I'd like to think he made the decision on his own out of the kindness of his heart, a concept Chris doesn't seem to understand.
When I die I am donating my eyes to Stevie Wonder.
Chris Orbach responds: (from www.chrisorbach.com)
"The events resulting from the NY Post story on august 10th have been traumatic to say the least. While I don't deny writing the things I wrote, the letter in question was PERSONAL, and PRIVATE, and NEVER meant for public view. It was leaked without my knowledge or consent by a family friend I thought I could trust. I was wrong.
Those comments, in the heat of the emotional time that they were made, were never meant to be seen publicly. If one looks at the letter in its entirety (instead of the most salacious portions, which, regrettably, the New York Post chose to emphasize) you'll see that it was intended as nothing more than an explanation as to why I no longer wanted to be in contact with my stepmother. You'll also see that the gripes I did have were more about being shut out of dad's legacy at the personal level than the monetary one. I made it very clear at the end of the letter that I didn't want a dime from her.
I also want it known that the particularly graphic comments about how I felt about my father's organ donation (which were used to great effect by the Post's editorial staff) had only to do with having to leave my father's deathbed in what seemed to be "in a hurry". My brother and I had no idea about this plan for him to donate his eyes. One minute you're crying at your deceased father's bedside, and only THEN you find out about this, and have to leave. It was just unsettling at the time. On principle, I have no negative feelings about organ donation whatsoever. It just would have been nice to have been told about it before it happened.
In any event, the letter reflected my private feelings about an unfortunate situation. I won't try to take back or disown those feelings, but I do apologize for any harm that their being revealed at the public level may have caused anyone, as this was never -- ever -- my intent."
Oedipus Equus?
It amazes me that there are so many uninformed, unsympathetic morons crawling out of the woodwork to keep posting trash talk here about Chris.
Get a life people and while you're at it....think the next time before you cast that stone.
I am just disgusted by you all.