Jerry Orbach

Five years after his death at age 69, Jerry Orbach is never far from the eyes of American cable-television viewers, as someone somewhere is watching one of his 274 appearances as Det. Lenny Briscoe on "Law & Order."

Jerome Bernard Orbach's family moved to Waukegan when he was in seventh grade, and he stayed through high school.

"We liked it here and figured it was time to settle down," he told The News Sun in June 1974. "Waukegan was a microcosm; a tremendous melting pot of everything."

Orbach lived on McAlister Avenue, shot pool with his dad at the Elks Club, went sledding in the ravines. He would go on to star on Broadway ("Carnival," "Guys and Dolls") and in films ("F/X," "Dirty Dancing"), but former Genesee Theatre executive director Jim Neal recalled how eager the hometown boy was to join the theater's honorary board of directors in 2000.

"There's something about people from Waukegan," Neal said following Orbach's passing. "Once they're from Waukegan, they're always from Waukegan. They're always down to earth. I think it made him a common man."