Lennie Briscoe

LawandOrderCharacter
Birth = January 2, 1940
Death = 2005
name = Det. Lennie Briscoe


time on show = 1992—2004 ("Law & Order")
2005 ("")
succeeded = Joe Fontana ("L&O")
Chris Ravell ("TBJ")
proceeded = Phil Cerreta ("L&O")
start = "Point of View" ("L&O")
" ("TBJ")
finish = "C.O.D." ("L&O")
"" ("TBJ")

portrayed = Jerry Orbach

Leonard W. "Lennie" Briscoe was a fictional character on NBC's long running crime drama, "Law & Order". He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004. He was created by Walon Green and Rene Balcer, and was portrayed by Jerry Orbach. He also appeared in all three "Law & Order" spin-offs, and was part of the original cast of "", appearing in only the first two episodes due to Orbach's death.

In the "Law & Order" universe

Lennie Briscoe is introduced in the episode "Point of View" as the new senior detective in the Homicide Department of the New York City Police Department's 27th Precinct. ["Law & Order" episode "Point of View", originally aired November 25, 1992] His boss during his first season on the show is Capt. Don Cragen (Dann Florek); a year later, Lt. Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson) takes over the homicide squad. He was previously assigned as a detective in the 116th Precinct in Queens."Law & Order" episode "Corruption", originally aired October 30, 1996]

Briscoe joins the Precinct after Det. Mike Logan's (Chris Noth) partner, Sgt. Phil Cerreta (Paul Sorvino), is shot by a black market arms dealer and is given a desk job. Since then, Briscoe has become one of the two most popular characters in the history of the show, the other being A.D.A/D.A. Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston).cn|date=September 2008

Logan is transferred in the 1995 episode "Pride" to the Domestic Dispute Department in Staten Island for slugging a politician who had just gotten off on a murder charge, ["Law & Order" episode "Pride", originally aired May 24, 1995] and is replaced by Det. Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt). ["Law & Order" episode "Bitter Fruit", originally aired September 20, 1995] Four years later, Curtis goes into early retirement to take care of his Multiple Sclerosis-stricken wife, ["Law & Order" episode "Refuge (2)", originally aired May 26, 1999] and he is replaced by Det. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin) in 1999. ["Law & Order" episode "Gunshow", originally aired September 22, 1999] The pair is featured the most in episodes in syndication.cn|date=September 2008

Jerry Orbach portrayed a defense attorney in the first season of Law and Order before assuming the role of Briscoe.

Personal life

He was born on January 2, 1940. ["Law & Order" episode "Virus", originally aired April 21, 1993] A veteran of two failed marriages, Briscoe has two daughters, Cathy and Julia, and a nephew, Det. Ken Briscoe (played by Orbach's son, Chris). His family is fairly dysfunctional, however; an alcoholic for much of his life (he becomes sober in late middle age), he was often absent from his daughters' lives, and they have distant, fractious relationships with him as adults. Briscoe blames himself, especially when Cathy, a methamphetamine addict, is murdered by a drug dealer after she testifies against the dealer in court. ["Law & Order" episode "Damaged", originally aired May 6, 1998] However, he finds closure when the drug dealer dies from a heroin overdose. ["Law & Order" episode "Hate", originally aired January 6, 1999]

Briscoe reveals that when he was younger he used to park cars at the Atwater, which had a pilgrim on their parking sticker. In the 1996 episode "Aftershock", after witnessing an execution from a case he helped investigate, Briscoe falls off the wagon with disastrous results; A.D.A. Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy) is struck and killed by a drunk driver while driving him home from a bar. ["Law & Order" episode "Aftershock", originally aired May 22, 1996] The experience shakes him deeply, and he remains sober for the rest of his life.

Briscoe was raised Catholic, but is Jewish on his father's side and occasionally attends Jewish services as a courtesy to his first wife. ["Law & Order" episode "Blood Libel", originally aired January 3, 1996] It was revealed that his father suffered from Alzheimer's. ["Law & Order" episode "Golden Years", originally aired January 5, 1994] Though not actually Jewish according to the traditional definition, Briscoe is sometimes the target of antisemitism from criminals and even some of his own colleagues. Briscoe also develops a friendship with the only other featured Jewish police officer during his tenure, Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer), despite Munch's initial resentment when he discovers Briscoe had slept with one of Munch's ex-wives.

Character highlights

Briscoe is one of many characters on the show to have served in the military; he was at one point a corporal in the United States Army. On several occasions he has referred to his service in the Vietnam War. After leaving the Army, Briscoe joined the NYPD in the 29th Precinct and walked a beat there with stops at the 31st, 33rd, 110th, and 116th Precincts before rising to the rank of Detective. Upon joining the NYPD, Briscoe's badge number is '8220'.

One of Briscoe's former partners, Det. John Flynn (Kevin Conway), falsely implicates him in 1996 of taking seized drugs from the 116th Precinct evidence room (given to him by Flynn) during their stint there several years before. Flynn makes this allegation partly to throw off the Hellman Commission, which had been convened to investigate police corruption, including the questionable shooting death of a suspect by Flynn himself, and partly as revenge against Curtis, who refused to falsely defend Flynn. Briscoe, however, has an alibi for the time he was allegedly receiving stolen drugs from Flynn — he was having an affair with Officer Betty Abrams, a married woman. Against Briscoe's wishes, Abrams testifies before the commission to exonerate him. Because of the affair, however, the commissioners question her credibility. Although Briscoe is ultimately cleared, defense attorneys of suspects he subsequently arrests exploit the allegations through the rest of his career. ["Law & Order" episode "Sideshow", originally aired February 17, 1999] ["Law & Order" episode "Monster", originally aired May 20, 1998] ["Law & Order" episode "Damaged", originally aired May 6, 1998] ["Law & Order" episode "Under the Influence", originally aired January 7, 1998]

There are moments in Briscoe's career where his decisions are controversial. In the episode "Stalker", a stalker accused of murdering a woman could have gone free because the victim confessed to lying to the police about one of his earlier attacks. However, after the victim is found murdered, Briscoe goes to McCoy and tells him that he now believes that the victim did not lie to the police of the stalker's earlier attacks and that he is willing to take the stand and state that the original police report was incorrect. Curtis would be called by the defense to testify that the original police report was correct in his opinion. At the end of the episode, the stalker is found guilty; outside the courtroom, Curtis and Briscoe reconcile.

Shortly after Green is assigned as his partner, he and Briscoe nearly come to blows during a particularly difficult investigation of a robbery/homicide. Their primary suspect confesses as he is being arrested, but because Briscoe is the only officer within earshot, Green, Van Buren, and McCoy are placed in a difficult position with regard to the confession. Again, Briscoe is, in the end, vindicated, and he and Green work to rebuild their professional rapport and what eventually ends up as a close friendship. ["Law & Order" episode "Marathon", originally aired November 17, 1999]

Briscoe retires from the NYPD in 2004. ["Law & Order" episode "C.O.D.", originally aired May 19, 2004] His successor in the 27th Precinct is Det. Joe Fontana (Dennis Farina), who retires two years later.

In "L&O" spin-offs

On the first season of ', Briscoe makes three guest appearances assisting his old boss Cragen. Briscoe also makes a guest appearance in the ' episode "Poison," in which he assists the Major Case Squad on a similar case.

Soon after leaving "Law & Order", the Briscoe character appeared in "Law & Order: Trial By Jury", in which he becomes a District Attorney Investigator with partner Hector Salazar (Kirk Acevedo) for D.A. Arthur Branch (Fred Thompson).

In 2005, the Briscoe character was written out without being killed off, coinciding with Orbach's death in December 2004 from prostate cancer. In a 2007 episode of "Criminal Intent", Logan says that Briscoe has died but he still sees him alive in his dreams. ["Law & Order: Criminal Intent" episode "", originally aired May 21, 2007] In 2008, Green explains he returned to gambling briefly after Briscoe died. ["Law & Order" episode "Burn Card", originally aired April 23, 2008]

Reception

* Lennie Briscoe was also voted the 30th greatest television show character of all time by Bravo TV. [cite web|url=http://www.bravotv.com/The_100_Greatest_TV_Characters//index.shtml | title=The 100 Greatest TV Characters | publisher=Bravo TV | accessdate=2006-10-18]

References