Lennie Briscoe

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Law & Order character
Det. Lennie Briscoe
Time on show	1992—2004 (Law & Order) 2005 (Trial by Jury)
Preceded by	Phil Cerreta (L&O)
Succeeded by	Joe Fontana (L&O) Chris Ravell (TBJ)
First appearance	"Point of View" (L&O) The Abominable Showman" (TBJ)
Last appearance	"C.O.D." (L&O) "Forty-One Shots" (TBJ)
Portrayed by	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 spinoffs, and was part of the original cast of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, appearing in only the first two episodes due to Orbach's death.

Contents 1 In the Law & Order universe 2 Personal life 3 Character highlights 4 In L&O spinoffs 5 Reception 6 References

[edit] In the Law & Order universe

Lennie Briscoe is introduced as the new senior detective in the Homicide Department of the New York City Police Department's 27th Precinct.^[1] His boss during his first season on the show is Capt. Don Cragen; a year later, Lt. Anita Van Buren takes over the homicide squad. He was previously assigned as a detective in the 116th Precinct in Queens.^[2]

Briscoe joins the Precinct after Det. Mike Logan's partner, Sgt. Phil Cerreta, 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.

Logan is transferred in 1995 to the Domestic Dispute Department in Staten Island for slugging Councilman Kevin Crossley, a politician who had just gotten off on a murder charge,^[3] and is replaced by Det. Rey Curtis.^[4] Four years later, Curtis goes into early retirement to take care of his disease-stricken wife,^[5] and he is replaced by Det. Ed Green in 1999.^[6]

[edit] Personal life

He was born on January 2, 1940.^[7] 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.^[8] However, he finds closure when the drug dealer dies from an overdose of heroin.^[9]

Briscoe reveals that when he was younger he used to park cars at the Atwater, which had a pilgrim on their parking sticker. In 1996, after witnessing an execution from a case he helped investigate, Briscoe falls off the wagon with disastrous results; A.D.A. Claire Kincaid is struck and killed by a DUI driver while driving him home from a bar.^[10] 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.^[11] It was revealed that his father had Alzehimer's.^[12] Though not actually Jewish according to the traditional definition, Briscoe is sometimes the target of anti-Semitism 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, despite Munch's initial resentment when he discovers Briscoe had slept with one of Munch's ex-wives.

[edit] 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, 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 Rey 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.^[2] Although Briscoe is ultimately cleared, defense attorneys of suspects he subsequently arrests exploit the allegations through the rest of his career.^[13][14][15]

Shortly after Green is assigned as his partner in 1999, 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.^[16]

He is somewhat of a foodie, relishing meals and snacking whenever the opportunity presents itself. Briscoe retires from the NYPD in 2004, much to the surprise of Green.^[17] His successor in the 27th Precinct was Det. Joe Fontana, who retires two years later.

[edit] In L&O spinoffs

On the first season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Briscoe makes three guest appearances assisting his old boss Cragen. Briscoe also makes a guest appearance in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent 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 for D.A. Arthur Branch.

In 2005, the Briscoe character was written out, coinciding with Jerry Orbach's death in December 2004 from prostate cancer. In 2007, Logan says that Briscoe has died but he still sees him alive in his dreams.^[18] In 2008, Green explains he returned to gambling briefly after Briscoe died.^[19]

However, the circumstances and time of his death are never explained in either episode.

[edit] Reception

• Lennie Briscoe was also voted the 30th greatest television show character of all time by Bravo TV.^[20]

[edit] References

v • d • e Law & Order police Commanding Officers Capt. Donald Cragen · Lt. Anita Van Buren Senior Sergeants Max Greevey · Phil Cerreta Senior Detectives Lennie Briscoe · Joe Fontana · Ed Green · Cyrus Lupo Junior Detectives Mike Logan · Rey Curtis · Ed Green · Nick Falco · Nina Cassady · Cyrus Lupo · Kevin Bernard

v • d • e Law & Order: Trial by Jury Characters Tracey Kibre · Kelly Gaffney · Hector Salazar · Chris Ravell · Arthur Branch · Lennie Briscoe Cast Bebe Neuwirth · Amy Carlson · Kirk Acevedo · Scott Cohen · Fred Dalton Thompson · Jerry Orbach