Leonard W. Briscoe is a fictional character on NBC's long-running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order. He was created by Walon Green and René Balcer and portrayed by Jerry Orbach. He was featured on the show for 12 seasons, from 1992 to 2004, making him one of the longest-serving main characters in the series' history, as well as the longest-serving police detective on the show. He also appeared in three Law & Order spin-offs and was part of the original cast of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, appearing in the first two episodes prior to his death.
He appears in 282 episodes across the Law & Order franchise (273 episodes of Law & Order, two episodes of Law & Order: Trial by Jury, one episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, three episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and three crossover episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street), the TV movie Exiled and the Law & Order video games Law & Order: Dead on the Money, Law & Order: Double or Nothing, Law & Order: Justice Is Served and Law & Order: Legacies.
Prior to Orbach's recurring role, he played lawyer Frank Lehrman on Season 2 Episode 2, "The Wages of Love". Orbach's performance as Briscoe on the New York–based series was so popular that it resulted in Orbach being declared a "Living Landmark" by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, in a joint recognition with fellow longtime series cast member Sam Waterston, who portrayed prosecutor Jack McCoy on Law & Order for 19 seasons.
Lennie Briscoe has been suggested to play 7 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
