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Actor Jerry Orbach, best known for his long-running role as Lennie Briscoe on TV's Law and Order, died Tuesday at age 69. Orbach also enjoyed a successful Broadway career, winning a Tony for his role in Promises, Promises, and appeared in films such as Crimes and Misdemeanors and Dirty Dancing. We listen to a Nov. 21, 1989, interview with Orbach.

Writer Jenny Bicks has been busy ever since she began working on Sex and the City in the show's first season. For our series Scenes I Wish I'd Written, Bicks chose to discuss a scene from a Woody Allen classic, Annie Hall. Hear NPR's Susan Stamberg.

Oscar Peterson learned piano from his father, beginning a career in which he became world famous for his strong technique and powerful sense of swing. He is best known for the trios he put together in the 1950s and 1960s. On this album, The Peterson Trio shows why it ranks with some of the best small groups in jazz.

A new play about Iraq is drawing strong reviews in New York. Nine Parts of Desire is a solo performance by Iraqi-American actor Heather Raffo, who gives voice to nine different Iraqi women. NPR's Deborah Amos reports.

Dionne Warwick started singing at six. She reached stardom in the 1960s, wrapping her sophisticated voice around memorable pop tunes. Now she's out with her first-ever collection of holiday music, My Favorite Time of the Year. She tells NPR's Tavis Smiley about it.

Jazz trumpeter Clark Terry, 83, was a mentor to Miles Davis and performed with Count Basie and Duke Ellington. He recently donated his archive of memorabilia to William Paterson University in New Jersey. NPR's Jacki Lyden interviews Terry just before he takes the stage at New York's Jazz Gallery.

The eloquent, effortless jazz singer Jimmy Scott has gained a new prominence after languishing for decades, the victim of bad deals, bad timing and a fickle public. But he's never lost the energy and humanity that put him on the road to fame as a teenager.

This week, Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth looks at the documentary Born into Brothels. The film looks at children of Indian prostitutes and was filmed by the children themselves. According to Turan, the technique works and creates surprisingly uplifting stories.

Before synthesizers and samplers, Bebe and Louis Barron created otherworldly electronic sounds.

Robert Wilonsky of The Dallas Observer shares his memories of comic book artist Will Eisner, who died Monday night at age 87. Eisner created the character called "The Spirit," and was an inspiration for a whole generation of comic book artists.