Money Changes Everything

A will + stepmother + the deceased’s biological kids usually equals trouble!
Chris Orbach, the son of late, great Law & Order actor Jerry Orbach has lashed out at his stepmother, claiming in a letter that she manipulated his dad into cutting him and his brother, Tony, out of pop’s $10 million estate AND had his dad’s eyes “shucked out” on his deathbed.
Keep in mind that the late actor separated from Chris’ mother in 1975 – waaay before Orbach’s Law & Order success.
Orbach the younger said the following about his stepmother for her decision to donate his father’s eyes to the Eye Bank Association of America:

“Having to leave my father’s deathbed so that some guy with an ice box could shuck his eyes out while they were fresh still makes me sick and furious to this day.”

Orbach’s son calls his stepmother, Elaine Cancilla-Orbach, “a double-dealing, lying, scheming, miserable fool” who, with the help of “cut-rate, borscht-belt” lawyers, has “painted [herself] as the beginning and the end of the Jerry Orbach Legacy” and can now “boast about ‘never flying coach,’ or ‘never riding the subway.’ ”
Chris Orbach’s letter to his stepmother was private, but the Post obtained a copy from a source sympathetic to his story.
In an interview, the 39-year old son said he regrets that the matter has become public but stands by his letter. “It’s a very melodramatic gesture,” he says. ” But I no longer saw the sense in maintaining a relationship with Elaine.”
Chris and Tony weren’t totally left out of the will, though:

“There were trusts set aside for us, but they do not revert to us until Elaine passes away. In the meantime, she can take the interest from the trust and raid the principle if she needs the money. We were told, basically, that it would be nice if there’s something there for you, but don’t count on it.”

He also said that he and his brother signed away rights to contest their dad’s will because of the crazy legal costs they would incur to do so.
When contacted, this is what dear stepmom had to say:

“People think ‘Law & Order’ was our whole life. But there were years of struggle. When I married Jerry, he was in dire straits… We used my savings to pay his alimony and child support. Law & Order” changed everything.
Cancilla-Orbach laughs at the idea she “forced” her husband to do anything. “I manipulated Jerry? I’m 5-foot-2. I’m scared of everybody. Jerry was my hero. He set up his will to protect me. The money that we earned from ‘Law & Order’ was for our retirement . . . His kids were in his will. And they are in my will, although I’m not sure Chris is going to stay there after this.”

She also mentioned that she’s paying for the education of Tony Orbach’s daughter and recently gave Tony $50,000 as a down payment on a house for him and his wife.
Chris Orbach is not married and has no children.
And what about the claims that she had Jerry’s eyes gouged?

“Jerry always said he was so proud that at age 69, he didn’t need glasses. He said, ‘If I can give anything back, I want to give my eyes. I can’t give my liver because I drank too much, and I can’t give my lungs because I smoked too much. But I can give my eyes.’ So on his deathbed, when they asked if he was an organ donor, I said, ‘Take his eyes.’ Chris knew nothing of this. He knew nothing of what his father and I discussed for 25 years.”

We wonder what’s really driving Chris to go after stepmommy?!
[Image via WENN.]