Wealth & Money Quote by Jerry Orbach

There is a whole American career arc packed into Orbach's casual math: five seasons equals freedom. Coming out of theater, where prestige is high and paychecks are not, he’s describing money not as a trophy but as insulation. The line isn’t about greed; it’s about agency. In an industry built on auditions, rejection, and the quiet humiliation of needing the next gig, “not have to worry” is the real luxury, and “wouldn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to do” is the dream people rarely say out loud.

The specificity matters. Not “a hit show,” but five seasons of one. He’s acknowledging the difference between a breakout and a runway. A single successful project can make you famous; sustained success changes your bargaining position. Orbach’s phrasing also carries the weary pragmatism of someone who’s seen how quickly applause evaporates. Theater trains you to live on intangible rewards; television, at least in its old network model, could turn reliability into a pension.

Subtextually, he’s puncturing the romantic myth of the actor as pure artist. He’s admitting that “choices” are often a luxury purchased over time, not a moral virtue. Coming from Orbach, whose later TV fame (and steady paycheck) arrived after years of stage work, the quote reads like a bittersweet victory lap: he finally got to the part of the profession where the work could be selective, not desperate.