Goodyear police identified 77-year-old Penny Orloff as the victim of a fatal collision earlier this month. She was an actor, dancer, singer and author, with a career that spanned more than 50 years. She also had deep ties to the Arizona arts community.
Orloff and her longtime companion Charles Long were riding their bicycles to the park on May 12 when a vehicle hit Orloff as they crossed an intersection, Long said. The driver stayed at the scene. Police are looking for independent witnesses.
“I just can’t believe it. It’s just a nightmare," Long said.
The couple met as opera singers in New York City, created an arts foundation in 1991 and lived together for nearly five decades — most recently in Goodyear.
“Everybody loved Penny. She was a gardener. I have to keep her garden going, which was huge," Long said. "Cactus garden out here, and I’ve never been a gardener, some of the neighbors are helping me and her garden is envied by everybody in the neighborhood and I have to find a way to keep that going.”
In Arizona, Orloff worked with the WHAM Art Association and the Arizona Author’s Association. A recent project was her one-woman show "Songs and Stories From a Not Quite Kosher Life."
Orloff's funeral will be held Sunday in Simi Valley, California.
Goodyear police are asking anyone who was present or witnessed the collision contact Detective Aron Price at 480-506‑8324 or [email protected].
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