JOANNA Merlin has died at the age of 92.
Merlin is most well-known for her work on The Fiddler on the Roof, and for starring in Law & Order, and Law & Order: SVU.
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She was also the Soundheim Casting director and has cast many original Broadway productions, including Sweeney Todd, and Merrily We Roll Along.
Merlin died Sunday in Los Angeles after suffering from complications of myelodysplastic syndrome, which is a bone marrow disorder, per the Hollywood Reporter.
The New York University Tisch Graduate Acting Program, where Merlin taught future acting stars, announced her death on Instagram on Sunday, writing: “We are saddened to share news about the passing of our beloved Joanna Merlin.”
She has been a faculty instructor at the school since 1998.
“Joanna was an actress, master Chekhov teacher, and former casting director for Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bernardo Bertolucci, and James Ivory,” the school wrote.
“Joanna will be deeply missed at Grad Acting, by the Chekhov community, and by the many people she touched through her artistry. Our thoughts are with her family, we send them love from the Grad Acting community,” they continued.
Julie Benko, who starred in the production Funny Girl, also commented on Merlin’s passing on Instagram, writing: ” She was beyond kind, supporting me both while in school @nyugradacting and continuing to send warm messages after I’d graduated.
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“Here we were after she came to @funnygirlbwy. I will not forget the breakthrough I had in her class. I will miss her beautiful presence. I am so honored to have been a small part of her life,” she said.
Merlin had her acting debut as Jethro’s daughter in The Ten Commandments in 1956, according to People.
She rose to fame after starring as Tzeitzel, one of Tevye’s daughters, in Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof in 1965, where she sang the popular song Matchmaker.
She landed a ton of roles on Broadway and in film and television, after that.
She appeared in All That Jazz, Mystic Pizza, alongside Julia Roberts, Big Trouble, and The Last Emperor, in the 1980s.
In recent years, she held the recurring role of Judge Lena Petrovsky on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2000 to 2011.
She also starred in episodes of The Good Wife and Homeland in the 2010s.
Her last onscreen credit was in the series Smartphone Theatre in 2020.
Merlin’s husband of 42 years, attorney David Dretzin, died in 2006.
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