Biography

Joanna Merlin

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Born
July 15, 1931 · Chicago, Illinois, USA
Died
October 15, 2023 · Los Angeles, California, USA (complications from myelodysplastic syndrome)
Birth name
JoAnn Delores Ratner

Joanna Merlin is an actress and casting director who was born in Chicago, Illinois. She made her motion-picture debut in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956). In 1961 she made her Broadway debut as a replacement performer in "A Far Country," a play about Sigmund Freud. Next on Broadway she created the role of Tzeitel in the original production of "Fiddler on the Roof," produced by Harold Prince. Beginning with the original production of "Company," Merlin served as casting director for a now-legendary string of Broadway musical plays on which Prince collaborated with composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, including "Follies," "A Little Night Music," "Pacific Overtures," "Sweeney Todd," and "Merrily We Roll Along." Merlin's other Broadway casting credits include the Prince-directed "On the Twentieth Century," "Evita," "A Doll's Life," "Play Memory," and "End of the World." Since 1975, she has worked regularly as an actress in feature films, counting among her credits such notable motion pictures as Hester Street (1975); All That Jazz (1979); Fame (1980); The Killing Fields (1984); and Mystic Pizza (1988). Merlin appeared in several episodes of Law & Order (1990), and for the past four and one-half years she has appeared in the recurring role of Judge Lena Petrovsky on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
- IMDb mini biography by: three-strip

Her older sister Harriet, gained recognition for having helped persuade Charles Schulz to add a black character to his Peanuts strip.
From 2000 to 2011, she was known for her recurring role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Judge Lena Petrovsky.
Merlin graduated from UCLA and later studied under Michael Chekhov, learning his world-renowned acting technique. She was described as the last student of Chekhov who was still alive and teaching.
As an actress, she appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Ten Commandments (1956), All That Jazz (1979), The Killing Fields (1984). As a casting director, she contributed with the Oscar winning The Last Emperor (1987).
In 1961 she made her Broadway debut in 'Becket' before playing Tzeitel in Harold Prince's production of 'Fiddler on the Roof'. She left the cast of Fiddler on the Roof before the end of its tour to take care of her two small children, but Harold Prince gave her the opportunity to become involved in casting with a more flexible schedule.

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