Deadline has reported that Joanna Merlin (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Good Wife) died in Los Angelos on Sunday at the age of 92. Throughout her career she acted on Broadway, film, and television.
New York University Tisch Graduate Acting Program announced Merlin’s death on Instagram. Merlin had been a faculty member of the acting program since 1998.
“Joanna was an actress, master Chekhov teacher, and former casting director for Harold Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Bernardo Bertolucci, and James Ivory. Joanna will be deeply missed at Grad Acting, by the Chekhov community, and by the many people she touched through her artistry.” said the NYU Instagram post, according to Deadline. The post is attached below.
The cause of death has not been made available.
Merlin was born in Chicago on July 15, 1931 with the birth name Joann Ratner. Her career started on Broadway and led to her performing in Becket in 1960 starring Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia) and Laurence Olivier (Wuthering Heights, Marathon Man), A Far Country in 1961 starring Kim Stanley (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Three Sisters), and Fiddler on the Roof in 1964.
Merlin began acting in films with Cecil B. DeMille’s (Sunset Boulevard, The King of Kings) The Ten Commandments in 1956. Her most recognizable role was on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Judge Lena Petrovsky in over 40 episodes of the series from 2000-2011.
Her film and television credits also include small roles in Naked City, Hester Street, All That Jazz, Homeland, The Good Wife, The Killing Fields, The Wackness, Northern Exposure, All My Children, New York Undercover, and Mr. Wonderful.
Merlin also worked as a casting director on Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, Big Trouble in Little China, Year of the Dragon, Jefferson in Paris, and The Last Emperor.
In an Instagram post about Merlin, one of Merlin’s students Julie Benko (The Newlywed’s Guide to Physical Intimacy, Les Miserables: The Broadway Musical) wrote, “She was beyond kind, supporting me both while in school @nyugradacting and continuing to send warm messages after I’d graduated. 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 small part of her life,” according to Deadline. The post can be seen below.