What happened to Joanna Merlin? The ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ actress and Sondheim casting director, dies at 92. What she died of and her fortune explored.
Joanna Merlin had an impressive career in the entertainment industry.
She was an actress and also worked as a casting director.
She worked with Stephen Sondheim and starred in the original Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof.
She wrote two acting guides and was a faculty member of New York University’s graduate acting program.
The world learned about her passing in October 2023 and following that many want to know more about her cause of death, movies and TV shows, and her net worth. Here’s everything we know.
What was Joanna Merlin’s cause of death?
Joanna Merlin has died at the age of 92.
She passed away on October 15, 2023, in Los Angeles, California, United States.
Merlin’s death comes after suffering from myelodysplastic syndrome complications, 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.”
“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.
What was Joanna Merlin’s net worth?
The famed actress reportedly died a millionaire. She accumulated a more than impressive fortune over the years.
At the time of her death, Joanna Merlin had an estimated net worth of between $1 million and $5 million. She accrued her fortune from her long years of work as an American actress and casting director.
Joanna Merlin had an impressive career with iconic roles.
Merlin is most well-known for her work on The Fiddler on the Roof, and for starring in Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU.
She was also the Sondheim Casting director and has cast many original Broadway productions, including Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along.
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.