Joanna Merlin in the 1980 movie ‘Fame’.Photo:United Artists/Archive Photos/Getty

American actress Joanna Merlin, as dance teacher Miss Berg, in a scene from ‘Fame’, directed by Alan Parker, 1980.

United Artists/Archive Photos/Getty

Joanna Merlin, the actor and casting director best known for originating the role of Tzeitel in the Broadway musicalFiddler On The Roof, has died. She was 92.

Merlin’s death was announced Monday on New York University’s Tisch Graduate School of Acting’sInstagrampage. She had worked as a member of the school’s faculty since 1998 and “taught Michael Chekhov’s Psychological Gesture work as well as Career and Camera classes to generations of our actors,” according to a caption written on the account’s post.

TheMichael Chekhov Association, of which Merlin founded and was the president emeritus, wrote on its website that Merlin died Sunday in Los Angeles. A cause of death was not immediately available.

(L-R) ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ cast Maria Karnilova, Tanya Everett, Zero Mostel, Julia Migenes and Joanna Merlin on Sept. 22, 1964.AP Photo

Actor Zero Mostel, center, who portrays Tevye in the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” poses backstage with cast members after the play’s opening performance at the Imperial Theatre in New York City on Sept. 22, 1964. Maria Karnilova, who plays Tevye’s wife, Golde, is at far left. Playing Tevye’s daughters, from left, are, Tanya Everett, as Chava; Julia Migenes, as Hodel; and Joanna Merlin, as Tzeitel.

AP Photo

Merlin was born Joann Ratner on July 15, 1931 in Chicago. She changed her name early in her show business career, which began as she studied with Michael Chekhov in the 1950s, according toDeadlineand the Chekhov Association’s website. She was the legendary acting teacher’s last living student, according to the association.

Her firstonscreen creditwas in the 1956 religious dramaThe Ten Commandments; she appeared in a handful of more film and television roles before originating the role of Tzeitzel in Broadway’sFiddler on the Roofin 1964.

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AfterFiddler, Merlin straddled an entertainment career that involved both acting on film, television and the stage, and casting work on many of the late Sondheim’s musicals. She notably appeared in movies like 1979’sAll That Jazz, 1980’sFameand the 1988 Julia Roberts movieMystic Pizza, among others, through the late 20th century, all the while working on Broadway, originating roles inShelter, The SurvivorandSolomon’s Childalong the way.

Joanna Merlin on July 9, 2013.Mike Coppola/Getty

Joanna Merlin speaks at the 2013 Inclusion In The Arts' Champion Of Diversity Award presentation on July 9, 2013 in New York City.

Mike Coppola/Getty

Merlin also worked as a casting director for movies like 1986’sBig Trouble in Little China, 1987’sThe Last Emperorand 1995’sJefferson in Paris, among others. In recent years, she held down a recurring role as Judge Lena Petrovsky onLaw & Order: Special Victims Unitfrom 2000-2011, and appeared in episodes ofThe Good WifeandHomelandin the 2010s. Her last onscreen credit was for a 2020 appearance in the seriesSmartphone Theatre.

“At any time today, perform the Actor’s March and play the Marseille," a statement from the Michael Chekhov Association shared within the NYU Instagram account’s post announcing Merlin’s death reads. “This was a song Michael Chekhov played for Joanna and the other actors in Los Angeles at the beginning of their classes. It served as an invitation to cross the threshold into a creative space. Joanna often reminisced about it with a smile.”

source: people.com