Joanna Merlin
Biography
Joanna Merlin was an American actress and casting director. Born in Chicago, she began acting on stage at eleven in a community theater production called Too Many Marys. She attended UCLA and studied with Michael Chekhov. Her screen debut came in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956). On Broadway, she first appeared in Becket before playing Tzeitel in Harold Prince's Fiddler on the Roof. Later she became a casting director, starting with Company and continuing with Follies, Evita, and Sweeney Todd, and in 1986 she cast John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China. She played Miss Olivia Berg in Fame (1980) and a defense attorney on Law & Order in 1992. From 2000 to 2011 she had a recurring role as Judge Lena Petrovsky on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She taught at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, founded the Michael Chekhov Association in 1999, and wrote two acting guides. Merlin died in 2023.
92years old at death
- Born Chicago
- Died Los Angeles
- Star sign: CancerThe sign runs June 21 to July 22
- Joann Ratner (birth name)Also credited as Joann Merlin
Movie Career
- Films
- 13
- Career span
- 33 years1975 to 2008
First and latest
Did you know?!
Early training
Merlin attended UCLA without graduating, then studied under Michael Chekhov and learned his widely known acting technique. She was called the last of Chekhov's students who was still alive and teaching.
First role
Merlin made her first screen appearance in 1956, in the film The Ten Commandments, which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
A first
Merlin's first job as casting director for a musical was Company. She also handled casting for plays such as Follies, Evita and Sweeney Todd.
Joanna Merlin movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix with the most votes on IMDb, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Joanna Merlin shares three films with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's page
Vincent D'Onofrio's page
Nicolas Cage's page
Lin Shaye's page
Tom Sizemore's page
Ben Kingsley's page
Brad SilberlingDirector, 1 film, 1998
All films by Brad Silberling
All films by James McTeigue
Oliver HirschbiegelDirector, 1 film, 2007
All films by Oliver Hirschbiegel
Box office
What Joanna Merlin's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$316 million
8 of the 13 films have a worldwide figure, in dollars of the day.
Of the 13 films: 8 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 2 never in cinemas; 1 figure not found.
- 8Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 2Never in cinemas
- 1Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$199M62.9% of the total
- 2$42M13.3% of the total
- 3$40M12.7% of the total
- 4$14M4.5% of the total
- 5$13M4.0% of the total
- 6$3.2M1.0% of the total
- 7$3.1M1.0% of the total
- 8$1.9M0.6% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.