Interpreter of judge Lena Petrovsky in 43 episodes of the series “New York Special Unit”, complete artist and famous casting director, Joanna Merlin died this Sunday. She was 92 years old.
The New York Special Unit team is in mourning again. After the death at the age of 78 last February of Richard Belzer, who played Inspector John Munch in the series for 17 years, it was the actress Joanna Merlin who died in turn. The one who played judge Lena Petrovsky died this Sunday, at the venerable age of 92.
His death was announced on the school’s Instagram page Tisch School of Arts from New York, where the actress had taught since 1998. “We are saddened to share the news of the passing of our beloved Joanna Merlin. Joanna was a member of the theater faculty since 1998, where she taught several generations of our actors.”
Joann Ratner, her real name, was born on July 15, 1931 in Chicago. She began her career on the Broadway stage in three highly acclaimed productions, including a 1960 adaptation of Beckett with Laurence Olivier and Anthony Quinn. In 1964, she triumphed in the musical Fiddler on the Roof, which was very solidly adapted by Norman Jewison in 1971. She subsequently made numerous musical comedies on stage, such as Evawhose musical libretto is written by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
On the cinema side, she began in 1956 by playing the daughter of Jethro (the father-in-law of Moses) in the monumental epic The Ten Commandments by Cecil B. DeMille. Subsequently, she mainly took on small roles in fiction on both the small and big screens. In sometimes important works, however, like All That Jazz by Bob Fosse. In 1980, she played the famous ballet teacher Miss Olive Berg in Alan Parker’s cult film Fame.
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Having occupied a position as casting director at Broadway and in cinema since the 1970s, Joanna Merlin has always worked regularly, in addition to earning her recognition in the artistic community. In this capacity, she was notably the casting director of The Year of the Dragon by Michael Cimino; Jack Burton’s Adventures in the Claws of the Mandarin by John Carpenter; that of the masterpiece The Last Emperor by Bernardo Bertolucci; or The Lover by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
But his most recognizable role is that of the franchise New York special unit. Although she appeared several times in the original series in the mid-1990s, it was her role as the tough and pragmatic Judge Lena Petrovsky in 43 episodes of the series throughout the years 2000-2011 that left a lasting impression on his career.