Pat Saperstein Deputy EditorTV commercial casting director Merrill Jonas died Thursday at the Motion Picture Home in Woodland Hills, Calif.
after a long illness. She was 96.Starting out as an actress, Jonas rose to head of the casting department at Ogilvy and Mather in New York, where she led a six-person team that cast more than 100 commercials.
The celebrity talent included Patricia Neal, Karl Malden, Anna-Maria Alberghetti, Arthur Ashe, Sonny & Cher and Ravi Shankar.While working as director of the commercial department at talent agency CMA in New York, she cast talent including Jackie Gleason, Rod Serling, Florence Henderson and Mel Brooks.Her agency Celebrity Casting Associates made deals for NBC’s Frank Blair, Phyllis Newman, Peter.
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