Merle Louise obit

Original GYPSY Cast Member, Merle Louise, Dies At Age 90

Merle originated several roles in Stephen Sondheim musicals including Sweeney Todd, Company, and Into the Woods 

She was not on the list.

BroadwayWorld is saddened to report the passing of stage and screen actor Merle Louise Simon. She was 90 at the time of her passing.

Merle made her Broadway debut as in the original cast of Gypsy. She began her run in the role of Thelma and later replaced in the role of Dainty June, a role she reprised on the first national tour.

Simon also memorably appeared in several Stephen Sondheim musicals. She earned a Drama Desk Award for her portrayal of The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. She also appeared in the original Broadway production of Company in the role of Susan and in numerous roles in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods.

Her other Broadway credits include La Cage aux Folles, Billy Elliot, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. Simon has also been seen on London's West End, Toronto, and national tours.

Off-Broadway, she was seen in Charlotte Sweet and was acclaimed for her classical acting abilities in works by Shakespeare, Chekhov, Molière, and Shaw.

Merle can be seen on the small screen in the televised recording of Into the Woods and the documentary chronicling the recording of the original cast album of Company. She made guest appearances on a number of TV shows, including Law & Order. She appeared as Jeanette Burmeister in the play The Full Monty at the North Shore Music Theater in Beverly, Massachusetts.

 

Actress

Tony Goldwyn, Maura Tierney, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Mehcad Brooks, and Odelya Halevi in Law & Order (1990)

Law & Order

7.8

TV Series

Amanda Bobbie

1998

1 episode

 

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

Grandmother

Cinderella's Mother

Giant

1991

1 episode

 

Into the Woods (1987)

Into the Woods

9.1

Video

The Giant's Wife

Cinderella's Mother

Grandmother

1987

 

Soundtrack

American Playhouse (1980)

American Playhouse

7.3

TV Series

performer: "Cinderella at the Grave", "First Midnight", "Children Will Listen / Finale"

1991

1 episode

 

Self

Bernadette Peters in Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert (2020)

Bernadette Peters: A Special Concert

TV Special

Self - Performer

2020

 

Original Cast Album: Company (1970)

Original Cast Album: Company

8.0

Self (Susan)

1970

 

Archive Footage

Six by Sondheim (2013)

Six by Sondheim

7.9

TV Movie

Self (archive footage)

2013

Broadway credits

Gypsy (Thelma; later Dainty June) 1959

Company (Susan) 1970

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Beggar Woman) 1979

La Cage aux Folles (Mme. Dindon) 1983

Into the Woods (Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giantess) 1987-89

Kiss of the Spider Woman (Molina's Mother) 1993

Into the Woods (Cinderella's Mother/Granny/Giantess) 1997

Billy Elliot: The Musical (Grandma understudy/Ensemble) 2008