Merle Louise Dies: Original ‘Gypsy’ Cast Member, Sondheim Favorite Was 90
deadline.comMerle Louise, whose Broadway debut in the original cast of Gypsy launched a decades-long association with Stephen Sondheim that would include notable appearances in Company, Sweeney Todd and Into The Woods, died January 11 in New York City.
She was 90. Her death was announced by family. Born Merle Louise Letowt on April 15, 1934, in New York City, she started her stage career in local theater companies in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, traveling back to New York for auditions.
While still using Merle Letowt as her stage name, Louise landed the ensemble role of Thelma in the original 1959 Broadway production of Gypsy.
She soon took on the featured role of Dainty June in the musical, both on Broadway and in the first national tour. Though she would appear in non-Sondheim musicals on Broadway – La Cage aux Folles (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) and, most recently, Billy Elliot (2008) – Louise, after dropping the “Letowt,” originated the role of Susan in Sondheim’s Company and can be seen in D.A.
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