{"id":42665,"date":"2025-02-03T19:28:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T00:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/merle-louise-simon-a-sondheim-mainstay-is-dead-at-90\/03\/02\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T19:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T00:28:50","slug":"merle-louise-simon-a-sondheim-mainstay-is-dead-at-90","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/entertainment\/merle-louise-simon-a-sondheim-mainstay-is-dead-at-90\/03\/02\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Merle Louise Simon, a Sondheim Mainstay, Is Dead at 90"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Merle Louise Letowt was born on April 15, 1934, in Manhattan and grew up largely in Bethlehem, Pa. Her father, Alvin Letowt, was a machine-shop inspector at Bethlehem Steel; her mother, Merle (Barnes) Letowt, managed the home. Merle dropped her surname soon after appearing in \u201cGypsy.\u201d<\/p>\n

She acted in high school productions and, after graduation, took a job operating a mechanical calculator for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Her earnings helped pay for acting lessons in New York on nights and weekends; she rode the railroad there free of charge.<\/p>\n

She performed in regional productions of \u201cThe Boy Friend,\u201d \u201cBorn Yesterday,\u201d \u201cCarousel\u201d and other shows. In 1956, she nearly made her Broadway debut in a musical called \u201cFour Dolls on a Dime,\u201d and the railroad agreed to give her a six-month leave of absence so she could be in the show. But shortly before rehearsals were to begin, the show was canceled.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I had to go back to work on Monday,\u201d she told the interviewer Rian Keating<\/a> in 1984.<\/p>\n

She met Peter Simon, an actor and lighting designer, in 1963, while they were working at the Barn Theater, in Augusta, Mich. They married later that year.<\/p>\n

In addition to the four Sondheim shows, Ms. Simon appeared on Broadway in three other musicals: \u201cLa Cage aux Folles\u201d (1987); \u201cKiss of the Spider Woman\u201d (1993); and \u201cBilly Elliot: The Musical\u201d (2008). She also performed in another Sondheim show, \u201cA Little Night Music,\u201d at the North Shore Music Theater, in Beverly, Mass., in 2000. She played Madame Armfeldt, a former courtesan and the mother of the character Desiree, who sang \u201cSend in the Clowns.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Merle Louise Letowt was born on April 15, 1934, in Manhattan and grew up largely in Bethlehem, Pa. Her father, Alvin Letowt,