Casting Exec Meryl O’Loughlin Dies

Former Television Academy Governor

Meryl O’Loughlin

Meryl O’Loughlin, a veteran casting director and casting executive, died February 27 in Santa Monica due to complications from ovarian cancer. O’Loughlin, a resident of Santa Monica who lived in Valley Glen for many years, was 73.

O’Loughlin’s diverse casting career in television and feature films spanned over forty years, both as a casting director and in the executive ranks.

The Chicago native graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Theater. She started in the entertainment business as casting assistant, and was first credited as a casting director on The Outer Limits, in 1964.

From 1996-2000, O’Loughlin was casting director for The Young and the Restless, the top-rated daytime drama from Sony Pictures Television and Bell Dramatic Serial Co. on CBS. Other notable television series and TV movie credits include Under Siege, Lucky/Chances, the miniseries Lucky/Chances, ALF, Crazy Like a Fox, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Lou Grant, Something for Joey, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, T.J. Hooker and WKRP in Cincinnati.

O’Loughlin’s feature film casting credits include He’s My Girl and Tremors II, among others.

In the mid-1980s, O’Loughlin was vice president of talent and casting for Columbia Pictures Television. Previously, she was executive in charge of talent and casting for MTM Productions. She was also a principal in O’Loughlin/Dockstader Casting and vice president of talent for Vineland Pictures and a casting consultant for Imagine Films.

O’Loughlin was active in several entertainment industry organizations, including the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, where she served several terms as a governor of the Casting Peer Group. She was also a founding member of the Casting Society of America.

In 1997 and 1999, O’Loughlin was nominated for an Artios Award by her peers at CSA for her work on The Young and the Restless. For many years, she volunteered her time to the Donna Reed Foundation for the Performing Arts and participated in the organization’s annual festival in Denison, Iowa. She also served on the board of directors of the UCLA Alumni Association.

O’Loughlin is survived by her son, Christopher O’Loughlin and daughter-in-law Colleen, of New York City; daughter Laura O’Loughlin, son-in-law Frank Langen and grandson Max Langen, of Santa Monica; ex-husband, actor Gerald O’Loughlin, of Woodland Hills; and sister Eleanor Jaye, of Pacific Palisades.

A private memorial service will be held Sunday, March 4, at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary, 1218 Glendon Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (310) 474-1579.

Contributions in O’Loughlin’s name may be made to the American Cancer Society, National Resource Defense Council, or the Kidney Trust.