Early life and education
Merin was born in New York City with the given name Clarissa Dorothea Helena. She later adopted the professional name Eda Reiss by combining her mother's first name and maiden name. A precocious student, she was admitted to Hunter College at fifteen as a biology major but left at sixteen to pursue acting.1
Career
Stage
Merin made her Broadway debut in 1931 and quickly became embedded in the progressive theater world of New York. She was invited to join the Group Theater, the legendary ensemble that united Harold Clurman, Clifford Odets, William Saroyan, Lee Strasberg, and Elia Kazan, advancing from apprentice to full company member. She was also associated with the Hedgerow Theatre ensemble and the Provincetown Playhouse.
In 1947 she appeared alongside Charles Laughton in the American premiere of Bertolt Brecht's Galileo, directed by Joseph Losey. Her Broadway credits include productions of Hedda Gabler, A Doll's House, and A Far Country. Off-Broadway she appeared in Tower Beyond Tragedy and The Balcony. Her regional theater work took her to Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., the Charles Playhouse in Boston, Long Wharf Theatre, the Cincinnati Playhouse, and summer stock at Williamstown, Olney Theatre, and the Cambridge Drama Festival. She also appeared in Shakespeare, including Gertrude in Hamlet and Mistress Quickly in The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (1954), and as Hecuba in The Trojan Women (1984).1
She taught acting and coached professionally throughout her career, working with students at the Seven Arts School in New York and the Williamstown Summer Theater.2
Radio and early television
Before television became dominant, Merin performed in radio dramas including The Shadow and The Goldbergs. When broadcast drama moved to the small screen in the early 1950s she transitioned with it, appearing in early anthology series such as the Schlitz Playhouse, DuPont Show of the Month, and the Robert Herridge Theater.1
Film
Merin's film career began in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with credits including Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), No Way Out (1950), The Flying Leathernecks (1951), Don't Bother to Knock (1952), Viva Zapata! (1952), Lili (1953), and Tonight We Sing (1953). Later film appearances include The Frisco Kid (1979), the Mel Brooks comedy To Be or Not to Be (1983), and Turner & Hooch (1989), in which she played Mrs. Remington. Her most prominent film role came in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), where she played the memorably named Mrs. Sturak.2
Television
Merin's television career extended from the early 1950s through the mid-1990s. She guest-starred on an wide range of prime-time series, including Charlie's Angels, Police Story, Baretta, The White Shadow, Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere, Family Ties, Cagney and Lacey, Night Court, Mr. Belvedere, Amazing Stories, Dream On, The Wonder Years, Highway to Heaven, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, ER, and Murder, She Wrote. She also had recurring roles in soap operas.1
Voice acting
Merin voiced the witch Orddu in Disney's animated feature The Black Cauldron (1985), one of three haglike enchantresses who hold the Black Cauldron's secret. She additionally recorded the voice of the wicked witch for the Snow White ride at Disneyland.1
Ghostbusters
In Ghostbusters (1984) Merin plays the unnamed neighbor of Louis Tully in his apartment building. The role is brief, one of the terrified residents who encounters the supernatural commotion Louis causes when he is chased by the Terror Dog Zuul. She is credited in the film under the slightly abbreviated spelling "Eda Reis Merin."3
Union and civic work
Merin was a founding member of AFTRA (the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), holding union card number 00012. She was also a long-standing member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Earlier in her career she co-founded a market research survey partnership with Jane Baker that provided flexible, legitimate employment for actors between engagements.1
Personal life
Merin married Sam Merin, a playwright and theatrical press agent. He died during her pregnancy from a blood clot in the pulmonary artery following an appendectomy. Their daughter, Jennifer Merin, went on to become a journalist, critic, and the founder and president of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ).1
Death
Eda Reiss Merin died on March 31, 1998, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 84.2
Legacy
The AWFJ established the EDA Awards in 2007 in her honor, presented annually to recognize female filmmakers and achievements in film. The AFTRA Foundation has also presented an Eda Reiss Merin Award since 2005 in recognition of her union contributions.1
