Merrill Jonas
She helped Patricia Neal, Karl Malden, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Rod Serling and Mel Brooks get work in TV spots.
Merrill Jonas, a casting director who helped place such stars as Patricia Neal, Karl Malden, Anna Maria Alberghetti and Mel Brooks in TV commercials, has died. She was 96.
Jonas died Thursday after a long illness at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her son, Garrett Glaser, said.
Jonas herself was a TV actress and on-camera pitchwoman in the 1950s and 60s, appearing in more than 35 spots. Some of her lines in her ad campaigns became well known, including Mother, please! I d rather do it myself! for Anacin pain reliever and Melts in your mouth, not in your hands for M&M candies.