LARRY MERRITT – IN MEMORIAM

(Lawrence performing "I Am What I Am" at the 2018 DO40 Cares dance concert at St. Luke's Theater)

DO40 has lost another wonderful board member Lawrence Merritt, who succumbed to COVID/pneumonia at the Riverside Rehabilitation and Healing Center in NYC, where he was receiving treatment since last Spring. Lawrence appeared in over eight Broadway shows, including No Strings, Dear World, Applause, Pippin and Evita and TV specials for Kraft Music Hall, Ann-Margret, Anne Bancroft and numerous live Ed Sullivan shows. His leading ladies in the nightclub circuit included Juliet Prowse, Ann-Margret, Raquel Welch's world tour and partnering Ginger Rogers for a year and a half. After surviving a car accident involving a spinal cord injury and learning to walk again, Lawrence discovered his voice through acting, performing many major roles regionally and in New York City for the last twenty years.

He became involved with Theatre Breaking Through Barriers (TBTB), “dedicated to advancing actors and writers with disabilities and changing the image of people with disabilities from dependence to independence” and appeared in their 2013 ten one-act play festival, featuring works by Neil LaBute, Samuel D. Hunter, Jerrod Bogard and Lynn Manning. A long time Dancers Over 40 member, Lawrence joined the DO40 board in 2010 and received a DO40 Legacy Award in 2013, along with Chita Rivera, Bob Avian, Louise Quick and Skip Randall. Other highlight of his tenure included our October, 2013 Ron Field event which he hosted with Marianne Selbert and Harvey Evans and our 2018 DO40 Cares dance concert at St. Luke’s Theater, where he performed “I Am What I Am.”

He also appeared at the HERE theater in a solo play The Pattern at Pendarvis in July, 2018, playing a 91 year old gay man recalling his past as a preservationist in the Midwest, being interviewed by a young gay journalist.

Lawrence was also part of A Dancers Life, through the John Hemmer Archive, where Lawrence donated pictures and reviews from his life’s work. (https://www.johnhemmerarchive.org/a-dancers-life-meet-lawrence-merritt-part-i/) and the Actors Fund (Entertainment Community Fund)’s archives as well. What they don’t have, WE DO. This is another part of what we do – continue and allow our members to share their History, Legacy and Lives and also keep connected to that community of dancers, creative artists and others in the entertainment world to provide support and information for the next generation.

(With his dear friend, the late, great Louise Quick, long time DO40 member)

As devastating as our losses have been this month, with board member Richard Korthaze passing on January 1st, we are proud to be able to continue our mission with the assistance of four new board members in 2022 – Leni Anders, Bobby Hedglin-Taylor, Loni Ackerman and Ken Bloom. We need to continue forward, hopefully with the support from our DO40 members and friends of the community. Oh, and if you’re Lori Tan Chinn, Baayork Lee, Marianne Selbert or Kelly Bishop, you could call him “Larry.” Many of us youngsters were not allowed!

We will keep everyone notified of upcoming memorial information.