Longtime ABC Casting Director Joan D’Incecco Passes Away

ABC casting great Joan D’Incecco passed away on December 16.

She was known for having discovered Susan Lucci (ex-Erica, All My Children) and Kelly Ripa (ex-Hayley, AMC), and now

According to her obituary on NewJersey.com, she was 89 years old.

D’Incecco began her career as a casting supervisor on The Patty Duke Show from 1963-1965, in which she worked on 44 episodes of the series, as well as Kojak and a handful of other shows – and including the hit film, The Producers, for Mel Brooks. But her last impact was her many years working for ABC, casting All My Children and One Life to Live.

She was the casting director on AMC for the show’s first 21 years and that included casting Lucci, who thanked her when she won her Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress:

“Joan D’Incecco, the legendary casting director of All My Children, who saw me as more than just an ethnic type and saw that I could play Erica Kane and bringing me to Agnes’s attention.”

The NewJersey.com writer contacted Lucci and the actress said, “Joan remained as accessible, warm and smart as the first day I met her.”

On One Life to Live, she hired a couple of unknown actors (at the time) in smaller parts – Laurence Fishburne (ex-Dr. Josh Hall) and Tom Berenger (ex-Tim Seigel)

The obituary also mentioned that she is survived by her children, John D’Incecco of Manhattan and Nicole Kahn of Riverdale, N.Y.; as well as a sister and three grandsons. Her husband passed away in 2014.

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