Longtime TV Figure Dies of Pneumonia and Stroke Complications: Janet Nelson Berger Was 87

Janet Nelson Berger has died. The longtime TV casting manager was 87.

The Hollywood Reporter notes Berger, who began her career as a secretary at CBS in the mid-1950s, died due to complications from a stroke and pneumonia. Her husband, Emmy-winning producer Robert “Buzz” Berger, said she died on July 22.

After beginning her work with CBS as a secretary, she worked her way up to a production assistant and casting director in a time when women widely didn’t hold such titles. She contributed to 19 episodes of the CBS anthology program Playhouse 90. Berger also worked for producer Herbert Brodkin, first at CBS and later at his independent company, Plautus Productions. She also contributed to more content of substance with socially conscious programs including the 1960s drama shows The Defenders, The Doctors and the Nurses and For the People.

She did a ton of work with her husband, including the five-part 1978 NBC miniseries Holocaust, which starred Meryl Streep and James Woods, and docudramas about Andrei Sakharov (starring Jason Robards), Edward R. Murrow (Daniel J. Travanti) and Nelson Mandela (Danny Glover).

The couple were well traveled. They lived in London as Buzz first became a producer. During this time, Bergie studied French culinary arts at Le Cordon Bleu and traveled throughout Europe working on her husband’s productions. They returned to America in 1971, living in New York City, New Canaan, Conn., and L.A.