Alixe Gordin, Casting Director on 'Klute,' 'Scarface' and 'Prizzi's Honor,' Dies at 96

She collaborated with director Alan J. Pakula on 10 films through 'The Devil's Own' and also won an Emmy.

Alixe Gordin, the casting director who worked on Scarface, Prizzi’s Honor and 10 films with director Alan J. Pakula, including Klute and Sophie's Choice, has died. She was 96.

Gordin died Wednesday at her home in Duxbury, Massachusetts, family spokeswoman Emily M. Kellndorfer said.

Gordin also won a Primetime Emmy in 1991 for casting for a miniseries or a special for her work on ABC's three-hour Separate But Equal, which starred Sidney Poitier as Thurgood Marshall.

In addition to Klute (1971) and Sophie's Choice (1982), she collaborated with Pakula on The Parallax View (1974), Dream Lover (1986), Orphans (1987), See You in the Morning (1989) — she also had a small role in that film — Presumed Innocent (1990), Consenting Adults (1992), The Pelican Brief (1993) and The Devil's Own (1997).

Her other feature credits included Summer of '42 (1971), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), The Boys From Brazil (1978) and The Fan (1981).

Alixe Glas was born on April 10, 1922, in Dayton, Ohio. Her father, Clifford, was an electrical contractor; her mother, Frances, was a businesswoman. She attended Hollywood High School and the University of Arizona.

After a stint as a disc jockey at a jazz station and singing with a big band, she did some acting and took Gordin as her stage name before finding her way into casting in the late 1950s, working on the CBS programs Studio One and The Defenders.

Gordin lived in Manhattan for a decade with her partner, Louise Fitzhugh, the author of Harriet the Spy. At 91, she married Georgiana Jagiello, the director of the Center for Reproductive Sciences at Columbia University who assisted on the first in vitro fertilization birth in New York City.

Survivors include her nephews Richard and Alan.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name may be sent to First Parish Duxbury Unitarian Universalist Church or Cranberry Hospice. Information about her service will be available here.