Casting Director, Talent Manager was 88

Al Onorato

Courtesy of Chris Onorato

Al Onorato, who handled casting for TV shows like… Bewitched, The partridge family, Police story And Fantasy island and when talent manager represented Mark Harmon, Kristin Chenoweth and others, has died. He was 88.

Onorato died April 21 in Los Angeles, his nephew Chris Onorato announced.

Onorato co-founded the Casting Society of America (then known as the American Society of Casting Directors) in 1982 with Mike Fenton and Joe Reich and received a lifetime achievement award from the organization in 2019.

Onorato won the CSA’s Artios Award for Best Cast in a Comedy Baghdad Cafe (1987) and shared it with Jerold Franks, his partner at Onorato/Franks Independent Casting.

Alfred Louis Onorato was born on November 10, 1935 in Jersey City, New Jersey. He graduated from Hackensack High School and Fairleigh Dickinson University and then worked as a page at NBC Studios in New York City.

He served as vice president of talent and casting at Columbia Pictures Television and worked at Universal, CBS and MGM before striking out on his own.

His resume as a casting supervisor and/or casting director included the series Hawaii Five-O, The Wild Wild West, Bridget loves Bernie, Policewoman, Crisps, Fame, David Cassidy – undercover man, Mr. Merlin And Freddy’s nightmares and the daily soaps General Hospital, Days of our lives And The young and the restless.

As a talent manager, he assisted Cheryl Ladd, Katie Holmes, David Hasselhoff, Sean Murray, Elijah Wood, Gregory Harrison and others and was instrumental in reviving the career of Gwen Verdon. He also taught acting.

Survivors include his siblings Edward, Ronald and Veronica; sisters-in-law Susan and Helen; and brother-in-law Jack. A celebration of life is planned for May 18 at 1 p.m. at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

Donations in his memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.