Doris Belack Biography
Doris Belack (February 26, 1926 – October 4, 2011) was an American character actress of stage, film and television.
Early years
Bron on February 26, 1926, Belack was the daughter of Jewish immigrants Isaac and Bertha Belack, who came from Russia. She had an older sister.
Life and career
Belack began her acting career immediately after she graduated from high school when she began performing in a summer stock theater company.
She has sometimes been misidentified as the first Bernice Fish, the wife to Abe Vigoda's character Fish on Barney Miller. She was actually only a one-episode replacement for actress Florence Stanley, who played Bernice Fish. Before that, Belack was seen mainly in soap operas. She originated the role of Anna Wolek Craig for nearly a decade on One Life to Live. She also appeared in Another World (three different roles over several years), The Doctors (1980, as psychiatrist Dr. Claudia Howard), and The Edge of Night (1981, as Beth Bryson). Later in the 1980s, she had the recurring role of Pine Valley's mayor on All My Children.
She played the formidable soap opera producer Rita Marshall in the 1982 comedy film Tootsie, which starred Dustin Hoffman. Her other film credits included roles in Fast Forward (1985), Batteries Not Included (1987), Splash, Too (1988), She-Devil (1989), Opportunity Knocks (1990), What About Bob? (1991), Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult. (1994), Krippendorf's Tribe (1998), The Odd Couple II (1998) and Fail Safe (2000).
Belack played the lead role in the short-lived television sitcom Baker's Dozen as "Florence Baker", the no-nonsense captain of an undercover anti-crime unit of the NYPD. The show lasted a month on CBS. She guest starred on an episode of The Golden Girls in 1985 as Gloria, the sister of Bea Arthur's character Dorothy Zbornak.
From 1990 to 2001, Belack played tough, sharp-tongued Judge Margaret Barry, a recurring role on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She voiced Maureen McReary in Grand Theft Auto IV and provided the voices of Mrs. * and Mrs. Wingo in the Nickelodeon show Doug. Her last television appearance was on a 2003 episode of Sex and the City.
Personal life and death
Her husband, producer Philip Rose, died on May 31, 2011, four months before her own death. They were married for 65 years and had no children.
Belack died on October 4, 2011, in New York City, aged 85.
Partial filmography
- Looking Up (1977) - Libby Levine
- The Last Tenant (1978) - Housekeeper
- The Black Marble (1980) - Harried Woman
- We're Fighting Back (1981) - Doctor
- Hanky Panky (1982) - Building Manager
- Tootsie (1982) - Rita Marshall
- The Cradle Will Fall (1983) - Edna Burns
- Sessions (1983)
- The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) - Louella Parsons
- Fast Forward (1985) - Mrs. Gilroy
- Almost Partners (1987) - Anna McCue
- Batteries Not Included (1987) - Mrs. Thompson
- Hostage (1988) - Edna
- Splash, Too (1988) - Lois Needler
- The Luckiest Man in the World (1989) - Mrs. Posner
- She-Devil (1989) - Paula
- Opportunity Knocks (1990) - Mona
- Absolute Strangers (1991) - Fran
- What About Bob? (1991) - Dr. Catherine Tomsky
- Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994) - Dr. Roberts
- What's Your Sign? (1997)
- Krippendorf's Tribe (1998) - President Porter
- The Odd Couple II (1998) - Blanche Madison Povitch
- Doug's 1st Movie (1999) - Mayor Tippi * (voice)
- Fail Safe (2000) - Mrs. Johnson
- Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (2000) - Judge Margaret Barry
- Prime (2005) - Blanche
- True Crime: New York City (2005) - Additional voices
- Delirious (2006) - Les's mother
- Arranged (2007) - Elona (final film role)
References
External links
- Doris Belack obituary in Variety
- Doris Belack at IMDb
- Doris Belack at the Internet Broadway Database
- Doris Belack at AllMovie
