Doris Belack (February 26, 1926 – October 4, 2011) was an American character actress of stage, film and television.

Life and career

Belack was born in 1926 in New York City, the younger daughter of Isaac and Bertha Belack, Jewish immigrants from Russia. She had one sibling, an older sister. In 1955, she performed on the record ''Poetry of the Negro'' with

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

. The record was produced by her husband, Philip Rose. Belack has been misidentified as the first "Mrs. Fish" to

Abe Vigoda Abraham Charles Vigoda (February 24, 1921 – January 26, 2016) was an American actor known for his portrayals of Salvatore Tessio in ''The Godfather'' (1972) and Phil Fish in both ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977, 1982) and '' Fish'' (1977–19 ...

's character on ''

Barney Miller ''Barney Miller'' is an American sitcom television series set in a New York City Police Department police station on East 6th St in Greenwich Village. The series was broadcast on ABC Network from January 23, 1975, to May 20, 1982. It was cre ...

''. She was actually only a one-episode replacement for actress

Florence Stanley Florence Stanley (born Florence Schwartz; July 1, 1924 – October 3, 2003) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best known for her roles in ''Barney Miller'' (1975–1977) and its spinoff ''Fish'' (1977-1978), ''My T ...

, who played "Mrs. Fish" ("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 ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

''. She also appeared in '' Another World'' (three different roles over the show's 35-year run), '' The Doctors'' (1980, as psychiatrist Dr. Claudia Howard) and ''

The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that netwo ...

'' (1981, as Beth Bryson who held Nancy Karr hostage). Later in the 1980s, she had the recurring role of Pine Valley's mayor on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2013, via Hulu, Hulu Plus, and ...

''. She played the formidable soap opera producer Rita Marshall in the 1982 comedy film ''

Tootsie ''Tootsie'' is a 1982 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Dustin Hoffman. Its supporting cast includes Pollack, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Bill Murray, Charles Durning, Geo ...

'', which starred

Dustin Hoffman Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is th ...

. Her other film credits included roles in ''

Fast Forward To fast-forward is to move forwards through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played, for example two times or two point five times. The recordings are usually audio, video or computer data. It is colloquially ...

'' (1985), '' Batteries Not Included'' (1987), '' Splash, Too'' (1988), '' She-Devil'' (1989), '' Opportunity Knocks'' (1990), ''

What About Bob? ''What About Bob?'' is a 1991 American black comedy film directed by Frank Oz and starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss. Murray plays Bob Wiley, a troubled patient who follows his self-centered psychotherapist Dr. Leo Marvin (Dreyfuss) o ...

'' (1991), '' Naked Gun : The Final Insult''. (1994), ''

Krippendorf's Tribe ''Krippendorf's Tribe'' is a 1998 American comedy film directed by Todd Holland and based on Frank Parkin's 1985 novel of the same name. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman, Natasha Lyonne, and Lily Tomlin. Its plot follows Professor Ja ...

'' (1998), ''

The Odd Couple II ''The Odd Couple II'' is a 1998 American buddy comedy film and the sequel to the 1968 film '' The Odd Couple''. It was the final film written and produced by Neil Simon, and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. Released nearly three decades ...

'' (1998) and ''

Fail Safe In engineering, a fail-safe is a design feature or practice that in the event of a specific type of failure, inherently responds in a way that will cause minimal or no harm to other equipment, to the environment or to people. Unlike inherent safe ...

'' (2000). Belack played the lead role in the short-lived television sitcom called ''

Baker's Dozen A dozen (commonly abbreviated doz or dz) is a grouping of twelve. The dozen may be one of the earliest primitive integer groupings, perhaps because there are approximately a dozen cycles of the Moon, or months, in a cycle of the Sun, or yea ...

'' as "Florence Baker", the no-nonsense captain of an undercover anti-crime unit of the

NYPD The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

. The show lasted a month on CBS. She guest starred on an episode of ''

The Golden Girls ''The Golden Girls'' is an American sitcom created by Susan Harris that aired on NBC from September 14, 1985, to May 9, 1992, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning seven seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Bea Arthur, Betty Wh ...

'' in 1985 as

Dorothy Zbornak Dorothy Zbornak is a character from the sitcom television series ''The Golden Girls'', portrayed by Bea Arthur. Sarcastic, introspective, compassionate, and fiercely protective of those she considers family, she is introduced as a substitute teach ...

's sister, Gloria. From 1990 to 2001, she played tough, sharp-tongued Judge Margaret Barry, a recurring role on ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering ...

'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. She voiced Maureen McReary in ''

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...

'' and provided the voices of Mrs. Dink and Mrs. Wingo in the Nickelodeon show ''

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...

''. Her last television appearance was on a 2003 episode of ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United Stat ...

''.

Personal life

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.

Partial filmography

*''Looking Up'' (1977) - Libby Levine *''The Last Tenant'' (1978) - Housekeeper *''

The Black Marble ''The Black Marble'' is a 1980 mystery/romantic comedy film directed by Harold Becker and starring Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss and Harry Dean Stanton. It is based on the 1978 novel by Joseph Wambaugh. Plot Pragmatic Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman ...

'' (1980) - Harried Woman *''We're Fighting Back'' (1981) - Doctor *'' Hanky Panky'' (1982) - Building Manager *''

'' (1982) - Rita Marshall *''The Cradle Will Fall'' (1983) - Edna Burns *''Sessions'' (1983) .. *''The Hearst and Davies Affair'' (1985) - Louella Parsons *''

'' (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 ''Absolute Strangers'' is a 1991 made-for-television CBS docudrama featuring ''Happy Days'' star Henry Winkler returning to his first major TV role in eight years. The screenplay, written by Robert Woodruff Anderson, was based on the true story o ...

'' (1991) - Fran *''

'' (1991) - Dr. Catherine Tomsky *'' Naked Gun : The Final Insult''. (1994) - Dr. Roberts *''What's Your Sign?'' (1997) *''

'' (1998) - President Porter *''

'' (1998) - Blanche Madison Povitch *''

Doug's 1st Movie ''Doug's 1st Movie'' is a 1999 American animated comedy film based on the Disney-produced episodes of the animated television series ''Doug''. The film was directed by Maurice Joyce, and stars the regular television cast of Tom McHugh, Fred New ...

'' (1999) - Mayor Tippi Dink (voice) *''

'' (2000) - Mrs. Johnson *Law and Order SVU (2000) - Judge Margaret Barry *''

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

'' (2005) - Blanche *'' True Crime: New York City'' (2005) - Additional voices *''

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an American comedy-drama directed by Tom DiCillo, sta ...

'' (2006) - Les's mother *''

Arranged In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchest ...

'' (2007) - Elona (final film role)

References

External links

Doris Belack obituary in ''Variety''
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Belack, Doris 1926 births 2011 deaths American film actresses American soap opera actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses Actresses from New York City Jewish American actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American Jews