Doris Belack

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

Early years

Born on February 26, 1926, Belack was the younger child of Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Isaac and Bertha Belack; 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 the role. 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 : 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. Dink 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.

Filmography

Film

*''Looking Up'' (1977) - Libby Levine
*'' The Black Marble'' (1980) - Harried Woman
*'' Hanky Panky'' (1982) - Building Manager
*''Tootsie'' (1982) - Rita Marshall
*'' Fast Forward'' (1985) - Mrs. Gilroy
*'' Batteries Not Included'' (1987) - Mrs. Thompson
*''The Luckiest Man in the World'' (1989) - Mrs. Posner
*'' She-Devil'' (1989) - Paula
*'' Opportunity Knocks'' (1990) - Mona
*'' What About Bob?'' (1991) - Dr. Catherine Tomsky
*' (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 Dink (voice)
*''Prime'' (2005) - Blanche
*'' Delirious'' (2006) - Les's mother
*'' Arranged'' (2007) - Elona (final film role)

Television

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References

{{reflist

External links

Doris Belack obituary in ''Variety''
*{{IMDb name, 67497
*{{IBDB name
{{commons category
{{Authority control

{{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