Doris Belack

Doris Belack
Belack in 1990
Born	(1926-02-26)February 26, 1926 New York City, U.S.
Died	October 4, 2011(2011-10-04) (aged 85) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1955–2011
Spouse	Philip Rose ​ ​ (m. 1946; died 2011)​

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 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. 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.

Partial filmography

• For The People (1965) - The Policewoman
• Barney Miller (1975) - Bernice Fish
• Looking Up (1977) - Libby Levine
• One Life to Live (1977) - Anna Wolek Craig
• On Our Own (1978) - Nurse Pressiosa
• The Last Tenant (1978) - Housekeeper
• Family (1980) - Dr. Derwin
• The Jilting of Granny Weatherall (1980) - Olive
• The Black Marble (1980) - Harried Woman
• When the Whistle Blows (1980)
• The Doctors (1980) - Dr. Claudia Howard
• We're Fighting Back (1981) - Doctor
• The Edge of Night (1982) - Beth Bryson
• Hanky Panky (1982) - Building Manager
• Baker's Dozen (1982) - Capt. Florence Baker
• Tootsie (1982) - Rita Marshall
• The Cradle Will Fall (1983) - Edna Burns
• Sessions (1983)
• Emerald Point N.A.S. (1984) - Nancy Frost
• Family Ties (1984) - Mrs. Willis
• The Cosby Show (1984) - Saleswoman
• Cagney And Lacey (1985) - Mrs. Harkins
• The Hearst and Davies Affair (1985) - Louella Parsons
• Remington Steele (1985) - Myrtle/Rose
• Fast Forward (1985) - Mrs. Gilroy
• Off The Rack (1985)
• Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1985) - Mrs. Courtney
• Hollywood Beat (1985)
• Hometown (1985) - Alice Bender
• The Golden Girls (1985) - Gloria Petrillo
• Mr. Belvedere - Customer #2
• Mary (1986) - Norma Tucker
• The Equalizer - (1987) - Dorian
• Almost Partners (1987) - Anna McCue
• Batteries Not Included (1987) - Mrs. Thompson
• Hostage (1988) - Edna
• Splash, Too (1988) - Lois Needler
• Baby Boom (1988) Lois Elkman
• The Luckiest Man in the World (1989) - Mrs. Posner
• She-Devil (1989) - Paula
• Anything But Love (1989) - Dorothy Gold
• Opportunity Knocks (1990) - Mona
• Absolute Strangers (1991) - Fran
• What About Bob? (1991) - Dr. Catherine Tomsky
• Mathnet (1992) - Broadway Annie Rose
• Laurie Hill (1992) - Beverly Fielder
• Lifestories: Families In Crisis (1993) - Judge Cohen
• Family Album (1993) - Lillian Lerner
• Doug (1994) - Tippi Dink/Mrs. Wingo/Ruby Valentine (voice)
• Naked Gun 33+1⁄3: The Final Insult (1994) - Dr. Roberts
• Picket Fences (1994) - Justice Ginsburg
• Chicago Hope (1995) - Mrs. Taubler
• Sisters (1995) - Shirley Nuesbaum/Naomi Margolis
• 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)
• 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)

External links

• Doris Belack obituary in Variety
• Doris Belack at IMDb
• Doris Belack at the Internet Broadway Database
• ‹The template AllMovie name is being considered for deletion.› Doris Belack at AllMovie