Helen Siff

Acting

Helen Siff

Born 1937-01-01 · Woodmere, Long Island, New York, USA

Helen Siff (June 2, 1937 – December 18, 2025) was an American character actress. She was known for roles in numerous films including The Karate Kid (1984), You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008), and Hail, Caesar! (2016). She was born in Woodmere, New York, on June 2, 1937. She died from complications of surgery in Los Angeles on December 18, 2025, at the age of 88.

Acting credits

The Karate Kid poster
7.2

New Jersey teen Daniel LaRusso moves to Los Angeles with his mother, and soon strikes up a relationship with Ali. He quickly finds himself the target of bullying by a group of thugs, led by Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny, who study karate at the Cobra Kai dojo under ruthless sensei John Kreese. Fortunately, Daniel befriends Mr. Miyagi, an unassuming repairman who just happens to be a martial arts master himself. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing, training him in a more compassionate form of karate for self-defense and, later, preparing him to compete against the brutal Cobra Kai.

The Karate Kid

1984

You Don't Mess with the Zohan poster
5.7

An Israeli counterterrorism soldier with a secretly fabulous ambition to become a Manhattan hairstylist. Zohan's desire runs so deep that he'll do anything -- including faking his own death and going head-to-head with an Arab cab driver -- to make his dreams come true.

You Don't Mess with the Zohan

2008

Hail, Caesar! poster
5.9

When a Hollywood star mysteriously disappears in the middle of filming, the studio sends their fixer to get him back.

Hail, Caesar!

2016

Earth Girls Are Easy poster
5.6

In this musical comedy, Valerie is dealing with her philandering fiancé, Ted, when she finds that a trio of aliens have crashed their spaceship into her swimming pool. Once the furry beings are shaved at her girlfriend's salon, the women discover three handsome men underneath. After absorbing the native culture via television, the spacemen are ready to hit the dating scene in 1980s Los Angeles.

Earth Girls Are Easy

1988

Big Top Pee-wee poster
5.0

Paul Reubens stars as Pee-wee Herman in his second full-length film about a farmer who joins the circus after a storm drops a big tent in his front yard. Pee-wee, along with an outlandish cast of animals and circus performers, puts on the best show ever.

Big Top Pee-wee

1988

White Dog poster
6.6

Samuel Fuller’s throat-grabbing exposé on American racism was misunderstood and withheld from release when it was made in the early eighties.Today, the notorious film is lauded for its daring metaphor and gripping pulp filmmaking. Kristy McNichol stars as a young actress who adopts a lost German shepherd, only to discover through a series of horrifying incidents that the dog has been trained to attack black people, and Paul Winfield plays the animal trainer who tries to cure him. A snarling, uncompromising vision, White Dog is a tragic portrait of the evil done by that most corruptible of all animals; the human being.

White Dog

1982

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold poster
5.3

Mitch Robbins' 40th birthday begins quite well until he returns home and finds his brother Glen, the black sheep of the family, in his sofa. Nevertheless he is about to have a wonderful birthday-night with his wife when he discovers a treasure map of Curly by chance. Together with Phil and unfortunately Glen he tries to find the hidden gold of Curly's father in the desert of Arizona.

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold

1994

For Keeps poster
6.5

Young high school couple Darcy Elliot and Stan Bobrucz are one year from graduation, with promising futures ahead of them. But their paths take a drastic turn when Darcy becomes pregnant. Unwilling to go through an abortion or an adoption — despite their parents' pleas — Darcy and Stan decide to sacrifice their college experiences and degrees in order to keep and raise the baby. After a quick marriage, the two realize it won't be as easy as they thought.

For Keeps

1988

The Christmas Gift poster
5.3

Ten-year-old Megan, who upon receiving a Secret Santa gift, is touched by its contents which end up having a huge impact on her life. Now a driven young journalist, Megan can’t shake her desire to thank the person who sent her that heartfelt gift over a decade ago. Determined to prove herself to her editor, she goes on the search for the perfect Christmas story, and in doing so, she finally discovers who her Secret Santa is. Inspired by a true story.

The Christmas Gift

2015

From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One poster
4.0

In the first of a potential series of films inspired by the real-life experiences of Los Angeles police officer turned bestselling author Joseph Wambaugh, an on-the-skids detective, with memories of having accidentally shot and killed his partner while they were pursuing a pair of bank robbers, tries to put his life back in order.

From the Files of Joseph Wambaugh: A Jury of One

1992

The Lost poster
5.4

A charismatic psycho suspected of killing two innocent campers in a cold-blooded double homicide grows increasingly unstable as his suburban empire starts to crack at the foundations.

The Lost

2006

Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife poster
8.0

A fashion designer marries a lawyer only to discover that his father is an imfamous mafia don.

Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife

1987

Lots of Luck poster
7.5

A middle-aged Annette Funicello stars in this made-for-Disney film about a blue-collar family whose lives are forever transformed when they win the lottery.

Lots of Luck

1985

The Wrong Roommate poster
5.1

Following a break-up with her unfaithful fiancé, a young college professor agrees to live at her sister’s and watch over the home and her 17 year old niece. Unbeknownst to her, a gorgeous tenant, who is friendly to her young niece, is living in the guest house. But things aren't that simple as this mysterious stranger turns out to have a troubled past with dangerous consequences.

The Wrong Roommate

2016

Josh Kirby... Time Warrior: Last Battle for the Universe poster
6.4

In the sixth Josh Kirby adventure, typical American teenager Josh Kirby (Corbin Allred) is once again thrust from the 20th century into the future, where he finds himself trying to save Earth from total destruction as he comes into contact with a race of mushroom people.

Josh Kirby... Time Warrior: Last Battle for the Universe

1996

Her Secret Life poster
5.8

Kate Capshaw plays a schoolteacher and suburban housewife who happens to be an ex-spy. Nobody knows of Capshaw's previous espionage activities, least of all her somewhat obtuse husband Cliff De Young. When Capshaw's ex-lover Jeroen Krabbe, an intimate of Castro, lands in a Cuban prison, she is swept back into the spy business, leaving her nonplussed hubby in the dust.

Her Secret Life

1987

There Must Be a Pony poster
6.8

Marguerite Sydney is a celebrated Hollywood star attempting a comeback after a stay in a mental hospital, as well as trying to re-establish a relationship with her teenage son, and risking a romance with a mysterious stranger.

There Must Be a Pony

1986