Doris Belack

Acting

Doris Belack

Born 1926-02-26 · New York City, New York, USA

Doris Belack (February 26, 1926 – October 4, 2011) was an American character actress of stage, film and television. Belack played the formidable soap opera producer Rita Marshall in the 1982 comedy film Tootsie. 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). 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.

Acting credits

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult poster
6.5

Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

1994

The Odd Couple II poster
6.3

Brucey, the son of Oscar, calls his father to invite him to his wedding to Felix's daughter next Sunday in California. Oscar and Felix meet again at Los Angeles International Airport and rent a car in order to go to San Malina for the wedding.

The Odd Couple II

1998

What About Bob? poster
6.9

Before going on vacation, self-involved psychiatrist Dr. Leo Marvin has the misfortune of taking on a new patient: Bob Wiley. An exemplar of neediness and a compendium of phobias, Bob follows Marvin to his family's country house. Dr. Marvin tries to get him to leave; the trouble is, everyone loves Bob. As his oblivious patient makes himself at home, Dr. Marvin loses his professional composure and, before long, may be ready for the loony bin himself.

What About Bob?

1991

Tootsie poster
7.2

When struggling, out of work actor Michael Dorsey secretly adopts a female alter ego—Dorothy Michaels—in order to land a part in a daytime drama, he unwittingly becomes a feminist icon and ends up in a romantic pickle.

Tootsie

1982

Prime poster
6.0

A career driven professional from Manhattan is wooed by a young painter, who also happens to be the son of her psychoanalyst.

Prime

2005

She-Devil poster
6.0

A cunning and resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.

She-Devil

1989

*batteries not included poster
6.7

In a soon to be demolished block of apartments, the residents resist the criminal methods used to force them to leave so a greedy tycoon can build his new skyscraper. When tiny mechanical aliens land for a recharge, they decide to stay and help out.

*batteries not included

1987

Fail Safe poster
6.9

Cold War tensions climb to a fever pitch when a U.S. bomber is accidentally ordered to drop a nuclear warhead on Moscow.

Fail Safe

2000

Hanky Panky poster
5.3

Naïve Michael Jordon is drawn into a web of government secrets when a girl carrying a mysterious package gets into a taxi with him. When she's later murdered, Michael becomes the chief suspect and goes on the run.

Hanky Panky

1982

Arranged poster
6.2

ARRANGED centers on the friendship between an Orthodox Jewish woman and a Muslim woman who meet as first-year teachers at a public school in Brooklyn. Over the course of the year they learn they share much in common - not least of which is that they are both going through the process of arranged marriages.

Arranged

2007

Krippendorf's Tribe poster
4.6

After squandering his grant money, despondent and recently widowed anthropologist James Krippendorf must produce hard evidence of the existence of a heretofore undiscovered New Guinea tribe. Grass skirts, makeup, and staged rituals transform his three troubled children into the Shelmikedmu, a primitive culture whose habits enthrall scholars. But when a spiteful rival threatens to blow the whistle on Krippendorf's ruse, he gets into the act as well.

Krippendorf's Tribe

1998

Doug's 1st Movie poster
5.6

Doug and his pal Skeeter set's out to find the monster of Lucky Duck Lake. Though things get really out of hand when some one blurts out that the monster is real.

Doug's 1st Movie

1999

Opportunity Knocks poster
5.7

Eddie and Lou are a couple of two-bit con men on the lam from a loan shark. They hide out in someone's house and they hear on the answering machine that (A) the owner of the house is out of the country for a month or two and (B) the housesitter supposed to watch the house for the absent owner won't be able to watch the house due to a new job in another part of the country. This provides for a pretty nifty arrangement for Eddie and Lou...until the relatives of the house owner drop by to visit. Eddie quickly adopts the guise of the person supposedly housesitting for the owner, and the shenanigans start from there.

Opportunity Knocks

1990

The Hearst and Davies Affair poster
4.2

Dramatization of the scandalous, long-time love affair between the powerful but married publisher and the chorus girl he helped turn into a Ziegfeld star and 1930s film personality.

The Hearst and Davies Affair

1985

Fast Forward poster
5.6

Eight young people from Ohio who are dancers, come to New York, to compete in a major talent competition. But when they get there, they learn that they have to wait some time before they take part in it. So they try to do their best to survive in the Big Apple before competition, and get some lessons about the real World.

Fast Forward

1985

The Black Marble poster
4.8

When alcoholic homicide investigator Valnikov is transferred to a burglary case that seems to involve a creepy dogcatcher, he's also given a new partner -- the pragmatic Sgt. Natalie Zimmerman, who's experiencing a midlife crisis and does not welcome Valnikov's company. But as these emotionally bruised cops are drawn deeper into the bizarre world of dog shows, animal fanatics and pet cemeteries, they're also drawn to each other.

The Black Marble

1980

The Cradle Will Fall poster
4.0

Kathy DeMaio checks into the hospital and thinks she sees a body being loaded into the trunk of a car. When the body turns up later and the murderer, Dr. Highley, thinks that DeMaio can identify him, her life is put in jeopardy. Originally made for television and adapted from a novel by Mary Higgins Clark, the interesting twist to this thriller is that several cast members of the daytime soap opera "Guiding Light" play those same roles here.

The Cradle Will Fall

1983

The Last Tenant poster
NR

Family members face hard decisions about the care of their elderly father who needs constant care and can no longer safely live alone, which particularly affects the eldest son's life, placing his impending marriage in jeopardy.

The Last Tenant

1978

Absolute Strangers poster
NR

A husband tries to keep his comatose wife alive by allowing doctors to terminate her pregnancy. Hearing about this, anti-abortion protesters start a legal campaign to gain legal custody of the fetus.

Absolute Strangers

1991

Hostage poster
5.0

After five hard years behind bars Bonnie Lee is still haunted by her past which hides a terrible secret and hunted by her father, a man desperate for revenge and a need to silence her forever... Alone on the run, she will do whatever it takes to survive and find the one person who can clear her name - her mother. She's a desperate woman on a desperate mission and the only person who can save her is the only person who cares... her Hostage .

Hostage

1988

We're Fighting Back poster
7.0

Inspired by the exploits of New York's Guardian Angels, which began as a band of streetwise young people who formed an anti-crime subway patrol and went on to gain a national reputation and units in major cities around the country, this film unites three New York City youths as leaders of a citizens' patrol tackling gangs terrorizing merchants and local citizens.

We're Fighting Back

1981

Almost Partners poster
9.0

Molly McCue becomes bored with her quiet, suburban life and fantasizes about becoming a detective. She gets her chance when the urn containing the ashes of her recently departed grandfather is stolen. Molly joins forces with a reluctant New York City police detective who has been assigned to find the missing urn. The two are puzzled over finding a motive for the theft until their case collides with the biggest mystery under investigation in New York City at the time. In the end, a special friendship grows between the two mystery solvers.

Almost Partners

1987

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall poster
4.0

Granny Weatherall (Geraldine Fitzgerald) is a spunky old lady of eighty who bosses around her doctor and her children. She seems so strong and in control, and yet she has never had the upper hand in her destiny. One morning, a flood of long-forgotten memories bring her to the realization that of all her accomplishments, she cannot console herself for the shame-filled day she was left standing at the alter. Still, her indomitable will to live and act independently infuses the last day of her life. Adapted from the short story by acclaimed writer Katherine Anne Porter ("Ship of Fools"), The Jilting of Granny Weatherall reminds us of the plight of many women who wait for life to claim them, rather than seek life out for themselves.

The Jilting of Granny Weatherall

1980

Sessions poster
6.5

High-priced call girl Lee Churchill examines her life via therapy 'sessions'. Her double life is unknown to her parents, sister and the 'straight' man with whom she falls in love.

Sessions

1983