Deborah Rush

Acting

Deborah Rush

Born

1954-04-10 (72)

Known for

Acting

Credits

59 titles

Deborah Rush (born April 10, 1954) is an American actress. She has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. In 2003 she acted in the comedy film American Wedding, as Mary Flaherty, Michelle Flaherty's mom. In December 2008, she joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Blithe Spirit.

Known for

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit poster
8.0

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

1999

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

The Blacklist poster
7.6

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

The Blacklist

2013

The Good Wife poster
7.6

Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.

The Good Wife

2009

Orange Is the New Black poster
7.6

A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.

Orange Is the New Black

2013

Billions poster
7.8

Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.

Billions

2016

Film credits

2010s · 4 titles

2000s · 11 titles

American Wedding poster
6.2

With high school a distant memory, Jim and Michelle are getting married — and in a hurry, since Jim's grandmother is sick and wants to see him walk down the aisle — prompting Stifler to throw the ultimate bachelor party. And Jim's dad is reliable as ever, doling out advice no one wants to hear.

American Wedding

2003

Julie & Julia poster
6.7

Julia Child and Julie Powell – both of whom wrote memoirs – find their lives intertwined. Though separated by time and space, both women are at loose ends... until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.

Julie & Julia

2009

Bad Company poster
5.5

When a Harvard-educated CIA agent is killed during an operation, the secret agency recruits his twin brother.

Bad Company

2002

The Good Girl poster
6.2

A discount store clerk strikes up an affair with a stock boy who considers himself the incarnation of Holden Caulfield.

The Good Girl

2002

The Visitor poster
7.1

A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.

The Visitor

2008

Half Nelson poster
6.6

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

Half Nelson

2006

The Box poster
5.6

Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

The Box

2009

Strangers with Candy poster
5.7

A prequel to the critically acclaimed series featuring Jerri Blank, a 46 year old ex-junkie, ex-con who returns to high school in a bid to start her life over.

Strangers with Candy

2006

American Pie: Revealed poster
6.0

Documentary about the making of American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001) and American Wedding (2003).

American Pie: Revealed

2004

The Good Life poster
6.5

A movie about the travails of Jason (Mark Webber), a young gas station attendant and movie projectionist living in Nebraska. His encounters with various social difficulties and with Frances (Zooey Deschanel), a beautiful and enigmatic young woman leads to dramatic changes and decisions in his life.

The Good Life

2007

Fling poster
5.3

An attractive young couple's open relationship is stretched to the breaking point when each partner finds themselves falling in love with other people.

Fling

2008

1990s · 9 titles

You've Got Mail poster
6.7

Book superstore magnate Joe Fox and independent book shop owner Kathleen Kelly fall in love in the anonymity of the Internet—both blissfully unaware that he's trying to put her out of business.

You've Got Mail

1998

In & Out poster
6.5

A midwestern teacher questions his sexuality after a former student makes a comment about him at the Academy Awards.

In & Out

1997

Three to Tango poster
5.7

Oscar and Peter land a career-making opportunity when a Chicago tycoon chooses them to compete for the design of a cultural center. The tycoon mistakenly believes that Oscar is gay and has him spy on his mistress Amy. Oscar goes along with it and ends up falling in love with Amy.

Three to Tango

1999

My Blue Heaven poster
6.1

FBI agent Barney Coopersmith is assigned to protect former Mafia figure turned informant Vincent Antonelli. In the witness protection program one is supposed to keep a low profile, but that is something that Antonelli has trouble doing. Coopersmith certainly has his hands full keeping Antonelli away from the Mafia hitmen who want to stop him testifying, not to mention the nightclubs...

My Blue Heaven

1990

Passed Away poster
5.4

Thrown for a loop by the unexpected news that Dad has suddenly gone to his reward, the grieving eccentric Scanian clan are drawn together in a test of familial endurance that soon has them at each other's throats.

Passed Away

1992

Advice From a Caterpillar poster
4.2

When it comes to romance, Missy's attitude has always been whatever. After all, her artistic career is flourishing, her spacious New York City loft is fabulous and her relationship with a married man is totally uncomplicated. But then Missy meets Brat, who's sweet, genuine and shares her fondness for 70's sitcoms. Unfortunately, he's also dating her pal Spaz. When Missy and Brat unexpectedly fall for each other, will she lose her identity... and her best friend?

Advice From a Caterpillar

1999

Earthly Possessions poster
6.0

A bored homemaker planning to run away from her minister husband is taken hostage in a bank robbery. However, she sees the thrill in being involved in the chase and becomes an accomplice to the young robber.

Earthly Possessions

1999

Reckless poster
6.6

On Christmas Eve, a relentlessly cheerful woman escapes from the killers hired by her husband, and embarks on a series of strange encounters.

Reckless

1995

Unnatural Pursuits poster
NR

An English playwright sacrifices his health waiting for his play's make-or-break opening on Broadway.

Unnatural Pursuits

1992

1980s · 15 titles

Big Business poster
6.4

In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths.

Big Business

1988

Zelig poster
7.4

Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

Zelig

1983

Family Business poster
5.7

Jessie is an aging career criminal who has been in more jails, fights, schemes, and lineups than just about anyone else. His son Vito, while currently on the straight and narrow, has had a fairly shady past and is indeed no stranger to illegal activity. They both have great hope for Adam, Vito's son and Jessie's grandson, who is bright, good-looking, and without a criminal past.

Family Business

1989

The Purple Rose of Cairo poster
7.4

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she watches dashing archaeologist Tom Baxter time and again.

The Purple Rose of Cairo

1985

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

Split Image poster
6.0

An impressionable young man finds himself enslaved by a modern-day religious cult. In an effort to bring him back to reality, the boy's parents hire a deprogrammer to kidnap him and return him to his family.

Split Image

1982

A Night in Heaven poster
4.5

Faye Hanlon is a community-college professor with an emotionally depressed husband and an abundance of sexual frustration. Her sister drags her to a male strip-club for a girls-night out, where she discovers that one of the dancers is her failing student Rick Monroe, a.k.a. "Ricky the Rocket". A heated affair between teacher & student ensues, as Faye struggles to reconcile her emotions and make consequential life choices: Continue her lustful sessions with the studly-but-shallow teen stripper? Or break it off with Ricky & work to salvage her marriage to the loving-but-distant husband?

A Night in Heaven

1983

Parents poster
5.9

Michael is a young boy living in a typical 1950s suburbanite home... except for his bizarre and horrific nightmares, and continued unease around his parents. Young Michael begins to suspect his parents are cooking more than just hamburgers on the grill outside, but has trouble explaining his fears to his new-found friend Sheila, or the school's social worker.

Parents

1989

Heat poster
5.8

Reynolds plays an ex-soldier-of-fortunish character in Vegas, taking "Chaperone" jobs, fighting with the mob, and trying to get enough money together to move to Venice, Italy.

Heat

1986

Alice at the Palace poster
6.2

Meryl Streep stars as Alice in this production of Elizabeth Swados' musical, which was adapted from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Based on the acclaimed New York Shakespeare Festival production by Joseph Papp, Alice at the Palace follows Alice's surreal adventures with The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, The Queen of Hearts, and The Cheshire Cat, among many others.

Alice at the Palace

1982

Honky Tonk Freeway poster
5.3

Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not to put an exit into the town. The people of Ticlaw, leaded by its Mayor, will do anything in order to convince the governor to alter the project.

Honky Tonk Freeway

1981

Kiss Me, Petruchio poster
6.0

A documentary about the 1978 stage production of The Taming of the Shrew by the New York City Shakespeare company at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. Includes scenes from the production, interviews with Meryl Streep (Kate) and Raul Julia (Petruchio) as well as an introduction by producer Joseph Papp and audience commentary.

Kiss Me, Petruchio

1981

Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread poster
6.5

Penn Jillette and Teller are called upon to display their unique brand of humor to save civilization from strange extraterrestrial beings who have invaded Earth and who, disgruntled and bored with the mundane nature of human life, threaten to blow up the planet unless someone gives them a good reason not to.

Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread

1987

A Midsummer Night's Dream poster
6.5

Theseus has defeated Hippolyta in battle, and now claims her as his bride. But before the nuptials begin, a pair of young lovers flee into the forest to be married, pursued by a pair of not-lovers. There, in the forest, live the fairies whose lives are in turmoil, due to the heated lovers' quarrels between their rulers, Oberon and Titania. Between the fairies, an ass's head, the lovers, a troupe of unsuspecting would-be actors, and a magic flower that can make people fall in love at first sight, it's a merry night of chaos and comedy until everything is put to rights.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

1985

Compromising Positions poster
5.3

An ex-newspaper woman, who is now a suburban housewife, can't resist getting involved in an investigation of the murder of a philandering dentist who had been having affairs with several of her neighbors.

Compromising Positions

1985

1970s · 3 titles

Series credits

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit poster
8.0

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

1999

Law & Order poster
7.3

In cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.

Law & Order

1990

The Blacklist poster
7.6

Raymond "Red" Reddington, one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, surrenders in person at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. He claims that he and the FBI have the same interests: bringing down dangerous criminals and terrorists. In the last two decades, he's made a list of criminals and terrorists that matter the most but the FBI cannot find because it does not know they exist. Reddington calls this "The Blacklist". Reddington will co-operate, but insists that he will speak only to Elizabeth Keen, a rookie FBI profiler.

The Blacklist

2013

The Good Wife poster
7.6

Alicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.

The Good Wife

2009

Orange Is the New Black poster
7.6

A crime she committed in her youthful past sends Piper Chapman to a women's prison, where she trades her comfortable New York life for one of unexpected camaraderie and conflict in an eccentric group of fellow inmates.

Orange Is the New Black

2013

Billions poster
7.8

Shrewd, savvy U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades and the brilliant, ambitious hedge fund king Bobby "Axe" Axelrod are on an explosive collision course, with each using all of his considerable smarts, power and influence to outmaneuver the other. The stakes are in the billions in this timely, provocative series.

Billions

2016

Spin City poster
7.0

Workaholic Mike Flaherty is the Deputy Mayor of New York City, serving as Mayor Randall Winston's key strategist and much-needed handler. Mike runs the city with the help of his oddball staff: an anxious and insecure press secretary; a sexist, boorish chief of staff; an impeccably groomed gay activist running minority affairs; a sharp and efficient, man-crazy accountant; and an idealistic young speechwriter. Like Mike, they are all professionally capable but personally challenged.

Spin City

1996

Spenser: For Hire poster
6.9

Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new murder mystery each episode.

Spenser: For Hire

1985

Strangers with Candy poster
7.5

Jerri Blank is a former prostitute and junkie whore who returns to high school as a 46-year-old freshman at Flatpoint High. Jerri ran away from home and became 'a boozer, a user, and a loser' after dropping out as a teenager, supporting her drug habits through prostitution, stripping, and larceny. She has been to prison several times, the last time because she 'stole the TV'. At home, Jerri's father Guy is comatose, although he seems perfectly capable of amazing feats. Her stepmother Sara is vain and bitter, and stepbrother Derrick is a bullying jock. Jerri tries to do things the right way but always ends up learning the wrong lesson. Her hijinks often involve, either directly or indirectly, neurotic history teacher Chuck Noblet and his secret lover, sensitive art teacher Geoffrey Jellineck.

Strangers with Candy

1999

Search Party poster
6.9

A dark comedy about four self-absorbed twenty-somethings who become entangled in an ominous mystery when a former college acquaintance suddenly disappears.

Search Party

2016

The Jury poster
9.0

Set in New York City, the series brings the viewer into the jury room to watch the deliberators try to answer the many questions posed during a trial. As facts are exposed through flashbacks of testimony and crime footage, viewers will form their own opinions about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Following each verdict, a final flashback will let viewers see the crime as it actually happened and reveal whether or not the jury made the right decision.

The Jury

2004

Leg Work poster
6.5

Leg Work is an American detective drama television series created by Frank Abatemarco that premiered on CBS on October 3, 1987. The show was short-lived and only 10 episodes were produced, of which only six were aired prior to the show's cancellation. The final episode aired on November 7, 1987. The cable network TV Land later aired the remaining four episodes.

Leg Work

1987

Against the Law poster
7.0

Against the Law is an American dramedy television series that aired on the Fox network from September 23, 1990 to April 5, 1991. Starring Michael O'Keefe and Suzzanne Douglas, the 17 hour-long episodes centered on the brash Boston lawyer, Simon MacHeath, who left his job at a prestigious law firm to start his own defense practice.

Against the Law

1990

Madigan Men poster
8.0

Madigan Men is an American television comedy that premiered on ABC in the U.S. on October 6, 2000. The show performed poorly in the ratings and among critics and was canceled on December 18, 2000.

Madigan Men

2000

Big Lake poster
NR

Big Lake is an American comedy television series on Comedy Central that debuted on August 17, 2010, and ran for one season. The series was picked up using a similar model as Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet The Browns with an initial 10 episode order by Comedy Central, with an option to pick up the series for an additional 90 episodes, to have 100 episodes available for syndication. The deal was not picked up after Comedy Central passed on a second season.

Big Lake

2010