Mary Lou Belli

Last updated
Mary Lou Belli
Occupation(s)Television director, author
Years active1984–present

Mary Lou Belli is an American television director and author.

Contents

Career

Belli attended Penn State where she received a Bachelor's degree. For many years she acted in musical theatre and soap operas in New York City, followed by a Los Angeles career producing and directing theatre with over 75 play productions to her name. [1]

Belli made her television directorial debut on episode of Charles in Charge in 1988. Her other television credits include, Major Dad , USA High , Sister, Sister , One World , The Hughleys , One on One , Abby , Eve , Girlfriends , Monk , Living with Fran , The Game , Reed Between the Lines and Wizards of Waverly Place .

Belli has co-authored of two books: The Sitcom Career Book (2004) with director Phil Ramuno and foreword by actor Henry Winkler [2] and The Sitcom Career Book and Acting for Young Actors (2006) with actress Dinah Lenney and foreword by actor Jason Ritter. [3] She has also been a judge for the Miss America Outstanding Teen Pageant, a lecturer at the Chautauqua Institute, and a panelist for Women in Film, the Directors Guild of America, Screen Actors Guild, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She has judged the California Independent Film Festival, the Sapporo Short Film Festival in Japan, and CSU Media Arts Fest.

Awards

Among the awards she has won is one from Mayor Tom Bradley for her work with abused children. She has lectured frequently throughout the United States including many universities such as AFI, New York University, Northwestern University, and University of Connecticut. [4]

Belli has received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for her work on The Ms. Pat Show in 2022, 2023 and 2024. [5]

Personal life

Belli currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children, who are both actors. [6] She is the aunt of notable drag queen and actor Willam Belli.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Seymour (actress)</span> British actress (born 1951)

Jane Seymour is a British actress. After making her screen debut as an uncredited extra in the 1969 musical comedy Oh! What a Lovely War, Seymour moved to roles in film and television, including a leading role in the television series The Onedin Line (1972–1973) and the role of psychic Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973).

<i>Cybill</i> American comedy television series

Cybill is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, which aired for four seasons and 87 episodes on CBS from January 2, 1995, to July 13, 1998. Starring Cybill Shepherd, the show revolves around the life of Cybill Sheridan, a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s who has never gotten her big break in show business. Alicia Witt and Dedee Pfeiffer co-starred as Sheridan's daughters, with Alan Rosenberg and Tom Wopat playing their respective fathers, while Christine Baranski appeared as Cybill's hard-drinking friend Maryann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Foray</span> American voice actress (1917–2017)

June Foray was an American voice actress and radio personality, best known as the voice of such animated characters as Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick, Lucifer from Disney's Cinderella, Cindy Lou Who, Jokey Smurf, Granny from the Warner Bros. cartoons directed by Friz Freleng, Grammi Gummi from Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears series, and Magica De Spell, among many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Field</span> American actress (born 1946)

Sally Margaret Field is an American actress. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accolades throughout her career spanning five decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and two British Academy Film Awards. She was presented with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, the National Medal of Arts in 2014, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2019, and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annette Bening</span> American actress (born 1958)

Annette Carol Bening is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and nominations for five Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Tony Awards, making her one of few artists nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting without winning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cloris Leachman</span> American actress (1926–2021)

Cloris Leachman was an American actress and comedienne whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nominated and, along with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, most awarded performer in Emmy history. Leachman also won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In her early career, she was known for her versatility. Another unique trait of Leachman's acting style was her distinctive physicality, where she utilized props to accentuate and express her roles' characterizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stockard Channing</span> American actress (born 1944)

Stockard Channing is an American actress. She played Betty Rizzo in the film Grease (1978) and First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing (1999–2006). She also originated the role of Ouisa Kittredge in the stage and film versions of Six Degrees of Separation; the 1993 film version earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was also one of two comic foils of The Number Painter on Sesame Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet Mills</span> British-American actress (born 1941)

Juliet Maryon Mills is a British-American actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Heaton</span> American actress and comedian (born 1958)

Patricia Helen Heaton is an American actress, producer and comedienne. She began her career appearing in a recurring role in the ABC drama series, Thirtysomething (1989–1991), and later appearing in the comedy films Memoirs of an Invisible Man and Beethoven. Heaton went on to star in the short-lived sitcoms Room for Two (1992–93), Someone Like Me (1994) and Women of the House (1995) before landing the role of Debra Barone in the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon Gless</span> American actress (born 1943)

Sharon Marguerite Gless is an American actress known for her television roles. She portrayed Maggie Philbin on Switch (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey (1982–88), and played the title role in The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990–92). She was Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer as Folk (2000–2005) and Madeline Westen on Burn Notice (2007–2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Debbie Allen</span> American actress (born 1950)

Deborah Kaye Allen is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, singer, director, producer, and a former member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. She has been nominated 20 times for an Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards. She has won a Golden Globe Award, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1991.

<i>Lou Grant</i> (TV series) American drama television series

Lou Grant is an American drama television series starring Ed Asner in the title role as a newspaper editor that aired on CBS from September 20, 1977, to September 13, 1982. The third spin-off of the American sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant was created by James L. Brooks, Allan Burns, and Gene Reynolds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">America Ferrera</span> American actress (born 1984)

America Georgina Ferrera is an American actress, director and television producer. She has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. In 2007, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world and in 2023, she was named in BBC's 100 Women list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Ann Walter</span> American actress

Lisa Ann Walter is an American actress, comedian, and television producer, best known for her roles as Chessy the housekeeper in the romantic comedy film The Parent Trap (1998) and Melissa Schemmenti on the Peabody Award winning ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary (2021–present), for which she received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series.

Linda Kelsey is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Billie Newman on the CBS drama television series Lou Grant (1977–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Award nominations and five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gene Reynolds</span> American actor, producer, writer, and director (1923–2020)

Eugene Reynolds Blumenthal was an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He was one of the developers and producers of the TV series M*A*S*H.

Sharron Miller is an American television and film director, producer, and screenwriter. She is one of the pioneering women directors who worked regularly in mainstream Hollywood in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1984 she was the first woman ever to win the coveted Directors Guild of America Award for directing a narrative (non-documentary) work.

Barnet Kellman is an American theatre, television and film director, television producer and film actor, and educator, best known for the premiere productions of new American plays, and for the pilots of long-running television series such as Murphy Brown and Mad About You. He is the recipient of two Emmy Awards and a Directors Guild of America Award. He is the co-founder and director of USC Comedy at the School of Cinematic Arts, and holds the school's Robin Williams Endowed Chair in Comedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Sargent</span> American film director and actor (1925–2014)

Joseph Sargent was an American film director. Though he directed many television movies, his best known feature-length works were arguably the action movie White Lightning starring Burt Reynolds, the biopic MacArthur starring Gregory Peck, and the horror anthology Nightmares. His most popular feature film was the subway thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. Sargent won four Emmy Awards over his career.

Samantha Jo "Mandy" Moore is an American choreographer, dancer, producer, and dance instructor. She is known for her work on the United States reality television series So You Think You Can Dance, having appeared on the show every year since the third season, and Dancing with the Stars. She choreographed the 2016 film La La Land and has also worked on commercials and various musical productions such as Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour. She has created dance numbers for the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards, and Grammy Awards ceremonies. She has been nominated seven times for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography, winning in 2017 for her work on Dancing with the Stars, in 2018 for her work on So You Think You Can Dance, and in 2020 for Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist.

References

  1. "Mary Lou Bell profile at sitcomcareer.com". Archived from the original on 2004-06-06. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  2. The Sitcom Handbook at Amazon.com
  3. Acting for Young Actors at Random House.Inc
  4. Mary Lou Belli Bio at Pioneer Drama Service
  5. "Mary Lou Belli on the Emmys website". Emmys.com . Retrieved July 17, 2024.
  6. Mary Lou Belli profile at US Performing Art Camps Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine