Mary Lou Belli
Encyclopedia
Career
Belli attended Penn StatePennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
where she received a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
. For many years she acted in musical theatre and soap operas in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, followed by a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
career producing and directing theatre with over 75 play productions to her name.
Belli made her television directorial debut on episode of Charles in Charge
Charles in Charge
Charles in Charge is an American sitcom series which starred Scott Baio as Charles, a 19-year-old student at the fictional Copeland College in New Jersey, who worked as a live-in babysitter in exchange for room and board...
in 1988. Her other television credits include, Major Dad
Major Dad
Major Dad is an American sitcom created by Richard C. Okie and John G. Stephens that originally ran from 1989 to 1993 on CBS, starring Gerald McRaney as Major John D. MacGillis and Shanna Reed as his wife Polly...
, USA High
USA High
USA High is an American teen sitcom which ran from August 1997 to June 1999, ended after 95 episodes, and reran until August 4, 2001 on USA Network.-Synopsis:...
, Sister, Sister
Sister, Sister (TV series)
Sister, Sister is an American television sitcom about identical twin girls Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell , who were separated and adopted at birth, when one day they come face-to-face after 14 years apart....
, One World
One World (TV series)
One World is a half-hour comedy series on TNBC about the everyday issues of a large family. The show focuses on the Blakes, a household living in Miami with six teens of various ethnic and racial backgrounds, who are adopted by ex-baseball player Dave Blake and his artist wife, Karen. The show was...
, The Hughleys
The Hughleys
The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on the UPN network from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L...
, One on One
One on One (TV series)
One on One is an American sitcom that aired on the now-defunct UPN from its September 3, 2001 premiere until May 15, 2006. The series stars Flex Alexander as a single sportscaster, who becomes a full-time dad when his ex-wife decides to accept a job out of the country and his teenage daughter...
, Abby
Abby (TV series)
Abby is an American sitcom shown on UPN from January 6, 2003 to March 4, 2003. The show's original title, Abby Walker, was soon changed.-Overview:...
, Eve
Eve (TV series)
Eve is an American sitcom starring Eve, Jason Winston George, Ali Landry, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Brian Hooks and Sean Maguire. That aired on the UPN network from September 15, 2003 to May 11, 2006, with 66 episodes produced spanning 3 seasons...
, Girlfriends
Girlfriends
Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008...
, Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
, Living with Fran
Living With Fran
Living With Fran is an American sitcom that debuted on The WB network in April 2005 that starred Fran Drescher. The show last aired on March 2006.-Premise:Drescher plays Fran Reeves, an interior designer and divorced mother of two...
, The Game, Reed Between the Lines
Reed Between the Lines
Reed Between the Lines is an American television family sitcom created by Kellie R. Griffin. It premiered on BET on October 11, 2011. On April 12, 2011, BET announced that it picked up Reed Between The Lines for a fall 2011-2012 television schedule to pair with The Game and Let's Stay Together...
and Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place
Wizards of Waverly Place is a Disney Channel Original Series that premiered on October 12, 2007. It won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009...
.
Belli has co-authored of two books: The Sitcom Career Book (2004) with director Phil Ramuno
Phil Ramuno
Phil Ramuno is American television director. During the early years of his career he worked as a stage manager on the sitcoms Fish, Benson and Soap...
and foreword by actor Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
and The Sitcom Career Book and Acting for Young Actors (2006) with actress Dinah Lenney
Dinah Lenney
Dinah Lenney is an American actress and writer. She is the author of Bigger than Life: A Murder, a Memoir, a 2007 book about the murder of her father, Republican Party politician and businessman Nelson G. Gross.-Biography:...
and foreword by actor Jason Ritter
Jason Ritter
Jason Morgan Ritter is an American actor, son of the late actor John Ritter and actress Nancy Morgan. Ritter is probably best known for his role as Kevin Girardi in the television series Joan of Arcadia and as Sean Walker in the NBC series The Event.-Early life:Ritter was born in Los Angeles,...
. She has also been a judge for the Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
Outstanding Teen Pageant, a lecturer at the Chautauqua Institute, and a panelist for Women in Film, the Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America
Directors Guild of America is an entertainment labor union which represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry...
, Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is a performers' union that represents a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, as well as radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording artists , promo and voice-over announcers and other...
. 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 from Mayor Tom BradleyTom Bradley (politician)
Thomas J. "Tom" Bradley was the 38th Mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles...
for her work with abused children. She has lectured frequently throughout the United States including many universities such as AFI
AFI
AFI, the three letter acronym, may refer to:*AFI , an American alternative rock band**AFI , an album by AFI released in 2004*Air Force Instruction, documented instructions for members of the United States Air Force...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, and University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
.