One Life to Live Tribute Thread

[MissLlanviewPA]

That Gabrielle promo marked the beginning of the end of the Holdens short marriage--oh Gabby, what were you THINKING?

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqWCA8V6a_o

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7SBc60CfKU&feature=channel&list=UL

[DRW50]

May 1973 TV Star Parade

[DRW50]

I can't remember a time when I wasn't married."

Long-term marriages are scarce enough when one member of the family is in show business, but when both husband and wife are working actively at successful theatrical careers, an ideal marriage is indeed a rara avis.

"Philip had some vocal problems so he eventually gave up singing and got involved with a record company," Doris explained over a coffee in the cheerful, high-ceilinged living room of the Roses' large apartment overlooking New York's Central Park (practically at the doorstep of the ABC-TV studios where One Life To Live is taped). "He became what was then known as an A, and R, man but is now called a record producer."

Producing records apparently gave Philip ideas and he soon made the switch from platters to plays. One of Broadway's leading producers for the past 14 years, he has racked up an impressive list of credits, including "A Raisin in the Sun," "The Owl and the Pussycat," "Nobody Loves an Albatross," "Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?," "Purlie Victorious" and the more recent musical version of that play, "Purlie" (the hit that catapulted Melba Moore to instant stardom).

"Our relationship with blacks goes way back," said Doris. "Lorraine Hansberry was a good personal friend and when she wrote 'Raising in the Sun,' she said to Philip, 'I think I have a property that would be just perfect for you.'"

She was right. The show not only established Philip Rose as a top-flight producer, it introduced a talented, young actor who has since become one of Hollywood's genuine superstars - Sidney Poitier.

The Roses, for all the longevity of their union, have no children. And that has not proved to be a trauma because, as Doris told me, "We made a conscious decision not to have children.

"We've both been too involved in our respective careers to run the kind of responsibility - both emotional and financial - that is required of concerned parents. The theater makes a great many demands, but if you love it, you comply with them. And because you love it, complying is no sacrifice."

Doris has always been enamored of all things theatrical, but originally she aspired to a musical career.

"I wanted to become a dancer or a singer. When I started school and appeared in the school plays, the music teacher told me I was 'a listener' and asked me to please drop out while the others were singing. That gave me a phobia, and by the time I finally discovered I did have a pretty fair soprano voice and wasn't tone deaf. I was too inhibited to do much about it."

However, she did enough about it to meet and marry the man of her choice, and I'm sure even her ex-music teacher would agree that she has had more-than-average success with what was considered less-than-average trilling.

A native New Yorker, Doris is the younger of two daughters born to Russian parents, Isaac Belack and his wife, Bertha. Neither of her parents (now deceased) had theatrical ambitions, but the actress recalled, "Although my father was a working man with little formal education, he was a brilliant, self-trained musicologist. I'm sure I got my overpowering interest in music from him."

Despite her overpowering interest in music, Doris decided her future lay in straight acting, so following her graduation from Evander Child's High School, she enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon completion of her course, her first professional acting job was in the last road tour of "Life With Father."

She has since appeared in a number of Broadway shows (including "Semi-Detached" with Ed Begley, "The Heroine" with Kay Medford, and "Nathan Weinstein, Mystic, Conn." with Sam Levene), on major prime-time TV series (East Side/West Side, The Defenders, The Patty Duke Show, etc.) and she played opposite Edward G> Robinson in the national company of "Middle of the Night."

Has she ever worked for her husband?

"Yes - once. I understudied Diana Sands in 'The Owl and the Pussycat.'"

Doris also understudied Eileen Heckart in "You Know I Can't Hear You When The Water's Running," and stood by for Linda Lavin in the Neil Simon smash, "Last of The Red-Hot Lovers."

Her first daytime drama was The Edge of Night on which she was featured in a variety of small parts. Her first regular running role was that of Madge Murray on Another World, which she played from '66 to '68. She and another member of the World cast, Antony Ponzini, so impressed the writer of the serial, Agnes Nixon, that when Miss Nixon was called in to pen One Life to Live, she created expressly for Doris and Antony the roles the two actors are currently playing.

One day soon, Doris hopes to appear in another Broadway show - possibly the next venture her husband is planning. She'd also like to make a film.

As long as she is active in the theatrical field, it matters little to her in which branch she is involved. "However, if I were forced to go into another business," she said, "I'd probably run an animal farm."

Cows? Horses? Pigs?

"Lord no!" laughed Doris. "I know nothing about cows, horses and pigs. It would be a refuge for dogs and cats."

At times, the Roses' New York apartment looks like an animal farm because the actress is a push-over for a stray. "I keep the discarded animal until I can find a home for it. I have a long list of dog and cat fanciers, and when we all put our heads together, we can always place one. Last fall, I found a German shepherd and it only took one day to find him a home."

She usually limits her ministering to dogs and cats but she once tended an injured bird.

"It was up in Connecticut after a thunderstorm and I found a little robin that had fallen out of its nest. I put it in a box and fed it with an eyedropper."

And what thanks did Doris get for her efforts?

"The only kind of thanks I wanted. Within a few days, it was so strong and healthy, it flew right out the window."

The only permanent animal residents in the Roses' domicile are two dogs. ("Two dogs on a full-time basis are enough for a city apartment," Doris explained.) One is a pedigreed poodle called "Crazy Louie."

"His real name is Louis Brandeis and he was sired by Hugo L. Black, but we call him 'Crazy Louie' for obvious reasons," said Doris as the 10-year old canine frisked about the apartment like a 10-week-old pup.

Louie is so crazy he even tries to make passionate love to the Roses' other pet, a "part-Labrador" mixed bred named Susie, who is at least three times his size and neuter. Normally, a loving placid brown-eyed charmer, Suzie does occasionally bare her fangs at Louie when his wooing becomes too ardent. Originally Susie was one of the strays with which Doris couldn't part.

"Every summer we rent a turn-of-the-century mansion in Rhinebeck, N.Y. (That's quite a popular area for 'soap' people; many of them have homes up there including our show's producer, Doris Quinlan, Patricia Roe, who used to play Eileen SIegel on Life, and Teri Keane, who's on The Edge of Night.) At summer's end, I usually find a lot of pets that are left behind to fend for themselves. Susie was a starving, abandoned puppy when I found her six years ago. It was a case of love at first sight.

"From time to time, a stray cat will join our menage temporarily. And I must say, it leads me to doubt the natural enmity theory because the animals get on famously together."

In the Rose household, not only do diverse animals find a meeting ground, but, more importantly, people of all races, creeds and religions don't suffer from that lack of communication plaguing the world today.

Yes, Doris Belack's home is a nice place to visit - you might even enjoy living there!

- MARILYN T. ROSS

Edited June 28, 2012 by CarlD2

[SFK]

Carl, is "Raising in the Sun" your typo or theirs?

Thanks, I really enjoyed reading more about her.

[DRW50]

Sorry, that was mine.

[MissLlanviewPA]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KbED7Z1oyM&feature=plcp

Every Tea hater's dream. I loves it!

[DRW50]

From a March 1992 Digest

[DRW50]

From a March 1994 Digest

[MissLlanviewPA]

Aw, that Jimmy article was for me, wasn't it?

Funny how much foreshadowing there is in that article, particularly about his marriages. All that effort to save his marriage to Misty and then it all fell apart anyway (and almost kissing another woman during his first marriage? Hmmm...). And well, he didn't name either of his kids Max, so there you are!

And I thought October 8th was his birthday. That's how it's listed elsewhere (and I remember it because it was my grandmother's birthday).

Edited June 29, 2012 by MissLlanviewPA

[DRW50]

Yes. I have a Fiona one from 2001 but figure you've already read it.

[MissLlanviewPA]

Please post it! I have it, but it's several hundred miles away from me right now. I'd love to see it.

[DRW50]

From an October 2001 Digest

[MissLlanviewPA]

That's the one! Thanks, Carl .