Belinda Balaski
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Belinda Balaski | |
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| Born | December 8, 1947 |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Father | Lester Balaski[1] |
Belinda Balaski (born December 8, 1947[2]) is an American actress. Her film credits include Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976) and The Howling (1981).
Early years
[edit]Balaski's father, Lester Balaski, was a jockey, and she originally wanted to follow that career path. She attended Colorado Women's College and majored in drama at Parsons College.[3]
Career
[edit]Balaski is known for her role as Terri Fisher in Joe Dante's The Howling (1981), and has appeared in most of Dante's other films, including Piranha, Gremlins, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Matinee and Small Soldiers, as well as two segments that Dante directed for Amazon Women on the Moon. She also co-starred in The Food of the Gods and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, both featuring Marjoe Gortner, and in Cannonball! as a navigator in a cross-country car race.[2]
She won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Emma Duckworth in a production of Bus Stop at Los Angeles Metropolitan Theatre. The role led to her working in television.[3] Among many TV show appearances, she performed in two episodes of Baywatch: Sharks Cove, 1992 Season 2 as a worried mother and Sail Away, 1996 Season 6 as Cleo Jennings.
Filmography
[edit]Movies
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Black Eye | Mary | |
| 1976 | Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw | Essie Beaumont | |
| The Food of the Gods | Rita | ||
| Cannonball | Maryann | ||
| 1978 | Till Death | Anne Ryan | |
| Piranha | Betsy | ||
| 1979 | Up Yours | Helen | |
| 1981 | The Howling | Terry Fisher | |
| 1984 | Gremlins | Mrs. Joe Harris | |
| 1985 | Explorers | Voice | |
| 1987 | Amazon Women on the Moon | Bernice Pitnik | Segments: Critics' Corner and Roast Your Loved One |
| 1990 | Gremlins 2: The New Batch | Movie Theatre Mom | |
| 1993 | Matinee | Stan's Mom | |
| 1997 | American Perfekt | Rita | |
| 1998 | Small Soldiers | Neighbor | |
| 2001 | The Vampire Hunters Club | Vampire Mother | Short |
| 2018 | Nightmare Cinema | Nadia |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | The F.B.I. | Sue | 1 Episode, The Two Million Dollar Hit |
| 1974 | The Cowboys | Obie Graff | 1 Episode, Requiem for a Lost Son |
| 1974 | Locusts | Janet Willimer | TV movie |
| 1974 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Cindy Britton | 1 Episode, Runaways |
| 1975 | ABC's Wide World of Entertainment | Beckie | 1 Episode, The Werewolf of Woodstock |
| 1975 | Baretta | Nicole | 1 Episode, Ragtime Billy Peaches |
| 1975 | S.W.A.T. | Judy Collins | 1 Episode, A Coven of Killers |
| 1975 | Force Five | Ginger | TV movie |
| 1975 | Death Scream | Jenny Storm | TV movie |
| 1977 | Starsky and Hutch | M.E. Ginny Simpson | 1 Episode, The Velvet Jungle |
| 1977 | The Fantastic Journey | Arla | 1 Episode, An Act of Love |
| 1977 | Having Babies II | Ann | TV movie |
| 1978 | Charlie's Angels | Sue Kantrelle | 1 Episode, Angels on the Run |
| 1979 | How the West Was Won | Missy | 1 Episode, The Innocent |
| 1979 | Vega$ | Lucille | 1 Episode, The Visitor |
| 1979 | Mrs. R's Daughter | Lynn Hollister | TV movie |
| 1983 | The A-Team | Jimmy's Mother | 1 Episode, Labor Pains |
| 1984 | Anatomy of an Illness | TV movie | |
| 1984 | ABC Weekend Specials | Margaret Landry | 1 Episode, Henry Hamilton Graduate Ghost |
| 1985 | Matt Houston | Lois | 1 Episode, Death Watch |
| 1985 | Hunter | Judy | 1 Episode, Fire Man |
| 1986 | Simon & Simon | Darlene Cooper | 1 Episode, Family Forecast |
| 1986 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Anna | 1 Episode, Are You My Mother? |
| 1987 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | Helen Green | 1 Episode, My Dissident Mom |
| 1987 | Deadly Care | Terry | TV movie |
| 1987 | Proud Men | Nell | TV movie |
| 1988 | Our House | Mrs. Caulder | 1 Episode, Artful Dodging |
| 1988 | Santa Barbara | Joan Stiller | 1 Episode, Episode #1.956 |
| 1989 | Falcon Crest | Dr. Stephanie Ambrose | 3 episodes |
| 1990 | Father Dowling Mysteries | Scrub Nurse | 1 Episode, The Medical Mystery |
| 1991 - 1992 | Eerie, Indiana | Mother / Winifred Swanson | 2 episodes |
| 1992 | FBI: The Untold Stories | 1 Episode, Operation Lemonade | |
| 1992 | Reasonable Doubts | Phyllis Cleary | 1 Episode, Mercury in Retrograde |
| 1992 - 1996 | Baywatch | Cleo Jennings / Worried Mother | 2 episodes |
| 1994 | Runaway Daughters | Mrs. Nicholson | TV movie |
| 1996 | Seduced by Madness:The Diane Borchardt Story | Principal | TV mini-series |
| 1997 | The Second Civil War | Graphic Designer | TV movie |
| 1998 | The Warlord: Battle for the Galaxy | Barterer's Wife | TV movie, aka The Osiris Chronicles |
References
[edit]- ^ Belinda Balaski bio Retrieved May 13, 2020
- ^ a b Hollywood.com Staff (3 February 2015). "Belinda Balaski | Biography and Filmography | 1947". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2016.
- ^ a b "Belinda Gets First Role". The Chapel Hill Newspaper. North Carolina, Chapel Hill. January 19, 1979. p. 37. Retrieved July 28, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
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