Mary Lou Belli is an American

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Career

Belli attended Penn State where she received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

. For many years she acted in musical theatre and soap operas in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, followed by a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

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'' in 1988. Her other television credits include, '' Major Dad'', ''

USA High ''USA High'' is an American teen sitcom that ran on USA from August 1997 to June 1999, ending after 95 episodes. The series revolves around six friends enrolled at the American Academy boarding school in Paris, France. Background Information '' ...

'', '' Sister, Sister'', ''One World'', ''

The Hughleys ''The Hughleys'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on UPN from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L. Hughley as the main character, Darryl Hughley, and Elise Neal as ...

'', '' One on One'', '' Abby'', ''

Eve Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...

'', '' Girlfriends'', ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'', ''

Living with Fran ''Living with Fran'' is an American television sitcom that aired on The WB. It starred Fran Drescher and Ryan McPartlin, and was co-created by Jamie Kennedy. The series debuted on April 8, 2005, and ran two seasons before ending on March 24, 2006 ...

'', '' The Game'', ''

Reed Between the Lines ''Reed Between the Lines'' is an American television family sitcom that premiered on October 11, 2011, on BET. The series was renewed for a second season on April 12, 2012. It was later announced in August 2012 that Tracee Ellis Ross would not r ...

'' and ''

Wizards of Waverly Place ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...

''. Belli has co-authored of two books: ''The Sitcom Career Book'' (2004) with director

Phil Ramuno Phil Ramuno is an American television director. During the early years of his career he worked as a stage manager on the sitcoms ''Fish'', '' Benson'' and ''Soap''. His credits as a director includes ''Too Close for Comfort'', '' Gimme a Break!'' ...

and foreword by actor Henry Winkler and ''The Sitcom Career Book and Acting for Young Actors'' (2006) with actress

Dinah Lenney Dinah Lenney (born Dinah Gross; November 18, 1956, New York City) 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 business ...

and foreword by actor

Jason Ritter Jason Morgan Ritter (born February 17, 1980) is an American actor and producer. He is known for his roles as Kevin Girardi in the television series ''Joan of Arcadia'', Ethan Haas in '' The Class'', Sean Walker in the NBC series '' The Event'', ...

. She has also been a judge for the Miss America Outstanding Teen Pageant, a lecturer at the

Chautauqua Institute The Chautauqua Institution ( ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit education center and summer resort for adults and youth located on in Chautauqua, New York, northwest of Jamestown in the Western Southern Tier of New York State. Established in 1874, the ...

, and a panelist for Women in Film, the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, and the

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording a ...

. 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 AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, and

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

. In 2022, Belli received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series is presented to the best directing of a television comedy series. Winners and nominations 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s Total awards by netw ...

for her work on '' The Ms. Pat Show''.

Personal life

Belli currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two teenage children, who are both actors.Mary Lou Belli profile at US Performing Art Camps
She is the aunt of notable drag queen and actor

Willam Belli Willam Belli (, born June 30, 1982), mononymously known as Willam, is an American drag queen, actor, singer-songwriter, reality television personality, author, and YouTuber. Willam came to prominence as a contestant on the fourth season of '' ...

References

External links

*
Mary Lou Belli video interview at Interviewing Hollywood.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belli, Mary Lou American television directors American women non-fiction writers American women television directors Living people Penn State College of Arts and Architecture alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers