Annabelle Gurwitch on AllMovie

Best known to many as one half of "Jeff and Annabelle," the witty couple with a culinary flair who dished up "Dinner and a Movie" Friday evenings on TBS from 1995 to 2002, Annabelle Gurwitch is actually a fairly versatile character actress who boasts an extensive film resumé. Per the course traveled by many actresses, she began in television, with guest appearances on such hit programs as Murphy Brown, China Beach, Tales from the Crypt, and Red Shoe Diaries. Gurwitch then segued to feature-film roles in the early '90s. The majority of film projects to which Gurwitch contributed failed to score at the box office, but did place her alongside A-list talent. These films included Life With Mikey (1993), The Cable Guy (1996), and Daddy Day Care (2003).

In the mid-2000s, Gurwitch signed on for a stage play under the aegis of Woody Allen. For indeterminate reasons, Allen fired her, prompting Gurwitch to mastermind Fired!, a documentary featuring the personal accounts of show-business personnel and laymen who have been axed. The finished product debuted in early 2007 to devastating reviews -- leading one critic to quip that he wished Allen hadn't fired Gurwitch, thus sparing audiences the plight of suffering through that documentary.