Dana Delany Movies

American actress Dana Delany, a graduate of Phillips Academy and Wesleyan University, began making television appearances in the mid-1980s on such programs as Moonlighting and the movie A Winner Never Quits (1986). In 1988, she was cast as Army nurse Lt. Colleen McMurphy in the Vietnam-era TV drama China Beach, which ran until 1990. In her film appearances (Moon Over Parador [1988], Patty Hearst [1988], Light Sleeper [1992]), Delany has leaned toward characters governed by their neuroses and eccentricities. In 1994, Delany began showing up in publicity photos wearing a skimpy leather dominatrix outfit and brandishing a whip. No, she hadn't switched careers: it was all for a much-touted "bondage" comedy/mystery Exit to Eden (from a novel by Ann Rice). When the film showed less than successful results, Delany immediately recovered with a strong portrayal as birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger (whom she closely resembled) in a made-for-cable TV biopic. Dana Delany can thank the restrooms of America for her family's financial security; Delany's grandfather invented the Delany flush valve. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
2008  
 
Two lost souls find meaning in a world of chaos in this independent drama directed by Alejandro Chomski and adapted from the play by Wendy Hammond. Desperate teen Maggie (Angela Sarafayan) is on the run from her abusive father, and young immigrant David (Jesse Garcia) is scouring the streets of L.A. for his missing mother. When David and Maggie meet, their fractured lives finally start to make sense. A Beautiful Life also features Dana Delany and Debi Mazar. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Angela SarafayanJesse Garcia, (more)
1990  
 
Dana Delany and William Russ play a poor-but-proud married couple with three children. Dana has made a promise to a dying relative to take care of said relative's four kids. And now, she and her husband are saddled with the additional responsibility, which turns out to be a grueling, rewarding and tear-jerking experience. Promise to Keep was "inspired by a true story," as most TV movies of this ilk claim to be. The film was shot on location in Charleston, South Carolina. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dana DelanyWilliam Russ, (more)
2003  
 
Add A Time to Remember to QueueAdd A Time to Remember to top of Queue
As the "black sheep" of her wealthy family, struggling artist and single mother Britt Calhoun (Dana Delany) is reluctant to return home for the Christmas holidays. Finally persuaded to do so, Britt finds that her imperious mother Maggie (Doris Roberts) is still more concerned about "what people will think" than what people may be like inside. Even so, Britt is determined to mend fences with Maggie, if for no other reason than to convince the father of her child that she can lead a stable home life. But a dark cloud hangs over the Yuletide proceedings: Maggie is in the first stages of Alzheimer's, and it may never be possible to stage a reconciliation. Produced for the Hallmark channel, A Time to Remember debuted November 23, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Doris RobertsDana Delany, (more)
1986  
PG  
Made for television, A Winner Never Quits is the true story of one-armed baseball player Pete Gray. Having lost his arm in a childhood accident, Pete (played by Steve Rees as a child, Keith Carradine as an adult) still insists upon pursuing an athletic career in emulation of his older brother Whitey (Ed O'Neill). When Whitey suffers permanent brain damage in a boxing match, Pete takes up the cudgel and enters the world of professional sports. Hired in 1943 as a "freak attraction" and wartime morale-booster by the Memphis Chicks, Class-A minor league ball club, Gray attains a batting average of .333 and a stolen-base record of 63; as a result, he is appointed his league's MVP. Though a success, Pete maintains a tough, defensive veneer, which is softened only by the love of his wife Annie (Mare Winningham) and the adulation of baseball fan Nelson Gary Jr. (Huckleberry Fox), who has also lost an arm (and who would, in real life, become a top minor-league ballplayer himself). With the war depleting big-league baseball's manpower in 1945, Pete Gray finally achieves his goal of entering the Majors when he is hired by the St. Louis Browns. Dennis Weaver and Fionnulla Flanagan costar as Pete's immigrant parents. Burt Prelutsky's screenplay wisely avoids pathos and sentiment throughout; though humanized by his relationships with friends and family, Pete Gray is accurately portrayed as a brusque, temperamental soul, who neither asks for nor tolerates sympathy from anyone. A Winner Never Quits first aired in April of 1986. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1984  
 
Add Almost You to QueueAdd Almost You to top of Queue
After Griffin Dunne's wife Brooke Adams is injured in a car crash, Dunne begins an affair with Adams' nurse Karen Young. You think that takes gall? Dunne also becomes best friends with Young's boyfriend Marty Watt. Believe it or not, Griffin Dunne is the most likeable character in the movie. After testing poorly at 110 minutes, Almost You was whittled down to 96 minutes. Those who have trouble wading through this prime example of mid-1980s self-indulgence are advised to keep an eye out for the brilliant monologist Spalding Gray in a supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Brooke AdamsGriffin Dunne, (more)
2004  
 
Add Baby for Sale to QueueAdd Baby for Sale to top of Queue
A woman sets out to stamp out unscrupulous baby brokers in this made-for-cable drama. Nathalie Johnson (Dana Delany) is a woman edging into middle age who has an eight-year-old stepdaughter with her husband Steve (Hart Bochner). Nathalie would like to have a baby of her own, but after discovering to her frustration that she is unable to conceive, she and Steve choose to adopt an infant. While investigating adoption options online, Nathalie sees a listing for a beautiful baby girl from Hungary, and immediately contacts Hungarian adoption agent Gabor Szabo (Bruce Ramsay). Nathalie soon learns that Szabo is less interested in the welfare of his children than in padding his bank account, and that the Hungarian is a black-market broker who essentially auctions off children to the highest bidder. Nathalie is suitably outraged and pledges to put Szabo and his kind out of business, though she soon discovers that the laws regarding adoption are neither as stringent or as easily enforced as she imagined. Originally produced for the Lifetime cable network, Baby for Sale first aired on July 12, 2004. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dana DelanyHart Bochner, (more)
1993  
 
Add Batman: Mask of the Phantasm to QueueAdd Batman: Mask of the Phantasm to top of Queue
This stylish animated adventure is based on the '90s animated television series, which in turn is based on the original comics and Tim Burton's live action "Batman" films. Unlike the campy 1960s version of Batman, this version is half-mad from the superhero's obsession with justice. It is only his unusual sense of ethics that keeps him from becoming a full-blown psychotic. The story describes the origins of Batman as it follows the Dark Knight's attempts to capture the elusive, deadly Phantasm who kills a crime lord and makes it look as if Batman did it, causing a media smear campaign against the Caped Crusader. At the same time, millionaire Bruce Wayne holds a party at his mansion. There he meets Councilman Arthur Reeves, the man behind the accusations. Reeves derides playboy Wayne for allowing his college sweetheart Andrea Beaumont to leave him. Suddenly Wayne flashes back to his pre-Batman days. He remembers how he met her while visiting his parents' graves to renew his vow that he would spend his life fighting crime to avenge their wrongful deaths. He has already devised an early version of his alter-ego Batman, but that is nearly forgotten when he falls in love with Andrea. The story then jumps from past to present and back as the mysterious Phantasm strikes again. Batman continues his investigation and discovers a disturbing link between Andrea, who suddenly shows up after many years absence, and the villain. Meanwhile, the Phantasm, feeling that Batman is too close to learning his/her identity hires the Joker to kill him. But the Joker has his own agenda and much action ensues before the mystery of the Phantasm identity is solved, Batman clears his name, and justice is served. This film was originally made to go straight to video, Warner's studio liked it enough to release it theatrically. Some of the violence may be inappropriate for very young children. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Kevin ConroyDana Delany, (more)
2006  
 
Word gets out that Sharon is being kept alive secretly aboard Galactica and Sesha Abinell (Dana Delany) takes hostages in an effort to prevent the Cylon from providing enemy intelligence to Galactica. ~ Michael Chant, All Movie Guide

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1992  
 
Sam (Ted Danson) has second thoughts about selling his Corvette and wants to get it back. Unfortunately, the new owner has passed away, prompting Sam to pitch woo at the man's widow (Dana Delany). Back at Cheers, Woody (Woody Harrelson) plans to roast a pig sent to him by his family for Christmas dinner, but sentimental Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) "bonds" with the porker. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1988  
 
China Beach was the second and more successful of two Vietnam-era TV dramas of 1987-88 (the other was Tour of Duty). Set at a Da Nang r-and-r center in 1967, China Beach recounts the era as seen through eyes of several women who served. The distaff stars are Dana Delany (the nurse), Nacy Giles (the AFRS disc jockey), Concetta Tomei (the special services officer) and Marg Helgenberger (the civilian volunteer worker). The anecdotal two-hour pilot film for the series was first telecast April 26, 1988. Chloe Webb, who appeared in the pilot and the first few episodes, portrays a buoyant USO entertainer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1995  
 
Add Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story to QueueAdd Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story to top of Queue
Dana Delany stars in this made-for-TV movie as Margaret Sanger, a nurse who, in 1914, became a pioneering crusader for women's reproductive rights after she published a booklet on birth control techniques that flew in the face of a law established by Anthony Comstock (Rod Steiger) forbidding the dissemination of information on contraception. Sanger later helped to establish America's first birth control clinic in 1916, and in 1925 was one of the founders of Planned Parenthood. Choices of the Heart: The Margaret Sanger Story also stars Henry Czerny and Julie Khaner.
~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dana DelanyRod Steiger, (more)
2002  
R  
Add Conviction to QueueAdd Conviction to top of Queue
Conviction is a biopic about Carl Upchurch, a hardcore felon who managed to educate himself and developed a spiritual awakening during one of his numerous stints inside prison. He began to spread his message to other inmates, and soon he was asked to help mediate problems between some of the most feared street gangs in the country. Directed by Kevin Rodney Sullivan, Conviction stars Omar Epps as Upchurch and features supporting turns from Dana Delany and Charles S. Dutton. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Omar Epps
2007  
 
Add Desperate Housewives: Season 04 to QueueAdd Desperate Housewives: Season 04 to top of Queue
A truly contemporary take on happily ever after, Desperate Housewives takes a darkly comedic look at suburbia, where the secret lives of housewives aren't always what they seem.

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Starring:
Teri HatcherFelicity Huffman, (more)
1993  
R  
Though emotionally estranged, a father and daughter team of Los Angeles police detectives must work together to stop a serial killer. Along the way, the two find themselves forced to deal with a number of painful secrets from their past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

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1994  
R  
Add Exit to Eden to Queue
This sexy farce stars Dan Aykroyd and Rosie O'Donnell as Fred Lavery and Sheila Kingston, a pair of cynical detectives investigating the disappearance of a key witness in a diamond-smuggling case. The case leads them to a Club Med-styled S&M resort where dog collars and cat o' nine tails abound; further complicating matters, the smugglers end up on the island as well. The missing witness, photographer Elliot Slater (Paul Mercurio), takes a job as a bondage boy, and he falls in love with the resort manager, Mistress Lisa (Dana Delany. Adapted from Anne Rice's novel of the same name. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Dana DelanyPaul Mercurio, (more)
2001  
 
Based on a novel by Linda Fairstein, the made-for-TV Final Jeopardy stars Dana Delany as prosecuting attorney Alexandra Cooper. During a visit to Alexandra's Manhattan apartment, her best friend, an actress, is murdered. At first wondering why anyone would want to kill her friend, Alexandra arrives at the horrifying conclusion that she herself was the intended victim -- and that the killer is prepared to try again at any time. Billy Burke costars as Mike Chapman, who after being dragged into the murder investigation, falls in love with Alexandra, a plot complication that could very well end in tragedy for at least one of the parties involved. Final Jeopardy premiered April 9, 2001 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1996  
PG  
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Inspired by a true story, Fly Away Home is a family drama about Amy Alden (Anna Paquin), a 13-year-old girl who, after the tragic death of her mother, is sent to live with her father Thomas (Jeff Daniels), a sculptor. Amy misses her mother and has never enjoyed a very warm relationship with her father, so the first few months in her new home are very difficult for her. However, one day Amy finds a nest full of eggs, which was tossed away by land developers clearing a wooded area. Amy brings the eggs home and builds a makeshift incubator; a few weeks later, a flock of tiny Canadian Geese are hatched. While caring for her new pets makes Amy happier, a problem soon presents itself -- young geese "imprint" on the first creature they see after hatching and follow it, as if it's their mother. Without a mother to show them how to fly south for the winter, how will they learn normal migratory patterns? Thomas comes up with a solution to the problem: as a hobby, he flies Ultralights, lightweight aircraft that look like gliders with engines. If he puts Amy in an Ultralight and has her fly the migratory route to the South, perhaps the birds will follow her and learn the route their mother would normally teach them. Amy's adventures help her learn about independence as she tries to teach it to the birds, bringing her closer to her father. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Jeff DanielsAnna Paquin, (more)
1996  
 
Comic actor Bob Saget served as producer and director of this made-for-TV film, inspired by the true story of Saget's sister Gay, who died in 1994 at the age of 47. Despite the pressures of single motherhood, schoolteacher Hope Altman (Dana Delany) seems to have her life in order until she is diagnosed with scleroderma, a disfiguring skin disease that causes her body's connective tissues to stiffen and atrophy, and will eventually paralyze her while eating away at her vital organs. There is no cure for scleroderma, and the survival rate is tragically low--and worse, neither the medical community nor the general public has a firm grasp on understanding the disease and its many victims (500,000, mostly female, in the United States alone). The film chronicles the manner in which Hope and her family handle the nightmarish situation, often with what Saget described as "irreverence and dark humor" (At one point, Hope's brother Alan--a comedy writer--quips that scleroderma sounds like "a deli entrée"). Sharon Monsky, who at the time ran one of the most prominent organizations for those suffering from scleroderma, appears briefly as herself. For Hope originally aired over the ABC network on November 17, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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1992  
PG  
Add Housesitter to QueueAdd Housesitter to top of Queue
In this romantic comedy from director Frank Oz, Steve Martin plays Boston architect Newton Davis, an impulsive dreamer who builds a bucolic dream home for his girlfriend (Dana Delany) as a means of proposing to her -- only she turns him down. Three months later, the depressed Davis meets a waitress who calls herself Gwen (Goldie Hawn), though pretending to be Hungarian proves to be only the first of her many deceptions. Davis has a one-night stand with Gwen during which he tells her the sad story of the house, which remains unoccupied just outside the city in his hometown of Dobbs Mills, because he can't bear to sell it. Following what seems to be a familiar path for this con artist, Gwen locates the house, figuring she can take up residence without anyone noticing. During a trip to the local grocery, she ends up telling the proprietor she's Davis' wife while trying to charge her purchases to his account. When she offers the same story to a local furniture dealer (Donald Moffat), unaware he's Davis' father, it triggers a string of fabrications in which the shocked Davis unwittingly becomes a co-conspirator. Seeing an opportunity of his own, Davis allows Gwen to stay in the house and agrees to go along with her story in hopes of winning back his jealous ex. Of course, this also necessitates outlandish lie upon outlandish lie, leaving the whole enterprise forever on the verge of collapse. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Steve MartinGoldie Hawn, (more)
2004  
 
Based on a comic-book story by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, "For the Man Who Has Everything" is that rarest of rare Justice League Unlimited episodes, giving center stage to the series' three biggest stars. It's Superman's birthday, so Batman and Wonder Woman head to the Fortress of Solitude to surprise their comrade. Upon arrival, the pair finds that Superman has already been surprised by a gift from the evil Mongul -- a parasitic plant that has immobilized the Man of Steel. As Batman and W.W. struggle to free their fellow Leaguer, the comatose Superman experiences what life would have been like had Krypton never exploded and had he remained on the planet as Kal-El -- with a very familiar-looking wife named Loana, and a "dream son," Van-El. ~ All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Eric RobertsDana Delany, (more)
2003  
 
In the first episode of a two-part story, the members of the Justice League are confronted by their evil doppelgangers from another dimension. In their world, the "Justice Lords" rule with a curious and sinister version of law and order, in which the innocent suffer while the guilty flourish. When the Justice Lords arrive on earth, they are confused by values that they cannnot understand -- but which they are compelled to destroy. ~ All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Clancy BrownDana Delany, (more)
2003  
 
In the first episode of a two-part story, Superman apparently sacrifices himself for the sake of his fellow Justice Leaguers. Can it be that The Man of Steel is gone from the scene for good? And how will mankind be able to survive without Superman's benevolent protection? Originally intended to be telecast near the end of Justice League's second season, "Hereafter" was bumped forward to an earlier playdate due to its high suspense quotient. ~ All Movie Guide

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Starring:
Brad GarrettDana Delany, (more)

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