Ralph Bellamy


Actor
Ralph Bellamy

About

Also Known As
Ralph Rexford Bellamy
Birth Place
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Born
June 17, 1904
Died
November 29, 1991
Cause of Death
Longstanding Lung Illness

Biography

Engaging performer who made his mark as the nice-but-bland fellow who loses the girl to Cary Grant or his ilk in the screwball comedies "Hands Across the Table" (1935), 1937's "The Awful Truth" (for which he received an Oscar nomination), "Carefree" (1938) and "His Girl Friday" (1940).Bellamy appeared in over 100 films but won his greatest acclaim on Broadway, as a lionized presidential ...

Photos & Videos

Picture Snatcher - Lobby Cards
Forbidden - Lobby Cards
Sunrise at Campobello - Scene Stills

Family & Companions

Alice Delbridge
Wife
Married on December 28, 1926; divorced in 1930.
Catherine Willard
Wife
Actor. Married in 1931; divorced in 1945.
Ethel Smith
Wife
Organist. Married in 1945; divorced in 1947.
Alice Murphy
Wife
Talent agent. Married from November 27, 1949 until Bellamy's death in 1991; fourth wife; born c. 1908; died on July 9, 1996 at age 88.

Bibliography

"When the Smoke Hits the Fan"
Ralph Bellamy, Doubleday (1979)

Notes

Describing his prototype role Bellamy said: "It takes talent, even when it's 'just pretend,' to alienate females in a believable way. ... The end of all that came for me one day in Hollywood when I read a script in which a character was described as 'charming but dull--a typical Ralph Bellamy type.' I promptly packed my bags and headed for New York to find a part with guts." --quoted in Variety obituary, December 2, 1991.

"Mr. Bellamy was also known for championing his profession, as founder and board member of the Screen Actors Guild and as president of Actors' Equity for 12 years. He doubled Equity's assets within six years, and in 1960 shepherded the union through a one-week Broadway theater lockout and the signing of a landmark contract that established the first actors' pension fund. ... He guided Equity through the political blacklisting of the McCarthy era in the early 1950s's by forming a panel that devised ground rules to protect members against unproven charges of Communist Party membership or sympathy. ... He lobbied successfully for the repeal of theater admission taxes and for income-averaging in computing taxes for performers." --Peter B. Flint in Bellamy's November 30, 1991 obituary in The New York Times.

Biography

Engaging performer who made his mark as the nice-but-bland fellow who loses the girl to Cary Grant or his ilk in the screwball comedies "Hands Across the Table" (1935), 1937's "The Awful Truth" (for which he received an Oscar nomination), "Carefree" (1938) and "His Girl Friday" (1940).

Bellamy appeared in over 100 films but won his greatest acclaim on Broadway, as a lionized presidential aspirant in "State of the Union" (1945), as an overzealous police officer in "Detective Story" (1949), and, especially, for his Tony Award-winning portrayal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello" (1958), which he repeated in the 1960 film. Bellamy also played Roosevelt in the TV miniseries "The Winds of War" (1983). Late in his career he contributed an excellent turn as a manipulative Wall Street mogul in the amusing social comedy "Trading Places" (1983).

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Pretty Woman (1990)
Only the Good Die Young (1990)
Cyrus Blain
In Vino Veritas (1990)
Things That Go Bump in the Night (1989)
Easy Come, Easy Go (1989)
The Good Mother (1988)
Grandfather
Coming to America (1988)
Amazon Women On The Moon (1987)
Disorderlies (1987)
Albert Dennis
Trading Places (1983)
Memory Of Eva Ryker (1980)
William E Ryker
The Billion Dollar Threat (1979)
The Clone Master (1978)
The Millionaire (1978)
Charlie Cobb: Nice Night For A Hanging (1977)
Mcvea
Oh, God! (1977)
Nightmare in Badham County (1976)
Return to Earth (1976)
The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976)
McNaughton's Daughter (1976)
Log of the Black Pearl (1975)
Captain Fitzsimmons
Search for the Gods (1975)
Dr Henderson
Adventures of the Queen (1975)
J L Dundeen
Murder on Flight 502 (1975)
The Missiles of October (1974)
Cancel My Reservation (1972)
John Editor [Hollister]
Something Evil (1972)
Harry Lincoln
Doctors' Wives (1971)
Jake Porter
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Dr. Sapirstein
The Professionals (1966)
J. W. Grant
Sunrise at Campobello (1960)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955)
Congressman Frank Reid
Delightfully Dangerous (1945)
Arthur Hale
Lady on a Train (1945)
Jonathan Waring
Guest in the House (1944)
Douglas Proctor
Stage Door Canteen (1943)
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
Erik [Ernst]
The Great Impersonation (1942)
Sir Edward Dominey/Baron [Leopold] von Ragenstein
Lady in a Jam (1942)
Stanley [Gardner]
Men of Texas (1942)
Major Lamphere
Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime (1941)
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery (1941)
Ellery Queen
Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring (1941)
Ellery Queen
Dive Bomber (1941)
[Dr.] Lance Rogers
Footsteps in the Dark (1941)
Dr. Davis
The Wolf Man (1941)
Colonel [Paul] Montford
Affectionately Yours (1941)
Owen Wright
Brother Orchid (1940)
Clarence Fletcher
Elsa Maxwell's Public Deb No. 1 (1940)
Bruce Fairchild
Dance, Girl, Dance (1940)
Steve Adams
Queen of the Mob (1940)
Scott Langham
Ellery Queen, Master Detective (1940)
Ellery Queen
Meet the Wildcat (1940)
Brod [Williams]
His Girl Friday (1940)
Bruce Baldwin
Flight Angels (1940)
Bill Graves
Blind Alley (1939)
Dr. Shelby
Coast Guard (1939)
Lieutenant Raymond Dower
Let Us Live (1939)
Lieutenant Everett
Smashing the Spy Ring (1938)
John Baxter
The Crime of Doctor Hallet (1938)
Doctor [Paul] Hallet
Trade Winds (1938)
Ben [Homer] Blodgett
Fools for Scandal (1938)
Phillip Chester
Carefree (1938)
Stephen Arden
Girls' School (1938)
Michael Hendragin
Boy Meets Girl (1938)
C. Elliott Friday
The Crime of Dr. Hallett (1938)
It Can't Last Forever (1937)
Russ Matthews
The Awful Truth (1937)
Daniel Leeson
Let's Get Married (1937)
Kirk Duncan
Roaming Lady (1936)
Dan Bailey
The Man Who Lived Twice (1936)
[Johnny] Slick Rawley /[Dr. James Blake]
Dangerous Intrigue (1936)
[Dr.] Tony [Halliday, also known as John Davis]
Wild Brian Kent (1936)
Brian Kent
The Final Hour (1936)
John Vickery
Counterfeit Lady (1936)
Johnny Pierce
Straight from the Shoulder (1936)
Curt Hayden
Navy Wife (1935)
Dr. Quentin Harden
Eight Bells (1935)
Steve Andrews
Gigolette (1935)
[Terrence] Terry [Gallagher]
The Healer (1935)
Dr. Holden [also known as "The Healer"]
Air Hawks (1935)
Barry [Eldon]
Rendezvous at Midnight (1935)
Robert Edmonds
The Wedding Night (1935)
Fredrik
Hands Across the Table (1935)
Allen Macklyn
Woman in the Dark (1934)
John Bradley
Girl in Danger (1934)
Inspector Trent
Once to Every Woman (1934)
Dr. Jim Barclay
One Is Guilty (1934)
Inspector Trent
This Man Is Mine (1934)
Jim Dunlap
Spitfire (1934)
George Fleetwood
Helldorado (1934)
J. F. Van Avery
Second Hand Wife (1933)
Carter Cavendish
Destination Unknown (1933)
The Stowaway
Parole Girl (1933)
Joe Smith
Picture Snatcher (1933)
McLean
Below the Sea (1933)
[Steve "Mac"] McCreary
Ever in My Heart (1933)
Jeff
Headline Shooter (1933)
Hal [Caldwell]
The Narrow Corner (1933)
Eric
Ace of Aces (1933)
Major Blake
Blind Adventure (1933)
[Jim] Steele
Flying Devils (1933)
Speed Hardy
Disorderly Conduct (1932)
Captain Dan Manning
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932)
Dr. Ladd
The Woman in Room 13 (1932)
Major John Bruce
Almost Married (1932)
Deene Maxwell
Air Mail (1932)
Mike Miller
Forbidden (1932)
[Al] Holland
Young America (1932)
Judge Blake
Wild Girl (1932)
Jack Marbury
The Secret Six (1931)
Johnny Franks
West of Broadway (1931)
Mac
The Magnificent Lie (1931)
Bill Childers
Surrender (1931)
Captain Elbing

Cast (Special)

Lugosi: The Forgotten King (1992)
Cary Grant: The Leading Man (1988)
The 59th Annual Academy Awards Presentation (1987)
Performer
The 38th Annual Emmy Awards (1986)
Performer
The Fourth Wise Man (1985)
The Screen Actors Guild 50th Anniversary Celebration (1984)
Saturday's Children (1962)
Mr Halevy
Amos Burke: Who Killed Julie Greer? (1961)
Judge Hansen
Brief Encounter (1961)
Dr Alec Harvey
Josephine Little: The Miraculous Journey of Tadpole Chan (1960)
Mr Dobson (Guest)
The Defender (1957)
Walter Preston

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

War and Remembrance (1988)
James A. Michener's "Space" (1985)
Love Leads the Way (1984)
Senator Christl
The Winds of War (1983)
Power (1980)
Condominium (1980)
Arthur Hailey's "Wheels" (1978)
Testimony of Two Men (1977)
Moneychangers (1976)
The Devil's Disciple (1955)
Pastor Anderson

Life Events

1921

Worked as an usher at Ravinia Park Open Air Pavilion

1921

Ran away from home at age 16 to join a William Owen's band of traveling Shakespearean players

1922

Began performing in stock and repertory with the Chautaupua Road Company; first play was "The Shepherd of the Hills"

1922

Toured with stock companies

1929

Broadway debut, "Town Boy"

1931

Screen debut in "The Secret Six"

1933

Founding member, Screen Actors Guild

1934

Returned to Broadway stage in "Oh, Men! Oh, Women!"

1944

Debut as Broadway producer and director, "Pretty Little Parlor"

1945

Returned to Broadway in "State of the Union"

1948

TV debut, "Philco Television Playhouse"

1991

Hospitalized with respiratory illness (August 27)

Photo Collections

Picture Snatcher - Lobby Cards
Here are several Lobby Cards from Warner Bros' Picture Snatcher (1933), starring James Cagney. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Forbidden - Lobby Cards
Forbidden - Lobby Cards
Sunrise at Campobello - Scene Stills
Here are a few scene stills from Warner Bros' Sunrise at Campobello (1960), starring Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson as Franklin Delano and Eleanor Roosevelt.
Blind Alley - Movie Poster
Here is the American one-sheet movie poster for Blind Alley (1939), starring Ralph Bellamy, Chester Morris, and Ann Dvorak. One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Flight Angels - Movie Poster
Here is the American One-Sheet Movie Poster for Warner Bros' Flight Angels (1940). One-sheets measured 27x41 inches, and were the poster style most commonly used in theaters.
Spitfire - Publicity Stills
Here are a few Publicity Stills from Spitfire (1934), featuring Katharine Hepburn, Ralph Bellamy, and Robert Young. Publicity stills were specially-posed photos, usually taken off the set, for purposes of publicity or reference for promotional artwork.

Videos

Movie Clip

Once To Every Woman (1933) -- (Movie Clip) I Can Get Away With It All exposition here as we’ve just met junior hot-shot surgeon Jim (Ralph Bellamy) and his mentor and boss Selby (Walter Connolly), and they move quickly to the challenging brain patient on their ward, in RKO’s racy Once To Every Woman, 1933, starring Fay Wray.
Once To Every Woman (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Nothing Professional Conscientious surgeon Jim Barclay (Ralph Bellamy) has just made good his threat to resign, but feels a need to take a crack at ambitious but chilly nurse Mary (Fay Wray), and winds up warning her about her beau Freddie (Walter Byron), himself busy with Mary Carlisle, in Once To Every Woman, 1933.
Picture Snatcher (1933) -- (Movie Clip) I'm Going Legitimate Ex-con Danny (James Cagney) changing careers with Warner Brothers speed, his plans not going over with pals Leo (Tom Wilson) and especially Jerry (Ralf Harolde), who will appear again, in Picture Snatcher, 1933.
Picture Snatcher (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Nuts About Ping Pong Ex-con turned ace newsman Danny (James Cagney) has just escaped a newsroom contretemps with help from flirtatious Allison (Alice White), who didn’t mention that she’s going with his new boss Mac (Ralph Bellamy), or that they’re at his apartment, in Warner Bros.’ Picture Snatcher, 1933.
Picture Snatcher (1933) -- (Movie Clip) Dirtiest We Can Get Newly-paroled Danny (James Cagney), looking to go straight, presents himself to McLean (Ralph Bellamy), editor of "The Graphic News," who finally remembers offering him work, his grumpy boss Grover (Robert Barrat) looming, in Picture Snatcher, 1933.
Ever In My Heart (1933) -- (Movie Clip) United We Stand Proud wife Mary (Barbara Stanwyck) and buddy Jeff (Ralph Bellamy) remarking as all celebrate the citizenship of German immigrant Hugo (Otto Kruger), his boss Hoffman (Frank Reicher) especially pleased, everything okay so far, in Ever In My Heart, 1933, directed by Archie Mayo.
Sunrise At Campobello (1960) -- (Movie Clip) None Of Your Amiable Chatter Eleanor (Greer Garson) with local doctor (Frank Ferguson) and family confidante Louis (Hume Cronyn) before he rejoins the mysteriously stricken Franklin (Ralph Bellamy), in the Roosevelt family drama Sunrise At Campobello, 1960.
Sunrise At Campobello (1960) -- (Movie Clip) Hard-Boiled Chicken Dig the vigor, as Franklin (Ralph Bellamy) and Eleanor (Greer Garson) manage their brood (Zina Bethune, Tim Considine et al) in writer-producer Dore Schary's hagiographic tale of the Roosevelt's, Sunrise At Campobello, 1960.
Professionals, The (1966) -- (Movie Clip) My Heart Was Lighter After credits and an elaborate assembling of the squad, wealthy Grant (Ralph Bellamy) explains the job to Fardan (Lee Marvin), Ehrengard (Robert Ryan) and Sharp (Woody Strode), in Richard Brooks' The Professionals, 1966.
His Girl Friday (1940) -- (Movie Clip) The Real Red Menace In the press room at the courthouse, Howard Hawks directs the guys from Ben Hecht’s original play (Roscoe Karns as McCue, Porter Hall as Murphy, Ernest Truex as Roy, Cliff Edwards as Endicott, Frank Jenks as Wilson), and Roz Russell convincing as the title character, their pal Hildy, informing them she’s done, in His Girl Friday, 1940.
His Girl Friday (1940) -- (Movie Clip) That Fella In The Movies, Ralph Bellamy Reporter Hildy (Rosalind Russell) tells ex-husband and almost-ex boss editor Walter (Cary Grant) of another scoop, he sends vamp Vangie (Marion Martin) and hood Louie (Abner Biberman) to scam her waiting fiancè Bruce (Ralph Bellamy), Howard Hawks directing the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur dialogue sprint, in His Girl Friday, 1940.
Carefree (1938) -- (Movie Clip) Shot Down Like Dogs Ginger Rogers is hypnotized Amanda, whose psychiatrist Tony (Fred Astaire) regrets having told her that all men excepting her fiancé Steve (Ralph Bellamy), need to be shot down like dogs, when she appears at the shooting range, Jack Carson her minder, in the screwball-y Carefree, 1938.

Trailer

Lady On A Train (1945) -- (Original Trailer) Yes, there is a Deanna Durbin murder mystery! The trailer from Universal emphasizing provocative elements for the 21-year old who was by then Hollywood’s highest-paid female star, in Lady On A Train, 1945.
Trading Places - (Teaser Trailer) A Wall Street investor (Dan Aykroyd) and a man from the hood (Eddie Murphy) find themselves Trading Places (1983).
Boy Meets Girl - (Original Trailer) Two wacky Hollywood writers drive their boss crazy while trying to help a pregnant waitress in Boy Meets Girl (1938) with James Cagney and Pat O'Brien.
Ever In My Heart - (Original Trailer) During World War I, a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) suspects her husband of being a German spy in Ever In My Heart (1933).
His Girl Friday -- (Original Trailer) Cary Grant does everything to keep his ex-wife and star reporter Rosalind Russell from re-marriage in Howard Hawks' classic comedy His Girl Friday (1940).
Affectionately Yours - (Original Trailer) A foreign correspondent hurries home to stop his wife from getting a divorce in the romantic comedy, Affectionately Yours (1941) starring Merle Oberon, Dennis Morgan and Rita Hayworth.
Dive Bomber (1941) -- (Original Trailer) Errol Flynn as a reckless but honorable surgeon turned test pilot, Fred MacMurray the flight commander who becomes his friend, in Warner Bros. noisy, uneven pre-Pearl Harbor color action hit Dive Bomber, 1941, from a story by aviator Frank "Spig" Wead.
Rosemary's Baby - (Original Trailer) A young woman (Mia Farrow) fears the baby she's carrying is the son of Satan in Rosemary's Baby (1968), directed by Roman Polanski and based on the bestseller by Ira Levin.
Picture Snatcher - (Original Trailer) An ex-con brings his crooked ways to a job as a news photographer in Picture Snatcher (1933) starring James Cagney.
Sunrise at Campobello - (Pan-and-scan trailer) After a bout with polio, future president Franklin Roosevelt fights to save his political career in the film biography, Sunrise at Campobello (1960), starring Ralph Bellamy and Greer Garson.
Brother Orchid - (Original Trailer) After a failed hit, mob chief Edward G. Robinson recuperates in a monastery in Brother Orchid (1940).
Flight Angels - (Original Trailer) Airline stewardesses vie for the love of a dashing pilot in Flight Angels (1940) starring Jane Wyman.

Family

Charles Rexford Bellamy
Father
Advertising executive. Headed own agency.
Lilla Louise Bellamy
Mother
Carolyn Walbridge
Sister
Willard Bellamy
Son
Adopted with Catherine Willard.
Lynn McCrudden
Daughter
Mother, Catherine Willard.

Companions

Alice Delbridge
Wife
Married on December 28, 1926; divorced in 1930.
Catherine Willard
Wife
Actor. Married in 1931; divorced in 1945.
Ethel Smith
Wife
Organist. Married in 1945; divorced in 1947.
Alice Murphy
Wife
Talent agent. Married from November 27, 1949 until Bellamy's death in 1991; fourth wife; born c. 1908; died on July 9, 1996 at age 88.

Bibliography

"When the Smoke Hits the Fan"
Ralph Bellamy, Doubleday (1979)

Notes

Describing his prototype role Bellamy said: "It takes talent, even when it's 'just pretend,' to alienate females in a believable way. ... The end of all that came for me one day in Hollywood when I read a script in which a character was described as 'charming but dull--a typical Ralph Bellamy type.' I promptly packed my bags and headed for New York to find a part with guts." --quoted in Variety obituary, December 2, 1991.

"Mr. Bellamy was also known for championing his profession, as founder and board member of the Screen Actors Guild and as president of Actors' Equity for 12 years. He doubled Equity's assets within six years, and in 1960 shepherded the union through a one-week Broadway theater lockout and the signing of a landmark contract that established the first actors' pension fund. ... He guided Equity through the political blacklisting of the McCarthy era in the early 1950s's by forming a panel that devised ground rules to protect members against unproven charges of Communist Party membership or sympathy. ... He lobbied successfully for the repeal of theater admission taxes and for income-averaging in computing taxes for performers." --Peter B. Flint in Bellamy's November 30, 1991 obituary in The New York Times.

He was awarded the Merit from the State of Israel (1968)