Ralph Bellamy
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
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)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
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
Videos
Movie Clip
Trailer
Family
Companions
Bibliography
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)
