Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and awards, including a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Sunrise at Campobello as well as Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for The Awful Truth (1937). In 1986, Bellamy was awarded with an Academy Honorary Award.
He gained prominence for his roles in Boy Meets Girl (1938), His Girl Friday (1940), Flight Angels (1940), The Wolf Man (1941), and Sunrise at Campobello (1960). He is also known for his later roles in Rosemary's Baby (1968), Oh, God! (1977), Trading Places (1983), and Pretty Woman (1990).
Early life Bellamy was born Ralph Rexford Bellamy on June 17, 1904, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Lilla Louise (née Smith), a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy. He ran away from home when he was 15 and managed to gain employment in a road show. He toured with road shows before finally landing in New York City. He began acting on stage there and, by 1927, owned his own theater company. In 1931, he made his film debut and worked constantly throughout the decade both as a lead and as a capable supporting actor. He co-starred in five films with Fay Wray.
Career
His film career began with The Secret Six (1931), starring Wallace Beery and featuring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. By the end of 1933, he had already appeared in 22 movies, including Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) and the second lead in the action film Picture Snatcher with James Cagney (1933). He played in seven more films in 1934 alone, including Woman in the Dark, based on a Dashiell Hammett story, in which Bellamy played the lead, second billed under Fay Wray. Bellamy received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, and played a similar part, that of a naive boyfriend competing with Grant's sophisticated character, in His Girl Friday (1940). He portrayed detective Ellery Queen in a few films during the 1940s, but as his film career did not progress, he returned to the stage, where he continued to perform throughout the 1950s. Bellamy appeared in other movies during this time, including Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) with Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball, and the horror classic The Wolf Man (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Evelyn Ankers.Maltin 1994, p. 63. He also appeared in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) with Chaney and Bela Lugosi.
Bellamy appeared on Broadway as Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello, winning a Tony Award for the role in 1957. He reprised the role in the 1960 film version.
In the summer of 1961, Bellamy hosted nine original episodes of Frontier Justice. In 1950, Bellamy became a member of The Lambs, an actors club located in New York."What is The Lambs?" The-Lambs.org. Retrieved: May 16, 2013.
Bellamy appeared in Death Valley Days ("The Vintage Years", 1962) as Daniel Quint, a minister. In the story, a young woman whom Quint befriends on a stagecoach ride, Lorna Erickson (Merry Anders), sets him up to be robbed by her paramour (William Bryant).
Highly regarded within the industry, Bellamy served four terms as the president of Actors' Equity from 1952 to 1964. On film, Bellamy starred in The Professionals (1966) as an oil tycoon, and in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby (1968) as an evil physician. He turned to television during the 1970s. He played many roles in numerous shows, sometimes as a series regular. In 1970, he played the lead role of Ethan Arcane in the series The Most Deadly Game. Bellamy portrayed Adlai Stevenson in the TV movie The Missiles of October (1974), a treatment of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was a member of the cast of the short-lived series Hunter in 1977.
An Emmy Award nomination for the mini-series The Winds of War (1983)—in which Bellamy reprised his Sunrise at Campobello role of Franklin D. Roosevelt—brought him back into the spotlight. This role was followed by his role as Randolph Duke, a conniving millionaire commodities trader in Trading Places (1983). The Eddie Murphy film Coming to America (1988) included a brief cameo by Bellamy and Don Ameche, reprising their roles as the Duke brothers. Around this time, he again portrayed Franklin Roosevelt in War and Remembrance (1988), the sequel to The Winds of War.
Among his later roles was an appearance as a once-brilliant but increasingly senile lawyer sadly skewered by Jimmy Smits' character on an episode of L.A. Law. Bellamy continued working regularly and gave his final performance in Pretty Woman (1990).
Personal life Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Bellamy was seen socially with a select circle of friends known affectionately as the Irish Mafia, but they preferred the less sensational Boy's Club as its name. This group consisted of a group of Hollywood A-listers who were mainly of Irish descent (despite Bellamy having no Irish family connections). Others included James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, Lynne Overman, Frank Morgan and Frank McHugh."The Irish Mafia (Boy's Club)." Classic Hollywood. Retrieved: August 13, 2013. Bellamy opened the Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California, with fellow actor Charles Farrell in 1934.Niemann 2006, p. 286.Rippingale 1984, p. 146.
Bellamy was married four times: first to Alice Delbridge (1927–1930), then to Catherine Willard (1931–1945), then to organist Ethel Smith (1945–1947), and finally to Alice Murphy (1949–1991; his death).Lamparski 1970 .
A Democrat, Bellamy was in attendance at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles. Retrieved: May 16, 2013.
Death On November 29, 1991, Bellamy died from a lung ailment at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He was 87 years old.
Awards and honors In 1984, Bellamy was presented with a Life Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, and in 1987, he received an Honorary Academy Award "for his unique artistry and his distinguished service to the profession of acting." Bellamy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6542 Hollywood Boulevard. In 1992, a Golden Palm Star on the Walk of Stars was dedicated to him. Palm Springs Walk of Stars. Retrieved: May 16, 2013.
In a 2007 episode of Boston Legal, footage of The Defender, a 1957 episode of Studio One, was used. The episode featured Bellamy and William Shatner as a father-and-son lawyer duo. This was used in the present day to explain the relationship between Shatner's Denny Crane character and his father in the show.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1931 The Secret Six Johnny Franks 1931 The Magnificent Lie Bill Childers 1931 West of Broadway Mac, the Ranch Foreman 1931 Surrender Captain Ebbing 1932 Forbidden Holland 1932 Disorderly Conduct Captain Tom Manning 1932 Young America Judge Blake 1932 The Woman in Room 13 John Bruce 1932 Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm Dr. Ladd 1932 Almost Married Deene Maxwell 1932 Wild Girl Jack Marbury 1932 Air Mail Mike Miller 1933 Second Hand Wife Carter Cavendish 1933 Parole Girl Joseph B. 'Joe' Smith 1933 Below the Sea McCreary 1933 Destination Unknown Stowaway 1933 Picture Snatcher McLean 1933 The Narrow Corner Eric Whittenson 1933 Flying Devils 'Speed' Hardy 1933 Headline Shooter Hal Caldwell 1933 Blind Adventure Jim Steele 1933 Ace of Aces Captain/Major Blake 1933 Ever in My Heart Jeff 1933 Before Midnight Inspector Steve Trent 1934 Spitfire George Fleetwood 1934 Once to Every Woman Dr. Barclay 1934 This Man Is Mine Jim Dunlap 1934 The Crime of Helen Stanley Inspector Steve Trent 1934 One Is Guilty Inspector Steve Trent 1934 Girl in Danger Inspector Steve Trent 1934 Woman in the Dark John Bradley 1935 Helldorado J.F. Van Avery 1935 Rendezvous at Midnight Commissioner Robert Edmonds 1935 Gigolette Terry Gallagher 1935 The Wedding Night Fredrik Sobieski 1935 Eight Bells Steve Andrews 1935 Air Hawks Barry Eldon 1935 The Healer Dr. Holden 1935 Navy Wife Dr. Quentin Harden 1935 Hands Across the Table Allen Macklyn 1936 Dangerous Intrigue Tony Halliday 1936 Roaming Lady Daniel S. 'Dan' Bailey 1936 The Final Hour John Vickery 1936 Straight from the Shoulder Curt Hayden 1936 The Man Who Lived Twice Dr. James Blake/'Slick' Rawley 1936 Wild Brian Kent Brian Kent 1936 Counterfeit Lady Johnny Pierce 1937 Let's Get Married Kirk Duncan 1937 It Can't Last Forever Russ Matthews 1937 The Awful Truth Daniel Leeson 1938 The Crime of Dr. Hallet Dr. Paul Hallet 1938 Fools for Scandal Phillip Chester 1938 Boy Meets Girl C. Elliott Friday 1938 Carefree Stephen Arden 1938 Girls' School Michael Hendragin 1938 Trade Winds Ben Blodgett 1939 Smashing the Spy Ring John Baxter 1939 Let Us Live Lieutenant Everett 1939 Blind Alley Dr. Shelby 1939 Coast Guard Lt. Raymond 'Ray' Dower 1940 His Girl Friday Bruce Baldwin 1940 Flight Angels Bill Graves 1940 Brother Orchid Clarence P. Fletcher 1940 Queen of the Mob FBI Agent Scott Langham 1940 Dance, Girl, Dance Steve Adams 1940 Public Deb No. 1 Bruce Fairchild 1940 Meet the Wildcat Lt. Brad Williams 1940 Ellery Queen, Master Detective Ellery Queen 1941 Footsteps in the Dark Dr. Davis 1941 Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery Ellery Queen 1941 Affectionately Yours Owen Wright 1941 Dive Bomber Lance Rogers 1941 Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime Ellery Queen 1941 Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring Ellery Queen 1941 The Wolf Man Colonel Montford 1942 The Ghost of Frankenstein Erik Ernst 1942 Lady in a Jam Stanley Gardner 1942 Men of Texas Major Lamphere 1942 The Great Impersonation Sir Edward Dominey / Baron Leopold von Ragenstein 1943 Stage Door Canteen Ralph Bellamy 1944 Guest in the House Douglas Proctor 1945 Delightfully Dangerous Arthur Hale 1945 Lady on a Train Jonathan Waring 1955 The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell Congressman Frank R. Reid 1960 Sunrise at Campobello Franklin Delano Roosevelt 1966 The Professionals Grant 1968 Rosemary's Baby Dr. Abraham Sapirstein 1971 Doctors' Wives Jake Porter 1972 Cancel My Reservation John Ed 1975 The Log of the Black Pearl Captain Fitzsimmons 1977 Oh, God! Sam Raven 1980 The Memory of Eva Ryker William E. Ryker 1983 Trading Places Randolph Duke 1983 The UnBob Police Officer 1983 Little House on the Prairie Dr. Marvin Haynes 1984 Terror in the Aisles (Archival footage) 1987 Disorderlies Albert Dennison 1987 Amazon Women on the Moon Mr. GowerSegment: "Titan Man" 1988 Coming to America Randolph Duke cameo 1988 The Good Mother Frank, Grandfather 1990 Pretty Woman James Morse
Television