Actor Ralph Bellamy was born in Chicago, Illinois on 17 June 1904 to Charles Rexford and Lilla (Smith) Bellamy. He was raised in Wilmette, Illinois, where his interest in acting developed. During his years at New Trier High School, Bellamy headed the dramatic club. He made his professional stage debut in 1921 with William Owen's Shakespearean troupe. Bellamy then joined a Chautauqua road company (1922) and stock companies which performed in Evansville, Indiana and Madison, Wisconsin (1922-1923). One of his fellow actors was Melvyn Hesselberg, who later became better known as Melvyn Douglas. In 1924 Bellamy became a member of a repertory troupe operated by the Beach and Jones Company and the following year joined another troupe managed by John Winninger. From 1928 to 1930 Bellamy performed with his own troupe, the Ralph Bellamy Players, in Des Moines, Iowa, Nashville, Tennessee, and Evanston, Illinois.
In 1929 Bellamy made his Broadway debut in Town Boy. He then appeared with stock companies in Rochester, New York, where he acted in Holiday and Coquette and other plays. He returned to Broadway in 1930 in Roadside. Although both of his Broadway shows had brief runs, on the basis of these appearances Bellamy signed a motion picture contract with Joseph W. Schneck. His first film was The Secret Six (1931). During the following five decades Bellamy appeared in approximately 100 films; noteworthy among these are Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932), Spitfire (1934), The Awful Truth (1937), His Girl Friday (1940), the Ellery Queen series (1940-1941), The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), Sunrise at Campobello (1960), Rosemary's Baby (1968), and Oh, God (1977).
In addition to his prolific film career Bellamy often returned to the Broadway stage. He appeared in Tomorrow the World (1943); State of the Union, which won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Drama Prize in 1946; Detective Story (1949) and Sunrise at Campobello (1958). In addition he co-produced and directed Pretty Little Parlor, which had a brief run in New York in 1944.
Bellamy also worked in both television and radio. He starred in the television series Man Against Crime, Eleventh Hour, The Survivors, Most Deadly Game, The Hunter, and others. He has appeared in several television movies and mini-series, including The Missiles of October (1974), for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award. Bellamy also guested on several radio programs, notably Cavalcade of America and the U.S. Steel Hour, and broadcast for the United Nations in the late 1950's.
Among the honors and awards which Bellamy has received for his acting are an Emmy (1950), an Emmy nomination (1974), and a Tony award (1958). He was also nominated for an Oscar for his work in The Awful Truth (1937).
In addition to his acting career Bellamy served as president of the Actors Equity Association (1952-1964) and director of the American Arbitration Association (1962-1964). In 1932 Bellamy was a co-founder of The Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California, and four years later served on the first board of the Screen Actors Guild. He has also been on the board of directors of The Lambs Players. Among his hobbies are painting, collecting art objects (his collection of pre-Columbian and African sculpture has been presented to the Los Angeles County Museum), and freighter travel.
In 1979 Ralph and Alice (Murphy) Bellamy celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. That same year Bellamy's reminiscences were published as When the Smoke Hit the Fan (Doubleday, 1979). Ralph Bellamy died November 29, 1991 in Santa Monica, California.
For more biographical information, see Who's Who in America (41st edition).
