Ralph Bellamy
| Ralph Bellamy | |
|---|---|
1971
|
|
| Born |
Ralph Rexford Bellamy June 17, 1904 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | November 29, 1991 (aged 87) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1929–1990 |
| Spouse(s) |
Alice Delbridge (m. 1927–30) Catherine Willard (m. 1931–45) Ethel Smith (m. 1945–47) Alice Murphy (m. 1949–91) (d.1996) |
Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 62 years on stage, screen and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Awful Truth (1937).
Ralph Rexford Bellamy was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Lilla Louise (née Smith) (January 23, 1875 - June 15, 1962), a native of Canada, and Charles Rexford Bellamy (January 12, 1876 - October 7, 1968). He ran away from home when he was 15 and managed to get into 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.
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, most notably 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 kept up the pace through the decade, receiving 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 the sophisticated Grant 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.
...
Wikipedia