Ralph Bellamy Net Worth

Ralph Bellamy's Quotes

• One day in Hollywood, I read a script in which the character was described as "charming but dull -- a typical Ralph Bellamy type". I promptly headed for New York to find a part with guts.
• I always tell the producers, if I can't get the girl at the end of the picture, at least give me more money.
• I've been very lucky; like most actors and actresses, there have been times when I've gone hungry. My philosophy is just take it a day at a time. As far as I'm concerned, I'll never retire.

Interesting Facts about Ralph Bellamy

1. Was one of the most popular and durable actors in Hollywood, playing everything from handsome heroes in his youth to nefarious old men later in his career.
2. Honored with Broadway's 1958 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for his portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello", a role that he recreated in its movie version Sunrise at Campobello (1960). Next he also played the role in two miniseries: The Winds of War (1983) and its sequel War and Remembrance (1988).
3. Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 37-38. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
4. Attended New Trier High School, as did Rock Hudson, Hugh B. O'Brien, Ann-Margret, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Virginia Madsen and Liz Phair.
5. Great-uncle of actor Sam Huntington, to whom he bequeathed his Lifetime Achievement Oscar. Ralph's wife Alice Murphy was the sister of Sam's maternal grandmother Clara Murphy.
6. In Howard Hawks' His Girl Friday (1940), Bellamy's character, as happened in several movies, loses his girl to Cary Grant. At one point in the movie, as the conniving newspaper editor, Grant is giving a henchman directions to help him identify Bellamy's character, and Grant says, "He looks like Ralph Bellamy.".
7. Turned down the role of Noah Cross in Chinatown (1974); the role was played by John Huston instead.
8. Had two children: Lynn Bellamy and Willard Bellamy.
9. Was the eldest of three children born to Charles Rexford Bellamy, who was employed with an advertising agency, and Lilla Louise Smith. One of his younger siblings, a boy, died a couple of days after birth.
10. Ralph owned his own stock company for four seasons (1926-1930). It was called "The Ralph Bellamy Players" and it toured Nashville, Evanston, and Iowa (including Des Moines). Overall, he spent nine years in repertory and touring companies, playing over 400 roles, including an average of two or three in each play.
11. Attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He was president of the Drama Club there. However, he was expelled for smoking on school grounds,.
12. Ran away from home at age 17 to join a traveling band of Shakespearean players. He also worked as an usher at Ravinia Park Open Air Pavilion.
13. While he was under contract for Columbia Pictures, he directed a screen test for a xylophone player in New York in Frank Capra's You Can't Take It with You (1938). The xylophone did not get the role.
14. As a boy, he delivered newspapers and groceries, and worked as a soda jerk at a drugstore.
15. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 3, 1991-1993, pages 55-56. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001.
16. He was a liberal Democrat who supported Franklin D. Roosevelt during his time in office.
17. He was regularly seen socially with a select circle of friends known as the Irish Mafia.
18. He was a member of The Lambs, an actor's club first established in New York in 1874.
19. He was a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933.
20. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6542 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.