About Ralph Bellamy
Ralph Bellamy was born June 17, 1904.
From his late teens to his late 20s, Ralph Bellamy worked with fifteen different traveling stock companies, not just as an actor but also as a director, producer, set designer, and prop handler.
In 1927 he started his own company, the Ralph Bellamy Players. He debuted
on Broadway in 1929, then broke into films in 1931. He went on to play leads in dozens of B-movies; he also played the title role in the "Ellery Queen" series.
For his work in The Awful Truth (1937), he received an Oscar nomination,
playing the "other man" who loses the girl to the hero; he was soon
typecast in this sort of role in sophisticated comedies.
After 1945 his film work was highly sporadic as he changed his focus to
the stage, going on to play leads in many Broadway productions;
for his portrayal of FDR in Sunrise at Campobello (1958) he won a Tony
Award and the New York Drama Critics Award.
From 1940-60 he served on the State of California Arts Commission.
From 1952-64 he was the president of Actors' Equity.
In 1986 he was awarded an honorary Oscar "for his unique artistry
and his distinguished service to the profession of acting."
Between 1949 and 1952, Ralph Bellamy played Detective Mike Barnett
in the live crime drama "Follow That Man" on the DuMont Network.
When the show was recorded via kinescope and later film from 1952-54,
the title was changed to "Man Against Crime." Mike Barnett and co-stars
puffed liberally on sponsor's Camel cigarettes. How times have changed.
Bellamy authored an autobiography, When the Smoke Hits the Fan (1979).
Ralph Bellamy died of natural causes on November 29, 1991
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