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).

Biography

Throughout the 1930s and '40s, Bellamy was regularly seen socially with a select circle of friends known affectionately as the "Irish Mafia", although they preferred the less sensational "Boy's Club". This group consisted of a group of Hollywood A-listers who were mainly of Irish descent (despite Bellamy having no Irish family connections himself). Others included James Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Spencer Tracy, Lynne Overman, Frank Morgan and Frank McHugh.

Bellamy was married four times: first to Alice Delbridge (1927–1930), then to Catherine Willard (1931–1945). On the occasion of his marriage to organist Ethel Smith (1945–1947), Time magazine reported, ""Ralph Bellamy, 41, veteran stage (Tomorrow the World) and screen (Guest in the House) actor; and Ethel Smith, 32, thin, Tico-Tico-famed cinema electric organist (Bathing Beauty); he for the third time, she for the second; in Harrison, N.Y." Bellamy's fourth wife was Alice Murphy (1949–1991; his death).

A Democrat, Bellamy was in attendance at the 1960 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

Bellamy opened the popular Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California with fellow actor Charles Farrell in 1934.

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. Bellamy was buried in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

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