Ralph Bellamy (Actor)

"Mr. Bellamy was also known for championing his profession, as founder and board member of the Screen Actors Guild and as president of Actors' Equity for 12 years. He doubled Equity's assets within six years, and in 1960 shepherded the union through a one-week Broadway theater lockout and the signing of a landmark contract that established the first actors' pension fund. ... He guided Equity through the political blacklisting of the McCarthy era in the early 1950s's by forming a panel that devised ground rules to protect members against unproven charges of Communist Party membership or sympathy. ... He lobbied successfully for the repeal of theater admission taxes and for income-averaging in computing taxes for performers." --Peter B. Flint in Bellamy's November 30, 1991 obituary in The New York Times.

Describing his prototype role Bellamy said: "It takes talent, even when it's 'just pretend,' to alienate females in a believable way. ... The end of all that came for me one day in Hollywood when I read a script in which a character was described as 'charming but dull--a typical Ralph Bellamy type.' I promptly packed my bags and headed for New York to find a part with guts." --quoted in Variety obituary, December 2, 1991.

He was awarded the Merit from the State of Israel (1968)