Ralph Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was a beloved and remarkably prolific American actor of stage, screen, and television who, with his plainspoken charm, became the undisputed king of playing the “other guy”—the decent, reliable man who never gets the girl.
Bellamy perfected this on-screen persona in a string of classic 1930s and 40s screwball comedies, most famously as the befuddled Oklahoma oilman Dan Leeson who loses the girl to Cary Grant in The Awful Truth (1937), a role which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He played a similar part opposite Grant and Rosalind Russell in His Girl Friday (1940).
In a brilliant turn against type, Bellamy achieved his greatest triumph on stage, winning a Tony Award for his powerful and transformative portrayal of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1958 play Sunrise at Campobello, a role he would reprise in the 1960 film version. Late in his career, he delighted a new generation of fans with a comedic performance as the villainous Randolph Duke in the Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd comedy Trading Places (1983). For his lifetime of memorable performances, he was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 1987.
