Pamela Bellwood

Summary

Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King)[1] is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera, Dynasty.

Pamela Bellwood
Born
Pamela King
Other namesPamela Bellwood-Wheeler
OccupationActress
Years active1974–2005, 2013
Spouses
  • Peter Bellwood
    (m. 1967; div. 1971)
  • (m. 1984)
Children1

Life and career edit

Bellwood became interested in an acting career when she portrayed Emily in Our Town. She studied acting in New York with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, and in London.[2][3] By 1972 she was on Broadway, taking over from Blythe Danner in Butterflies Are Free and appearing with Barbara Bel Geddes in Finishing Touches.[3] Her performance in Butterflies Are Free earned her a Clarence Derwent Award in 1972.[4]

Early on, Bellwood was credited as Pamela Kingsley because there was already a working actress named Pamela King.[1] In 1974, she appeared in an episode of Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers. Later in 1974, she appeared as Jill Martin in an episode of Rhoda entitled "9-E is available". In 1978, she played the starring role of TV executive Ellen Cunningham in W.E.B., an NBC drama about a fictional television network.[5] Poor ratings led to the show being cancelled after only five episodes.

Bellwood was an original cast member of Dynasty in January 1981, and was written out of the series early in the third season, in late 1982. She appeared once in March 1983 to help usher in Jack Coleman as a recast Steven Carrington, and later returned full-time in October 1983. She remained a key character for several seasons until leaving the series a final time in 1986 to become a full-time mother. 20 years later, in 2006, she appeared with her former Dynasty castmates in the non-fiction special Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar.

Bellwood posed for an eight-page pictorial in the April 1983 edition of Playboy magazine.[3]

She also appeared in such films as Two-Minute Warning, Airport '77 and The Incredible Shrinking Woman, as well as a number of TV movies.[3] She continues to perform in film and on stage. She is now known and often credited as Pamela Bellwood-Wheeler.

Personal life edit

In the early 1970s, Bellwood was married to writer Peter Bellwood.[1] In 1984, she married photographer Nik Wheeler.[6]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
1976 Two-Minute Warning Peggy Ramsay
1977 Airport '77[3] Lisa Stevens
1980 Serial Carol
1980 Hangar 18 Sarah Michaels
1981 The Incredible Shrinking Woman Sandra Dyson
1988 Cellar Dweller Amanda
1997 Le zombie de Cap-Rouge Patty
1998 The Gardener Mrs. Swenson
1998 Joseph's Gift Rachel Keller
2001 Family Secrets
2005 Going Shopping Landlady

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
1970 Mannix Susan Miller "Once Upon a Saturday" (season 3, episode 25)
1974 Ironside Nancy Episode: "Once More for Joey"
1974 The Wide World of Mystery Mary Episode: "The Book of Murder"
1974 Nourish the Beast Sylvia TV film
1974 Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers Joanne Episode: "Moran's the Man"
1974 Rhoda Jill Martin Episode: "9-E Is Available"
1975 Mannix Miriam Episode: "Man in a Trap" (season 8, episode 14)
1975 Police Story Judy Bartlett Episode: "Sniper"
1975 Matt Helm Patricia Episode: "Scavenger's Paradise"
1975 Baretta Jenny Episode: "When Dues Come Down"
1975 Cannon Louise Bishop Episode: "To Still the Voice"
1976 Insight Thelma Mann Episode: "All Out"
1976 The Nancy Walker Show Darlene Rogers Episode: "The Homecoming"
1976 The War Widow Amy TV film
1977 Serpico Allison Episode: "The Party of Your Choice"
1977 Emily, Emily Emily Ward TV film
1977 Westside Medical Melissa Mapes Episode: "The Witch of Four West"
1977 The Love Boat Judy Watson 1 episode
1977 Big Hawaii Episode: "Sarah"
1978 Deadman's Curve Annie TV film
1978 Switch Andrea Episode: "The Siege at Bouziki Bar"
1978 W.E.B. Ellen Cunningham Regular role (5 episodes)
1980 Hagen Laurie Episode: "The Straw Man"
1981–1986 Dynasty[3] Claudia Blaisdel Carrington Regular role (117 episodes)
1982 The Wild Woman of Chastity Gulch Sarah TV film
1983 Cocaine: One Man's Seduction[3] Robin Barstowe TV film
1983 Baby Sister Marsha Burroughs TV film
1983 Sparkling Cyanide Ruth Lessing TV film
1983 Choices of the Heart[3] Sister Dorothy Kazel TV film
1984 Finder of Lost Loves Susan Blaine Episode: "Losing Touch"
1987 Deep Dark Secrets Anna TV film
1988 Double Standard Joan Harik TV film
1989 The Twilight Zone Andrea Moffatt Episode: "Cat and Mouse"
1989 Boon Rebecca Patterson Episodes: "All in a Day's Pork", "The Eyes of Texas"
1989 Murder, She Wrote Vivian Proctor Episode: "Weave a Tangled Web"
1992 Life Goes On Future Becca Episode: "Bec to the Future"
1994 Murder, She Wrote Vanessa Cross Episode: "A Murderous Muse"
1997 Women: Stories of Passion Myra Episode: "Angel from the Sky"
1997 Heartless Jennifer Chadway TV film
2013 Criminal Minds Wanda Sullivan Episode: "Pay It Forward"

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Ciccone, Rita (January 16, 1971). "Pam Kingsley Digs Playing Jill Tanner". Ford Lauderdale News. Florida, Fort Lauderdale. p. 22. Retrieved March 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "TV Spotlight". The Times and Democrat. South Carolina, Orangeburg. July 8, 1984. p. 61. Retrieved November 24, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Gritten, David (April 9, 1984). "Pamela Bellwood, Dynasty's Wacko, Wouldn't Mind a Home Where the Water Buffalo Roam". People. 21 (14). Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  4. ^ "The Clarence Derwent Award". The Equity Awards. Actors Equity. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. ^ Shales, Tom (September 13, 1978). "W.E.B.: A Super Woman at the Network". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
  6. ^ Schurman, Dewey (December 1990). "Photographer: Nik Wheeler". Islands Magazine: 16. Retrieved May 10, 2020 – via Google Books.

External links edit