Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King) is an American actress known for her role as

Claudia Blaisdel Carrington Claudia Blaisdel Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC prime time soap opera ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro. Originated by Pamela Bellwood in the series' 1981 pilot episode, "Oil", Claudia is initially the estranged, ...

on the 1980s

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

''.

Life and career

Bellwood became interested in an acting career when she portrayed Emily in ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 throug ...

''. She studied acting in New York with

Sanford Meisner Sanford Meisner (August 31, 1905 – February 2, 1997) was an American actor and acting teacher who developed an approach to acting instruction that is now known as the Meisner technique. While Meisner was exposed to method acting at the Group ...

at the

Neighborhood Playhouse A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

, and in London. By 1972 she was on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, taking over from

Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner (born February 3, 1943) is an American actress. Accolades she has received include two Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Izzy Huffstodt on '' Huff'' (2004–2006), and a ...

in ''

Butterflies Are Free ''Butterflies Are Free'' is a 1972 American comedy-drama film based on the 1969 play by Leonard Gershe. The 1972 film was produced by M. J. Frankovich, released by Columbia Pictures, directed by Milton Katselas and adapted for the screen by Ger ...

'' and appearing with

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost five decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in the t ...

in ''Finishing Touches''. Her performance in ''Butterflies Are Free'' earned her a

Clarence Derwent Award The Clarence Derwent Awards are theatre awards given annually by the Actors' Equity Association on Broadway in the United States and by Equity, the performers' union, in the West End in the United Kingdom. Clarence Derwent (23 March 1884 – 6 Aug ...

in 1972. Early on, Bellwood was credited as Pamela Kingsley because there was already a working actress named Pamela King. In 1974, she appeared in an episode of ''

Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers ''Friends and Lovers'' (also known as ''Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers'') is an American sitcom starring Paul Sand which centers on a musician in Boston, Massachusetts, and his personal relationships. It was Sand's only starring role in a televi ...

''. Later in 1974, she appeared as Jill Martin in an episode of ''

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns starring Valerie Harper that originally aired on CBS for five seasons from September 9, 1974, to December 9, 1978. It was the first spin-off of ''The Mary Tyle ...

'' entitled "9-E is available". In 1978, she played the starring role of TV executive Ellen Cunningham in ''

W.E.B. ''W.E.B.'' is an American prime time drama series that aired on NBC for five episodes from September 13 until October 5, 1978. Cast *Pamela Bellwood as Ellen Cunningham *Alex Cord as Jack Kiley *Lee Wilkof as Harvey Pearlstein *Richard Basehart ...

'', an NBC drama about a fictional television network. 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 Steven Daniel Carrington is a fictional character on the American prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Steven is noteworthy as one of the earliest gay main characters on American television. Despite identifying as homosexual, Steven has relationship ...

, 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 ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'' magazine. She also appeared in such films as ''

Two-Minute Warning In most levels of professional American football, the two-minute warning is a suspension of play that occurs when two minutes remain on the game clock in each half of a game, i.e., near the end of the second and fourth quarters, and overtime. It ...

'', ''

Airport '77 ''Airport '77'' is a 1977 American air disaster film, and the third installment of the ''Airport'' film series. The film stars a number of veteran actors including Jack Lemmon, James Stewart, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland, and Brenda Vacca ...

'' and ''

The Incredible Shrinking Woman ''The Incredible Shrinking Woman'' is a 1981 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Joel Schumacher (in his theatrical directing debut), written by Jane Wagner and starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover, and Eliz ...

'', as well as a number of TV movies. She continues to perform in film and on stage. She is now known and often credited as Pamela Bellwood-Wheeler.

Personal life

In the early 1970s, Bellwood was married to writer Peter Bellwood. In 1984, she married photographer

Nik Wheeler Nik Wheeler (born 1939) is a British-born photographer, known for taking what for years was the only known photograph of Carlos the Jackal. He began his career as a photojournalist during the Vietnam War. Wheeler was born in Hitchin, England in ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bellwood, Pamela Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Year of birth missing (living people)