Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King, 26 June 1951 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s

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

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

, ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

''.

Life and career

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

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...

''. 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 (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

, and in London. By 1972 she was on Broadway, 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 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Best Supporting Actress in a Dra ...

in ''

Butterflies Are Free ''Butterflies Are Free'' is a 1972 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Milton Katselas from a screenplay by Leonard Gershe, based on Gershe's 1969 play. The film stars Goldie Hawn, Eileen Heckart, and Edward Albert. It follows ...

'' and appearing with

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen Actor, actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost 5 decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in th ...

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 ...

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

Rhoda ''Rhoda'' is an American sitcom television series 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 ...

'' 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. 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 (1981 TV series), Dynasty''. Steven is noteworthy as one of the earliest gay main characters on American television. Despite identifying as homosexua ...

, 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'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

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

Two-Minute Warning The two-minute warning is a suspension of play in an American football game 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. Its effect on play is s ...

'', ''

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

'' and ''

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

'', 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.

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 stage actresses American television actresses Actresses from New York City Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni Year of birth missing (living people)