Biography for
Madge Bellamy More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

30 June 1899, Hillsboro, Texas, USA

Date of Death

24 January 1990, Upland, California, USA (heart failure)

Birth Name

Margaret Derden Philpott

Height

5' 3" (1.60 m)

Mini Biography

Madge got her start in theater working with a stock company in Denver. Put under a personal contract by a Broadway producer, Madge got her big break when she replaced Helen Hayes in the Broadway play "Dear Brutus". Her success as a stage actress led to her being signed by Fox Pictures. After appearing in a number of movies in the early 20's, Madge was best remembered for her performances in 'Lorna Doone (1922)' and 'The Iron Horse (1924)'. A strong will contrasted the screen image of innocence and led to disagreements over roles by the late 20's. Madge had been cast in a number of movies each year and was in Fox's first dialogue feature 'Mother Knows Best (1928)'. But her refusal to work in the film 'The Trial of Mary Dugan', which was bought expressly for her, led to her contract with Fox being terminated. It would be 3 years until she returned to the screen in the cult favorite 'White Zombie (1932)' with Bela Lugosi, but her career was not going anywhere as Madge was just one of those old silent stars. For the next few years, she appeared in a small number of low budget films and by 1936 her film career was over. In 1943, she would again appear in the headlines when she shot her lover, millionaire A. Stanford Murphy after he jilted her to marry another woman.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>

Spouse

Logan Metcalf

(1928 - 1928) (divorced)

Trivia

Interviewed in "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" by Stuart Oderman (BearManor Media).

Described herself as an atheist, a vegetarian, and a leftist.

She rejected the lead role in The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929), which was later given to Norma Shearer and became one of Shearer's biggest early successes.

Was specially chosen by Fox as the star of their first-ever talkie, Mother Knows Best (1928)

At the height of her fame she lived in 'The Cedars', a replica of a Spanish castle.

Her 1928 marriage to stockbroker Logan Metcalf lasted less than three days.

Personal Quotes

"I've avoided all my life the romantic stuff which novels and movies are about. Never went in for that mush. Of course, I've missed what most people would call the ultimate human experience. But then, I've remained my own person, which at my age is a very satisfying state" - Madge Bellamy, at age 87.