Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King; June 26, 1951) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera, Dynasty.
Life and career Bellwood was born in New York City. She 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. In 1971, she starred as Jill Tanner in a production of Butterflies Are Free at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. By 1972, Bellwood was on Broadway, taking over from Blythe Danner as Jill in Butterflies Are Free at the Booth Theatre, and appearing with Barbara Bel Geddes in Finishing Touches. Her performance in Butterflies Are Free earned her a Clarence Derwent Award 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 entitled "9-E is available". In 1978, Bellwood 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.
In her role of Claudia Blaisdel Carrington, 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. Twenty 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.
Bellwood also appeared in such films as Two-Minute Warning, Airport '77 and The Incredible Shrinking Woman, 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 British writer Peter Bellwood. In 1984, she married photographer Nik Wheeler. They have two sons, Kerry and Christian.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1976Two-Minute WarningPeggy Ramsay1977Airport '77Lisa Stevens1980SerialCarol1980Hangar 18Sarah Michaels1981Sandra Dyson1988Cellar DwellerAmanda1997Le zombie de Cap-RougePatty1998Mrs. Swenson1998Joseph's GiftRachel Keller2001Family Secrets2005Going ShoppingLandlady
Television Year Title Role Notes1970MannixSusan Miller"Once Upon a Saturday" (season 3, episode 25)1974IronsideNancyEpisode: "Once More for Joey"1974MaryEpisode: "The Book of Murder"1974Nourish the BeastSylviaTV film1974Paul Sand in Friends and LoversJoanneEpisode: "Moran's the Man"1974RhodaJill MartinEpisode: "9-E Is Available"1975MannixMiriamEpisode: "Man in a Trap" (season 8, episode 14)1975Police StoryJudy BartlettEpisode: "Sniper"1975Matt HelmPatriciaEpisode: "Scavenger's Paradise"1975BarettaJennyEpisode: "When Dues Come Down"1975CannonLouise BishopEpisode: "To Still the Voice"1976InsightThelma MannEpisode: "All Out"1976Darlene RogersEpisode: "The Homecoming"1976AmyTV film1977SerpicoAllisonEpisode: "The Party of Your Choice"1977Emily, EmilyEmily WardTV film1977Westside MedicalMelissa MapesEpisode: "The Witch of Four West"1977Judy Watson1 episode1977Big HawaiiEpisode: "Sarah"1978Deadman's CurveAnnieTV film1978SwitchAndreaEpisode: "The Siege at Bouziki Bar"1978W.E.B.Ellen CunninghamRegular role (5 episodes)1980HagenLaurieEpisode: "The Straw Man"1981–1986DynastyClaudia Blaisdel CarringtonRegular role (117 episodes)1982The Wild Women of Chastity GulchSarahTV film1983Cocaine: One Man's SeductionRobin BarstoweTV film1983Baby SisterMarsha BurroughsTV film1983Sparkling CyanideRuth LessingTV film1983Choices of the HeartSister Dorothy KazelTV film1984Finder of Lost LovesSusan BlaineEpisode: "Losing Touch"1987Deep Dark SecretsAnnaTV film1988Double StandardJoan HarikTV film1989Andrea MoffattEpisode: "Cat and Mouse"1989BoonRebecca PattersonEpisodes: "All in a Day's Pork", "The Eyes of Texas"1989Murder, She WroteVivian ProctorEpisode: "Weave a Tangled Web"1992Life Goes OnFuture BeccaEpisode: "Bec to the Future"1994Murder, She WroteVanessa CrossEpisode: "A Murderous Muse"1997Women: Stories of PassionMyraEpisode: "Angel from the Sky"1997HeartlessJennifer ChadwayTV film2013Criminal MindsWanda SullivanEpisode: "Pay It Forward"
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