Hayden Rorke
Encyclopedia
William Henry Rorke was an American actor
best known for playing Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 1960s American
sitcom I Dream of Jeannie
.
He attended Brooklyn Prep School, where he was president of the Dramatics Society and the Student Government and a member of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. He continued his education at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts and began his stage career in the 1930s with the Hampden Theatrical Company. During World War II
, he enlisted in the army, where he made his film debut in the musical This is the Army
(1943) starring Ronald W. Reagan, for which he was uncredited as the stage manager and as a soldier
in the background.
Following the war, he left the army and worked in small parts on Broadway
, finally returning to Hollywood for the 1949 film Lust for Gold
, again uncredited. However, it was an opening, and in later films, beginning with Rope of Sand
(1949), he is listed in the credits, although he again shows up uncredited in the 1950 films Kim
and The Magnificent Yankee, as well as a couple of later films such as the Academy Award-winning An American in Paris
(in those days, small bit parts were often uncredited). He continued to make movies, taking on supporting roles, in such films as Father's Little Dividend
(1951), Francis Goes to the Races
(1951), Starlift
(1951), When Worlds Collide
(1951), Wild Stallion (1952), Project Moon Base (1953), All That Heaven Allows
(1955), Pillow Talk (1959), and The Night Walker
(1964).
In 1957-1958, Rorke played Steve, the film agent, in the CBS television series Mr. Adams and Eve
, starring Howard Duff
and Ida Lupino
, then married in real life, as a fictitious acting couple residing in Beverly Hills
, California
.
He played several guest roles on television, winning the role of Colonel Farnsworth in the short-lived 1964 ABC
sitcom No Time for Sergeants
, based on the Andy Griffith
film of the same name but starring Sammy Jackson
. He also guest-starred on CBS's Perry Mason
. Rorke also appeared in the 1952 episode of I Love Lucy
entitled "New Neighbors." He also appeared in an episode of The Wild Wild West
entitled "Night of the Man Eating House".
Rorke was best-known for his role as Dr Bellows
, the NASA
medical officer in the television sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie
. Bellows is constantly trying to figure out why Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman
), an astronaut under Bellows' supervision, often behaves strangely, and to decipher the madcap antics, but he never figures out what is actually going on. Bellows usually winds up making himself look like a fool in front of his own superiors. Rorke's last film was reprising his role in the television reunion movie, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later
(1985).
in 1987. He was buried at Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery
.
stated in her 2011 Jeannie Out of the Bottle. She commented that Rorke "and his partner, Justus Addiss, lived together for many years in Studio City, along with their menagerie of dogs." He and Addiss would often invite the cast over for parties.
Barbara described Hayden as a "prince" who was a good friend of all and always managed to keep up the spirits of the I Dream of Jeannie cast, often in difficult circumstances.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for playing Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 1960s American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
.
Career
Born William Henry Rorke in Brooklyn, New York in 1910, he was the son of screen and stage actress Margaret Rorke (née Hayden), and he took his stage forename from her maiden name.He attended Brooklyn Prep School, where he was president of the Dramatics Society and the Student Government and a member of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. He continued his education at the American Academy of the Dramatic Arts and began his stage career in the 1930s with the Hampden Theatrical Company. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he enlisted in the army, where he made his film debut in the musical This is the Army
This Is the Army
This Is the Army is a 1943 American wartime motion picture produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz, and a wartime musical designed to boost morale in the U.S. during World War II, directed by Sgt. Ezra Stone...
(1943) starring Ronald W. Reagan, for which he was uncredited as the stage manager and as a soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
in the background.
Following the war, he left the army and worked in small parts on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, finally returning to Hollywood for the 1949 film Lust for Gold
Lust for Gold
Lust for Gold is a 1949 western film about the legendary Lost Dutchman gold mine, starring Glenn Ford as the "Dutchman" and Ida Lupino as the woman he loves. It was based on the book Thunder God's Gold by Barry Storm...
, again uncredited. However, it was an opening, and in later films, beginning with Rope of Sand
Rope of Sand
Rope of Sand was a 1949 adventure film directed by William Dieterle, produced by Hal B. Wallis, starringBurt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Corinne Calvet, Sam Jaffe, and John Bromfield.-Plot:...
(1949), he is listed in the credits, although he again shows up uncredited in the 1950 films Kim
Kim (film)
Kim is a 1950 adventure film made in Technicolor by MGM. It was directed by Victor Saville and produced by Leon Gordon from a screenplay by Helen Deutsch, Leon Gordon and Richard Schayer, based on the classic novel of the same name by Rudyard Kipling....
and The Magnificent Yankee, as well as a couple of later films such as the Academy Award-winning An American in Paris
An American in Paris
An American in Paris is a symphonic tone poem by the American composer George Gershwin, written in 1928. Inspired by the time Gershwin had spent in Paris, it evokes the sights and energy of the French capital in the 1920s. It is one of Gershwin's best-known compositions.Gershwin composed the piece...
(in those days, small bit parts were often uncredited). He continued to make movies, taking on supporting roles, in such films as Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend
Father's Little Dividend is a 1951 comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, and Elizabeth Taylor. The movie is the sequel to Father of the Bride ....
(1951), Francis Goes to the Races
Francis Goes to the Races
Francis Goes to the Races is a 1951 comedy film about a talking mule and his human sidekick at the racetrack. It is a sequel of Francis and stars Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, and Cecil Kellaway.-Cast:*Donald O'Connor as Peter Stirling...
(1951), Starlift
Starlift
Starlift is an American musical film released by Warner Brothers in 1951, starring Janice Rule, Dick Wesson, Ron Hagerthy and Ruth Roman. The film was directed by Roy Del Ruth and written by Karl Lamb and John D. Klorer...
(1951), When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide
When Worlds Collide is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer; they both also co-authored the sequel After Worlds Collide...
(1951), Wild Stallion (1952), Project Moon Base (1953), All That Heaven Allows
All That Heaven Allows
All That Heaven Allows is a romance feature film starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in a tale about a well-to-do widow and a younger landscape designer falling in love. The screenplay was written by Peg Fenwick based upon a story by Edna L. Lee and Harry Lee...
(1955), Pillow Talk (1959), and The Night Walker
The Night Walker (film)
The Night Walker is a black-and-white psychological suspense thriller by genre specialist William Castle, with a screenplay by Robert Bloch, starring Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Hayden Rorke, Judi Meredith, and Lloyd Bochner as "The Dream." The film was one of the last black and white...
(1964).
In 1957-1958, Rorke played Steve, the film agent, in the CBS television series Mr. Adams and Eve
Mr. Adams and Eve
Mr. Adams and Eve is a CBS sitcom starring Howard Duff and his then wife, Ida Lupino, as a fictitious acting couple, Howard and Eve Adams, residing in Beverly Hills, California. In the television series, Lupino is known professionally as Eve Drake. The program aired sixty-six episodes from January...
, starring Howard Duff
Howard Duff
Howard Green Duff was an American actor of film, television, stage, and radio.Duff was born in Charleston, Washington, now a part of Bremerton. He graduated from Roosevelt High School in Seattle in 1932 where he began acting in school plays only after he was cut from the basketball team...
and Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino
Ida Lupino was an English-born film actress and director, and a pioneer among women filmmakers. In her 48-year career, she appeared in 59 films and directed seven others, mostly in the United States. She appeared in serial television programmes 58 times and directed 50 other episodes...
, then married in real life, as a fictitious acting couple residing in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
He played several guest roles on television, winning the role of Colonel Farnsworth in the short-lived 1964 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
sitcom No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants
No Time for Sergeants is a 1954 best-selling novel by Mac Hyman, which was later adapted into a teleplay on The United States Steel Hour, a popular Broadway play and 1958 motion picture, as well as a 1964 television series. The book chronicles the misadventures of a country bumpkin named Will...
, based on the Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith
Andy Samuel Griffith is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film A Face in the Crowd before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead...
film of the same name but starring Sammy Jackson
Sammy Jackson
Sammy Jackson was an American actor known particularly for his roles reflecting rural life and a country music disc jockey, although he also played pop-standards during 1983 at Los Angeles's KMPC.-Biography and persona:...
. He also guest-starred on CBS's Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
. Rorke also appeared in the 1952 episode of I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy
I Love Lucy is an American television sitcom starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, on the Columbia Broadcasting System...
entitled "New Neighbors." He also appeared in an episode of The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
entitled "Night of the Man Eating House".
Rorke was best-known for his role as Dr Bellows
Dr Bellows
Dr. Alfred E. Bellows is a fictional character in the popular 1960s situation comedy I Dream of Jeannie, which ran for five seasons, starring Barbara Eden as Jeannie, Larry Hagman as Tony Nelson and Bill Daily as Roger Healey. Dr. Bellows is portrayed by Hayden Rorke. Hayden Rorke is perhaps most...
, the NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
medical officer in the television sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
. Bellows is constantly trying to figure out why Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
), an astronaut under Bellows' supervision, often behaves strangely, and to decipher the madcap antics, but he never figures out what is actually going on. Bellows usually winds up making himself look like a fool in front of his own superiors. Rorke's last film was reprising his role in the television reunion movie, I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later
I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later
I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later is a 1985 made-for-television reunion film based on the 1965-70 series I Dream of Jeannie which aired on NBC on October 20, 1985 and produced by Columbia Pictures Television....
(1985).
Death
Hayden Rorke died of multiple myelomaMultiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
in 1987. He was buried at Culver City's Holy Cross Cemetery
Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Holy Cross Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery at 5835 West Slauson Avenue in Culver City, California, operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles....
.
Personal life
Rorke was "unashamedly gay", as Jeannie co-star Barbara EdenBarbara Eden
Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early years:...
stated in her 2011 Jeannie Out of the Bottle. She commented that Rorke "and his partner, Justus Addiss, lived together for many years in Studio City, along with their menagerie of dogs." He and Addiss would often invite the cast over for parties.
Barbara described Hayden as a "prince" who was a good friend of all and always managed to keep up the spirits of the I Dream of Jeannie cast, often in difficult circumstances.