Shirley Bellinger
Encyclopedia
Shirley Bellinger is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz
played by Kathryn Erbe
and also referenced in the related book OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill.
d in 1999, then commutation of sentence revoked in 2000.
Shirley Bellinger is the first and only woman to be incarcerated at Oswald, sentenced to die
for murdering her daughter; she drove her car into a lake with her daughter in the back seat then swam out as the car sank, leaving her daughter to drown. She swears it was an accident, but that it nevertheless "had to happen."
While she keeps mostly to herself with a shy, charming demeanor, she shows some signs of psychological instability; shortly after her arrival, she exposes herself
to fellow prisoner Timmy Kirk
, and essentially prostitutes
herself to inmates and guards alike in return for preferential treatment. She is very polite with everyone and hardly gets angry or swears. She believes she is doing God's will, and it is suggested that she is a devout Christian
.
Along with James Robson, Bellinger is one of two regulars that never lived in Emerald City. During her time on Death Row, the regular characters that have made some sort of contact with her are Leo Glynn, Tim McManus
, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo, Father Ray Mukada
, Dr. Gloria Nathan, Diane Wittlesey
, Simon Adebisi
, and Vern Schillinger.
letters with a "secret admirer" from within her cell block. When her pen pal turns out to be fellow inmate Simon Adebisi
, she rejects him because he is black, sending him off with a racial slur.
. She asks for Hanlon to expose himself to her and she does not care if he is a homosexual. Bellinger and Hanlon grew close, and she is even seen making a sweater for him. When Bellinger sees Hanlon and Vernon Schillinger
get into a growling match, she gets worried and asks Hanlon why the two men hate each other. Hanlon explains to her that Schillinger is the reason that he is on death row. Willing to help Hanlon, she tells him to go to the judge and say that both he and Schillinger killed Alexander Vogel together. Before Hanlon goes to see the judge, they say their goodbyes. Before lights out, she sees an empty cell assuming that Hanlon got his death sentence overturned. She unknits the sweater that she made for him, realizing that she will never see him again.
Bellinger loses her final appeal
, and is apparently at peace with her impending death, even enlisting the help of Tim McManus
, who tells her that Hanlon has been murder
ed and promises her that he will find out who did it. Bellinger chooses hanging
as her method of execution. She even tells McManus that she's on his side of the sexual harassment
suit against Claire Howell
.
Soon after, however, she learns that she is pregnant by an unknown father. As prison psychologist
"Sister Pete" Reimondo examines her, and Bellinger tells Sister Pete why she killed her daughter: she says that she saw "orbs of fire" surrounding her and even saw a plate levitate
. She insists that she has to die. Sister Pete recommends to Governor James Devlin
that she be institutionalized. Devlin then commutes Bellinger's death sentence to life imprisonment
without the possibility of parole
. Furious, Bellinger tells Reimondo that she betrayed her and demands an abortion
or she will kill "this monster inside of me". As Sister Pete is telling her that she will be sent to the Connelly Institute for the Criminally Insane and will be under 24 hour watch, Bellinger screams that Satan
is the father of her child, and that she is "the Virgin Mother".
the baby under mysterious circumstances, Bellinger returns to Oz. As she is walking on death row
, she notices that there are three new inmates and that one of them was in her old cell. She asks inmate Nat Ginzburg
if he will switch cells with her and he says no. She also begins to have sex with guard Len Lopresti
.
As her execution date nears, her ex-husband, Zeke, visits her and offers forgiveness. Angered, she tells him that she killed their daughter because she was rape
d by his father and that Katie was actually Zeke's half-sister. Furious, Zeke punches her in the face, knocking out a tooth.
Her execution date arrives, and she assures everyone around her that she is ready to die. She talks to Moses Deyell
and Ginzburg one last time, telling them that she woke up with a crick in her neck and her final meal was a SlimFast milkshake. As Warden Leo Glynn
and Father Ray Mukada
arrive, she tells Glynn that Lopresti comes into her cell every night and has sex with her (which Lopresti denies) and tells Mukada that the father of her child was Satan in the form of a mailman
(Mukada confronted Vernon Schillinger
about this and Vern denies it). As she is led to the gallows
, however, her survival instinct
kicks in, and she violently resists her guards. She is eventually subdued, however, and executed as planned.
Later on her character narrated an episode of season 6.
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
played by Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Erbe
Kathryn Elsbeth Erbe is an American actress known for her role as Det. Alexandra Eames in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of Law & Order, and death row inmate Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series Oz.-Personal life:...
and also referenced in the related book OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill.
Character overview
Prisoner 97B642. Convicted December 6, 1997 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Death. Sentence commuteCommutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
d in 1999, then commutation of sentence revoked in 2000.
Shirley Bellinger is the first and only woman to be incarcerated at Oswald, sentenced to die
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
for murdering her daughter; she drove her car into a lake with her daughter in the back seat then swam out as the car sank, leaving her daughter to drown. She swears it was an accident, but that it nevertheless "had to happen."
While she keeps mostly to herself with a shy, charming demeanor, she shows some signs of psychological instability; shortly after her arrival, she exposes herself
Indecent exposure
Indecent exposure is the deliberate exposure in public or in view of the general public by a person of a portion or portions of his or her body, in circumstances where the exposure is contrary to local moral or other standards of appropriate behavior. Indecent exposure laws vary in different...
to fellow prisoner Timmy Kirk
Timmy Kirk
Timothy "Timmy" Kirk is a fictional character from the HBO prison drama Oz played by Sean Dugan.-Character history:Prisoner #96K423. Convicted April 16, 1996 - Manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child. Sentence: 12 years, up for parole in seven...
, and essentially prostitutes
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
herself to inmates and guards alike in return for preferential treatment. She is very polite with everyone and hardly gets angry or swears. She believes she is doing God's will, and it is suggested that she is a devout Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
.
Along with James Robson, Bellinger is one of two regulars that never lived in Emerald City. During her time on Death Row, the regular characters that have made some sort of contact with her are Leo Glynn, Tim McManus
Tim McManus
Tim McManus is a fictional character on HBO's prison drama Oz, played by Terry Kinney.-Character overview:McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as...
, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo, Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada is a character on the HBO television series Oz, played by B. D. Wong.right|thumb|B.D. Wong as Father Ray Mukada.-Character history:...
, Dr. Gloria Nathan, Diane Wittlesey
Diane Wittlesey
Officer Diane Wittlesey is a fictional character played by Edie Falco on the television program Oz.-Character overview:Oz's first female correctional officer is a divorcee and single mother, who has suffered spousal abuse, poverty and substance abuse; through all of that she gained a pretty good...
, Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz, set in an experimental prison unit.-Character overview:Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree...
, and Vern Schillinger.
Season 2
She also exchanges a series of pornographicPornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
letters with a "secret admirer" from within her cell block. When her pen pal turns out to be fellow inmate Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz, set in an experimental prison unit.-Character overview:Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree...
, she rejects him because he is black, sending him off with a racial slur.
Season 3
In the third season, Bellinger is joined by Richie HanlonRichie Hanlon
Richard "Richie" Hanlon is a fictional character on the TV show Oz portrayed by Jordan Lage.-Character overview:Prisoner #98H462. Convicted June 3, 1998 - Possession and distribution of a controlled substance. Sentence: Eight years, up for parole in five. Convicted in 1998 of two counts of Murder...
. She asks for Hanlon to expose himself to her and she does not care if he is a homosexual. Bellinger and Hanlon grew close, and she is even seen making a sweater for him. When Bellinger sees Hanlon and Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...
get into a growling match, she gets worried and asks Hanlon why the two men hate each other. Hanlon explains to her that Schillinger is the reason that he is on death row. Willing to help Hanlon, she tells him to go to the judge and say that both he and Schillinger killed Alexander Vogel together. Before Hanlon goes to see the judge, they say their goodbyes. Before lights out, she sees an empty cell assuming that Hanlon got his death sentence overturned. She unknits the sweater that she made for him, realizing that she will never see him again.
Bellinger loses her final appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
, and is apparently at peace with her impending death, even enlisting the help of Tim McManus
Tim McManus
Tim McManus is a fictional character on HBO's prison drama Oz, played by Terry Kinney.-Character overview:McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as...
, who tells her that Hanlon has been murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed and promises her that he will find out who did it. Bellinger chooses hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
as her method of execution. She even tells McManus that she's on his side of the sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
suit against Claire Howell
Claire Howell
Claire Howell is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz portrayed by Kristin Rohde.-Character overview:A sexual predator serving as a guard in the eponymous prison, she preys on all the men in her orbit, prisoners and guards alike, as human sex toys who exist for her to dominate...
.
Soon after, however, she learns that she is pregnant by an unknown father. As prison psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
"Sister Pete" Reimondo examines her, and Bellinger tells Sister Pete why she killed her daughter: she says that she saw "orbs of fire" surrounding her and even saw a plate levitate
Levitation
Levitation is the process by which an object is suspended by a physical force against gravity, in a stable position without solid physical contact...
. She insists that she has to die. Sister Pete recommends to Governor James Devlin
Governor James Devlin
Governor James Devlin is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Željko Ivanek.-Character overview:Devlin, the governor of the state, is hated by most of the inmates and some of the staff members at the Oswald State Correctional facilities as he proposes several anti-prisoner acts of...
that she be institutionalized. Devlin then commutes Bellinger's death sentence to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
without the possibility of parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
. Furious, Bellinger tells Reimondo that she betrayed her and demands an abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
or she will kill "this monster inside of me". As Sister Pete is telling her that she will be sent to the Connelly Institute for the Criminally Insane and will be under 24 hour watch, Bellinger screams that Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
is the father of her child, and that she is "the Virgin Mother".
Season 4
After miscarryingMiscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
the baby under mysterious circumstances, Bellinger returns to Oz. As she is walking on death row
Death row
Death row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
, she notices that there are three new inmates and that one of them was in her old cell. She asks inmate Nat Ginzburg
Nat Ginzburg
Nathaniel "Nat/Natalie" Ginzburg is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz portrayed by Charles Busch.-Character overview:A homosexual, HIV-positive inmate, Ginzburg is isolated from the general population in Oswald State Penitentiary's Unit F–the AIDS ward...
if he will switch cells with her and he says no. She also begins to have sex with guard Len Lopresti
Len Lopresti
Len Lopresti is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Carl DiMaggio.-Character overview:A corrections cfficer in the prison, Lopresti is a mean-spirited, racist bully who terrorizes non-white inmates...
.
As her execution date nears, her ex-husband, Zeke, visits her and offers forgiveness. Angered, she tells him that she killed their daughter because she was rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by his father and that Katie was actually Zeke's half-sister. Furious, Zeke punches her in the face, knocking out a tooth.
Her execution date arrives, and she assures everyone around her that she is ready to die. She talks to Moses Deyell
Moses Deyell
Moses Deyell is a character in HBO's 1997-2003 drama Oz played by Erik King. Deyell appeared in episodes from 2000 to 2001."Prisoner 00D718. Convicted February 3, 2000 - Two counts of murder in the first degree...
and Ginzburg one last time, telling them that she woke up with a crick in her neck and her final meal was a SlimFast milkshake. As Warden Leo Glynn
Warden Leo Glynn
Leo Glynn is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz. He is the warden of the Oswald state correctional facility-Character overview:...
and Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada is a character on the HBO television series Oz, played by B. D. Wong.right|thumb|B.D. Wong as Father Ray Mukada.-Character history:...
arrive, she tells Glynn that Lopresti comes into her cell every night and has sex with her (which Lopresti denies) and tells Mukada that the father of her child was Satan in the form of a mailman
Mail carrier
A mail carrier, mailman, postal carrier, postman, postwoman , postman/postwoman , letter carrier or postie is an employee of the post office or postal service, who delivers mail and parcel post to residences and businesses...
(Mukada confronted Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...
about this and Vern denies it). As she is led to the gallows
Gallows
A gallows is a frame, typically wooden, used for execution by hanging, or by means to torture before execution, as was used when being hanged, drawn and quartered...
, however, her survival instinct
Fight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon....
kicks in, and she violently resists her guards. She is eventually subdued, however, and executed as planned.
Later on her character narrated an episode of season 6.