Madge Bellamy

Bellamy

Madge Bellamy (June 30, 1899 – January 24, 1990) was an American stage and movie actress. She was born Margaret Derden Philpott in Hillsboro, Texas. She came from a good home, but ran away at 17 to become an actress and dancer in New York City.

She was featured in several roles, and made her first movie Passing Thru in 1920. After a dispute with Fox Films in 1929, she lost work. She returned to the screen in B-movies in 1932. She is probably best known today for playing Madeline in the horror movie White Zombie opposite Bela Lugosi.

In 1943, she was involved in a scandal with a rich married man. She was accused of shooting at him. Charges were dropped but her career was damaged. She made her last screen appearance in Northwest Trail in 1945.

The rest of her life was passed mostly in poverty. She sold tools in a store and was an unsuccessful novelist. She died in Upland, California of heart failure. Her autobiography was published shortly after her death. Her only marriage was brief and childless.