Hayden Rorke
William Henry Rorke, known professionally as Hayden Rorke, was an American actor best known for playing Colonel Alfred E. Bellows on the 1960s American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.
Early life
Rorke was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1910. He was the son of screen and stage actress Margaret Hayden Rorke, and he took his stage name from her maiden name.Rorke attended Brooklyn Preparatory School, a Jesuit school, where he served as president of the Dramatics Society and the Student Government, and was a member of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity. He continued his education at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his stage career in the 1930s with the Hampden Theatrical Company. During World War II, he enlisted in the United States Army, where he made his film debut in the musical This Is the Army starring Ronald Reagan, for which he was uncredited as the stage manager and as a soldier in the background.
Acting career
Following the war, he left the Army and worked in small parts on Broadway, returning to Hollywood for the film Lust for Gold, again uncredited. However, it was an opening, and in later films, beginning with Rope of Sand, he is listed in the credits, although he again shows up uncredited in the 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 1952, he played the role of crooked businessman and murderer Arne Mason in episode #90, "Word of Honor", of the television series The Lone Ranger. He also appeared in episode #125, "The Perfect Crime", in 1953. He also went uncredited as Clark Kent's psychiatrist in the "Adventures of Superman" episode "The Face and the Voice", and continued to appear in small film roles.In 1957, Rorke played Steve, a film agent, in the television series Mr. Adams and Eve. He appeared in several guest roles on television, including Colonel Farnsworth in the short-lived 1964 sitcom No Time for Sergeants, based on the Andy Griffith film of the same name, but starring Sammy Jackson. He also appeared in three episodes of Perry Mason between 1960 and 1963. In his first role, he played the title character, Jay Holbrook, in "The Case of the Flighty Father", as Walter Caffrey in "The Case of the Violent Vest", and as Gage McKinney in "The Case of the Surplus Suitor." Rorke also appeared in television programs such as I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, Thriller, Peter Gunn, The [Andy Griffith Show], Bonanza, Barnaby Jones, Mister Ed, Wonder Woman, The [George Burns and Gracie Allen Show], The Beverly Hillbillies, and The Love Boat.
Rorke was best known for his role as Dr. Bellows, the NASA medical officer in the television sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Bellows was constantly trying to figure out why Tony Nelson, an astronaut under Bellows' supervision, often behaves strangely 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... Fifteen Years Later.
In the early 1980s, Rorke returned to the theater, making a number of live stage appearances. In May, 1980, he starred with Joan Caulfield at the old Showboat Dinner Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida, in The Pleasure of His Company. He also acted in Mr. Roberts in St. Louis, Missouri.
Personal life and death
Rorke's I Dream of Jeannie co-star Barbara Eden described him as a "prince" who was a good friend to all and always managed to keep up the spirits of the Jeannie cast, even in difficult circumstances.Eden also wrote in her 2011 autobiography Jeannie Out of the Bottle that Rorke was "unashamedly gay," and that he lived with his partner, television director Justus Addiss, for many years in Studio City, along with their menagerie of dogs, until Addiss' death on October 26, 1979. The couple would often invite the Jeannie cast over for parties.
Rorke died of multiple myeloma at his Toluca Lake home in 1987 at age 76. He was survived by two brothers.