Lolita Harper
MAGNOLIA PARK -- Robert Paul Bellamy, known to many in Burbank as the
singing pharmacist, died Dec. 26, 2000, in the care of the Scripps Torrey
Convalescent Hospital in La Jolla.
He was the owner of Bellamy's Pharmacy at 2315 W. Magnolia for 40
years. But music was his first love, said longtime friend Mary Ann Green.
Bellamy, 85, suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in his sleep.
Mr. Bellamy was born and raised in Cambridge, Neb. He started working
in his father's pharmacy at the age of 10. He formed a quartet in
Nebraska that helped put him through college and pharmacy school at
University of Nebraska, his son-in-law Bill Mitchell said.
Following his love for music, Bellamy sang with Bing Crosby, Frank
Sinatra, Andy Williams and Francis Langford, Mitchell said. He also sang
the background music for the movie "The Alamo."
"He had a glorious tenor singing voice," said sister-in-law Marguerite
Bellamy. "I used to always ask him to sing for me."
But Bellamy turned down a singing contract in Las Vegas because he
thought being a pharmacist was more stable, Mitchell said.
His daughter, MaryJane Mitchell, continued the family tradition by
working in the pharmacy at the age of 8.
"My dad had a real mom-and-pop type of pharmacy," she said. "He knew
all of his customers and doctors. They were like family to him."
Bellamy's Pharmacy closed in 1990, when Robert Bellamy retired.
"It was such a sad day," his daughter said. "All the girls [his
employees] cried."
He is survived by his only daughter, MaryJane, and her husband, Bill
Mitchell.
Services were private. Internment was at Forest Lawn, Glendale.
