Bellamy Young

**Bellamy Young** (born **Amy Maria Young**; February 19, 1970) is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as Melody "Mellie" Grant in the ABC drama series *Scandal* (2012–2018). In 2014, for her portrayal of Mellie, Young won the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Young currently stars in the Fox series *Prodigal Son*.

## Early life

Young was born as Amy Maria Young in Asheville, North Carolina, and was adopted. She changed her name to join the Screen Actors Guild since there was another Amy Young registered, and chose the name Bellamy as a tribute to her late father's best friend, Bill, who had helped to raise her after her father died.

She graduated from Asheville School in 1987. She attended Yale University, majoring initially in Physics but ultimately studying English and Theatre, and graduated in 1991. Young spent a summer during college at the British American Drama Academy in England.

## Career

### 1995–2011

Young began her acting career in theatre. In the 1990s, she performed in a number of Broadway shows including the original production of *The Life*. On Off-Broadway, Young appeared on Stephen Sondheim's musical *Merrily We Roll Along* (1994), and Randy Newman's *Faust* (1995–1996). In 1995, Young made her television debut in a recurring role on the NBC daytime soap opera *Another World* as Dr. Courtney Evans. She guest-starred on *Law & Order* in 1997 and 1998, in two different roles. In 1999 she made her film debut with a small role in the crime drama *Black and White* and later co-starred in several independent films. In the early 2000s she began appearing in guest-starring roles on a number of television dramas and comedies, including *The Drew Carey Show*, *The X Files*, *ER*, *Frasier*, *The West Wing*, *NCIS*, *Medium*, *Grey's Anatomy*, *Private Practice*, *Two and a Half Men*, *Supernatural*, *Drop Dead Diva*, and *Castle*. From 2000 to 2011, Young made over 30 guest appearances on television shows.

Young was a regular cast member in the USA Network series *Peacemakers* in 2003. The show was cancelled after one season of nine episodes. She had recurring roles in the Lifetime legal drama series *For the People* as Deputy Dist. Atty. Agnes Hunt in 2002, on NBC period drama *American Dreams* as Diane Shaw in 2003, on NBC's *Scrubs* as Dr. Grace Miller in 2004, as Assistant State Attorney Monica West on CBS's *CSI: Miami* (2005–06), and on ABC primetime soap opera *Dirty Sexy Money* (2008–2009) as Ellen Darling, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Darling family. She also had a recurring role in *Criminal Minds* as Beth Clemmons from 2011 to 2013.

 File:Bellamy Young Oct 2014 (cropped).jpg  Young has appeared in supporting roles in a number of films, including *We Were Soldiers* (2002) and *Mission: Impossible III* (2006), along with independent movies like *Larceny* (2004), *Eve of Understanding* (2006), *Trust Me* (2007), *This Is Not a Test* (2008), *In My Sleep* (2010), *The Freebie* (2010), and *Joint Body* (2014).

### 2012–present

In 2011 Shonda Rhimes cast Young in the recurring role of First Lady, then 2016 Republican presidential nominee, Melody "Mellie" Grant on the ABC political thriller television series *Scandal* opposite Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn. Before *Scandal*, Young appeared in Shonda Rhimes' *Grey's Anatomy* and *Private Practice*. She appeared in every episode of the first season of *Scandal* and was upgraded to a series regular as of season two. Young later said that her part was originally conceived as a three episode arc. Young has received critical acclaim for her performance as Melody Grant throughout her time on the show . *The Daily Beast* named her the "Breakout Star" of the show in 2014. Many critics praised Young's performance in her character's centered episode "Everything's Coming Up Mellie" of the third season. Cicely K. Dyson's review for *The Wall Street Journal* states: "Bellamy Young has been an amazing scene stealer for two-and-a-half seasons, and this time she finally got her chance to shine." Robert Rorke, writing for *The New York Post*, states that, "In Mellie, the show has its most fleshed-out character and in Young, its most compelling performer." She won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance in season three.

On May 15, 2015, Young released her first album, *Far Away So Close*, on iTunes. In 2016, she starred in the crime drama film *The Night Stalker* directed by Megan Griffiths about the serial killer Richard Ramirez. The following year, she had a supporting role in the independent comedy film *Bernard and Huey* opposite Jim Rash and David Koechner. In 2018, she co-starred in Disney's live action adaptation of *A Wrinkle in Time*, along with Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

In March 2019, Young announced that she would be co-starring in the fox drama pilot 'Prodigal Son' opposite Michael Sheen, Lou Diamond Phillips and Tom Payne. In May, the show was green-lit for a series order and by October, had been picked up for a full 22-episode season order . Prodigal Son was the first full season order of fall 2019 and was the highest-rated new show on any network.

## Personal life

Young has been vegan since 1988 and in 2016 participated in a campaign for PETA titled, "Being Vegan Keeps Me Young". A long time supporter of shelter adoption, Young starred in 2 televised adverts for The Humane Society of the United States: 'The Shelter Pet Project' in 2015 and 'Honestly' in 2016.

 File:National Christmas Tree Lighting 2015 (25803703093).jpg  Young is a registered Democrat. Along with several of her *Scandal* cast mates, Young headlined at a fundraiser event for Hillary Clinton in April 2016. From August through November 2016, Young hit the campaign trail for Clinton and visited Virginia, North Carolina, Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. As part of the Obama administration legacy, in 2016, Young appeared in 'Women Film' by The United States of Women along with several other public figures such as Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey.Template:Citation needed After performing at the 2015 National Christmas Tree Lighting, it was announced that in 2016 Young would be co-ambassador, along with Chelsea Clinton, of the Trust for the National Mall.

Young is the honorary chair for the domestic violence nonprofit organization 'Helpmate' and has helped raise funds for victims of domestic violence. In 2015, Young won *Celebrity Jeopardy!* and as a result won $50,000 for Operation Blankets of Love – a charity which donates blankets to animals in shelters. As a teenager, Young began to suffer from migraines and still suffers from them to this day. She became a partner with GlaxoSmithKline for Treximet, in 2015, to spread migraine awareness. Young partnered with Merck & Co., in November 2016, to help educate people on the importance of biomarker testing in non-small cell lung cancer, the disease that killed her father.

A scholarship student herself, Young now endows a scholarship each year to a student at her alma mater, Yale University. In 2019, Young became an ambassador for the organization CARE and went on a trip to Rwanda to see the work they are doing there. For International Women's Day 2020, Young directed a PSA, for CARE, starring herself, Kerry Washington, Shonda Rhimes and Katie Lowes.

Young has previously dated actors Joshua Leonard and Ed Weeks. Since September 2017, Young has been in a relationship with Portuguese percussionist Pedro Segundo.

## References

1. ↑ "Bellamy Young". *Rotten Tomatoes*. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bellamy-young/.
2. ↑ "Bellamy Young on Twitter". *Twitter*. https://twitter.com/bellamyyoung/status/466401444468633600.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Bellamy Young: Biography". TV Guide. https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/bellamy-young/bio/198347.
4. ↑ Gomez, Patrick. "Bellamy Young Opens Up About Being Adopted, Her Real First Name and How She Almost Missed Out on Scandal". http://www.people.com/article/bellamy-young-scandal-adopted-real-name.
5. ↑ "Notable Alumni". *Asheville School*. https://www.ashevilleschool.org/alumni/notable-alumni.
6. ↑ "Yale Class of 1991". Alumninet.yale.edu. 2000-05-23. http://alumninet.yale.edu/classes/yc1991/classmates.htm.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Bellamy Young Biography". BuddyTV. http://www.buddytv.com/info/bellamy-young-info.aspx.
8. ↑ Canby, Vincent (5 October 1997). "SUNDAY VIEW; Why Whisper About It? 'The Life' Is a Joy", *The New York Times*, p. 5.
9. ↑ Brantley, Ben (28 April 1997). "Lively Women, but Very Tired", *The New York Times*, p. 12.
10. ↑ Brantley, Ben (26 October 1996). "Two Takes on the Devil: The Charms of the Seedy Give Way to Sunday Best", *The New York Times*, p. 15.
11. ↑ Gonzalez, Sandra (October 17, 2011). "'Criminal Minds': Bellamy Young to guest star". Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/article/2011/10/17/criminal-minds-bellamy-young/.
12. ↑ Sadie Gennis (July 28, 2012). "Bellamy Young Returns to Criminal Minds". TV Guide. https://www.tvguide.com/News/Bellamy-Young-Criminal-Minds-Season8-1050700.aspx.
13. ↑ Lesley Goldberg (June 12, 2012). "'Scandal' Ups Bellamy Young to Series Regular for Season 2", *The Hollywood Reporter*.
14. ↑ Natalie Abrams (June 12, 2012). "Scandal Scoop: Bellamy Young Promoted to Series Regular". TV Guide. https://www.tvguide.com/News/Scandal-Bellamy-Young-Series-Regular-1048805.aspx.
15. ↑ "Emmys: 'Scandal's' Bellamy Young on Finding Inspiration in Michelle Obama", *The Hollywood Reporter* (2013-06-24).
16. ↑ Rorke, Robert (2013-11-18). "'Scandal' co-star Bellamy Young shines in shocker | New York Post", Nypost.com.
17. ↑ Porter, Rick. "'Scandal's' Bellamy Young wins Critics' Choice Award: Score one for Team Mellie – Zap2it | News & Features". Zap2it. http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/bellamy\_young\_scandal\_critics\_choice\_television\_awards\_2014-2014-06.
18. ↑ 04.17.14. "How 'Scandal' Star Bellamy Young Transformed Mellie Into Fans' Favorite Character". The Daily Beast. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/17/how-scandal-star-bellamy-young-transformed-mellie-into-fans-favorite-character.html.
19. ↑ Team TVLine. "Performers of the Week: Sons of Anarchy's Maggie Siff and Scandal's Bellamy Young". TVLine. http://tvline.com/2013/11/16/performers-of-the-week-sons-of-anarchys-maggie-siff-and-scandals-bellamy-young/.
20. ↑ "'Scandal's' Bellamy Young on Her Flashback Episode: 'Seismic Turns' and Mellie's 'Wrecking Ball' Exposed", *The Hollywood Reporter* (2013-11-14).
21. ↑ "'Scandal' Recap, Season 3, Episode 7, 'Everything's Coming Up Mellie' – Speakeasy – WSJ", Blogs.wsj.com (2013-11-14).
22. ↑ Rorke, Robert (2013-11-17). "'Scandal' co-star Bellamy Young shines in shocker", New York Post.
23. ↑ Bacle, Ariana (May 28, 2014). "Critics' Choice TV Awards 2014: And the nominees are...". https://ew.com/article/2014/05/28/critics-choice-television-awards-nominees/.
24. ↑ "Far Away So Close". *iTunes*. 2016. https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/far-away-so-close/id995015271.
25. ↑ "'Scandal's Bellamy Young meets serial killer Richard Ramirez in 'The Night Stalker' clip — exclusive". https://ew.com/article/2016/05/18/scandal-bellamy-young-exclusive-clip-night-stalker/.
26. ↑ McNary, Dave (23 June 2015). "‘Scandal’ Star Bellamy Young Joins ‘Night Stalker’ Movie (EXCLUSIVE)". https://variety.com/2015/film/news/scandal-star-bellamy-young-joins-night-stalker-movie-1201526449/.
27. ↑ N'Duka, Amanda (26 January 2018). "‘Bernard And Huey’ Cast On How The Film’s Portrayal Of Equality Is "Right On Time"- Sundance Studio". https://deadline.com/2018/01/bernard-and-huey-dan-mirvish-sasha-alexander-bellamy-young-sundance-studio-1202268763/.
28. ↑ "'Bernard and Huey': Film Review - Slamdance 2018". https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/bernard-huey-1078458.
29. ↑ "Zach Galifianakis, Andre Holland hoe Join Disney's 'A Wrinkle in Time'" (in en-US) (2016-11-01).
30. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2019-03-07). "Bellamy Young To Co-Star In Fox Drama Pilot ‘Prodigal Son’" (in en). https://deadline.com/2019/03/bellamy-young-cast-fox-drama-pilot-prodigy-son-1202571590/.
31. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (2019-05-09). "Fox Picks Up 4 New Drama Series: ‘Prodigal Son’, ‘Deputy’, ‘NeXt’ & Weisman/Katims; What Does It Mean For Network’s Bubble Dramas?" (in en). https://deadline.com/2019/05/fox-orders-drama-series-prodigal-son-deputy-next-weisman-katims-bubble-dramas-1202610963/.
32. ↑ "Prodigal Son Picked Up for Full Season at Fox | TV Guide" (in en). 2019-10-07. https://www.tvguide.com/news/prodigal-son-full-season-fox/.
33. ↑ "Bellamy Young, Scandal, Interview 2015". 2013-10-02. http://www.thenewpotato.com/2013/10/02/bellamy-young-2015/.
34. ↑ "Humane Society TV Commercial, 'Honestly' Featuring Bellamy Young" (in en). https://www.ispot.tv/ad/AGHC/humane-society-honestly-featuring-bellamy-young.
35. ↑ Johnson, Ted (2016-04-11). "'Scandal' Stars to Raise Money for Hillary Clinton" (in en-US).
36. ↑ "Videos | The Huffington Post". https://www.huffingtonpost.com/section/video.
37. ↑ "Bellamy Young on Working with Chelsea Clinton, Being a Bill Clinton Fan" (in en-US) (2016-01-30).
38. ↑ Doty, Kelly. "Hundreds attend high tea to raise money for Helpmate" (in en-US). http://wlos.com/news/local/hundreds-gather-in-asheville-to-raise-money-for-helpmate.
39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Kelley, Seth (May 14, 2015). "Watch ‘Scandal’ Star Bellamy Young Dominate ‘Celebrity Jeopardy’". *Variety*. https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/bellamy-young-wins-celebrity-jeopardy-video-literature-1201495539/.
40. ↑ Carstensen, Melinda (2015-06-25). "'Scandal' actress reveals battle with debilitating condition" (in en-US).
41. ↑ "Actress Bellamy Young, Merck, and Leading Lung Cancer Advocates Urge Those Impacted by Lung Cancer to Test. Talk. Take Action. | Business Wire". http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161129005504/en/Actress-Bellamy-Young-Merck-Leading-Lung-Cancer.
42. ↑ "Scandal Star Bellamy Young Says Her Character Taught Her "Swagger"" (in en). https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/bellamy-young-badass-care-international-womens-day.
43. ↑ Copelan, Christine (2019-03-11). "Here's Everything Scandal's Bellamy Young Saw While Working for Gender Equality in Rwanda" (in en). https://parade.com/858668/ccopelan/heres-everything-scandals-bellamy-young-saw-while-working-for-gender-equality-in-rwanda/.
44. ↑ "Scandal Stars Reunite for Important International Women's Day Message". 2020-03-05. https://www.eonline.com/uk/news/1128386/scandal-stars-reunite-for-important-international-women-s-day-message.
45. ↑ "Actor Joshua Leonard Girlfriend Bellamy Young Stock Photo (Edit Now) 99747914" (in en). https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/actor-joshua-leonard-girlfriend-bellamy-young-99747914.
46. ↑ "New Couple Alert! Bellamy Young, Ed Weeks Pack on PDA at Oscars Party" (in en-US). 2016-02-29. https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/bellamy-young-dating-ed-weeks-and-their-oscars-2016-pda-proves-it-w165820/.
47. ↑ Young, Bellamy (2019-09-08). "Happy 2nd Anniversary to the kindest human I know. Every day I feel like the luckiest girl to get to love & be loved by you, @Pedro2Segundo . The most radiant light. Amor de minha vida. Thank you for another year of" (in en). https://twitter.com/BellamyYoung/status/1170882687852322817.
48. ↑ "About Pedro" (in en). http://pedrosegundo.com/about/.
49. ↑ Dave McNary (2015-06-23). "'Scandal' Star Bellamy Young Joins 'Night Stalker' Movie – Variety", *Variety*.
50. ↑ "Zach Galifianakis, Andre Holland Join Disney's 'A Wrinkle in Time'". 1 November 2016. https://www.thewrap.com/zach-galifianakis-to-join-disneys-a-wrinkle-in-time/.
51. ↑ Iannucci, Rebecca (February 11, 2019). "Sarah Shahi, *Scandal*'s Bellamy Young, *thirtysomething* Alums and More Join Netflix's Dolly Parton Anthology". https://tvline.com/2019/02/11/dolly-partons-heartstrings-bellamy-young-sarah-shahi-netflix-cast/.

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