Melvin Belli
Encyclopedia
Melvin Mouron Belli was a prominent American
lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and by detractors as 'Melvin Bellicose'. He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor
, Errol Flynn
, Chuck Berry
, Muhammad Ali
, Sirhan Sirhan
, the Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker
and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha Mitchell, Lana Turner
, Tony Curtis
, and Mae West
. He won over USD $600,000,000 in judgments during his legal career.
town of Sonora, California
in the Sierra foothills. His parents were of Italian ancestry from Switzerland By the 1920s, the family had moved to the city of Stockton, California
where Belli attended Stockton High School.
in 1929 and after traveling around the world for a year, attended the Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley in 1933. After graduation, his first job was posing as a hobo
for the Works Progress Administration
and riding the rails to observe the Depression
's impact on the country's vagrant
population. His first major legal victory came shortly after graduation, in a personal injury
lawsuit representing an injured cable car
gripman. Over insurance
lawyers' objections, Belli brought a model of a cable car intersection, and the gear box and chain involved in the accident, to demonstrate to jurors exactly what had happened.
cases, which earned for him his byname "King of Torts," Belli was also instrumental in setting up some of the foundations of modern consumer rights law, arguing several cases in the 1940s and 1950s that formed the basis for later lawsuits and landmark litigation by such figures as Ralph Nader
. Belli argued (in cases such as Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
, in 1944, which arose from an incident in which a restaurant manager from Merced, California
was injured by an exploding Coca-Cola
bottle) that all products have an implied warranty
, that it is to be foreseen that products will be used by a long chain of people, not just the direct recipient of the manufactured product, and that negligence
by a defendant need not be proven if the defendant's product is defective. Belli also was one of the first major attorneys to prominently use demonstrative evidence
and courtroom exhibits (such as graphics, charts, photographs, and films).
In his book Ready for the Plaintiff, Belli noted examples of negligence cited by himself and other personal-injury lawyers to win in court--for example, a colleague in Florida
, who showed how a builder violated a building code in Miami Beach concerning the use of wooden shims
in construction of outside walls (forbidden by the municipal code because of the effect of the ocean salt and air). The facing was a slab of Carrara glass, whose adhesion was eventually weakened by the climate; it fell off the side of the building and injured a passerby, who sued the builder. After winning a court case, Belli would raise a Jolly Roger
flag over his Montgomery Street
office building in the Barbary Coast
district of San Francisco (which Belli claimed had been a Gold Rush-era brothel) and fire a cannon, mounted on his office roof, to announce the victory and the impending party.
In his best-known case, Belli represented Jack Ruby
, for free, after Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald
. Belli attempted to prove that Ruby was legally insane and had a history of mental illness
in his family. On Saturday, March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of 'murder with malice,' and received a death sentence
. Immediately thereafter, Ruby and his siblings fired Belli. In late 1966, Ruby's conviction was overturned with help from other defense lawyers on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial and a retrial was scheduled outside of Dallas, but Ruby died of cancer before the retrial could take place. Belli became very critical of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
; the agency compiled at least 367 pages of evidence about Belli's activities.
Belli's firm filed for bankruptcy protection in December, 1995. Belli was representing 800 women in a class action lawsuit against breast implant manufacturer Dow Corning
. Belli won the lawsuit, but when Dow Corning declared bankruptcy, Belli had no way to recover the $5,000,000 (USD) his firm had advanced to doctors and expert witnesses.
(Belli received a letter from the Zodiac Killer
in 1969).
In perhaps his best-known role, other than as himself, Belli appeared in a 1968 Star Trek
episode, "And the Children Shall Lead." In it he appeared as Gorgan, an evil being who corrupted a group of children, one of whom was played by his son Caesar.
In 1970, he appeared in the Albert and David Maysles
documentary Gimme Shelter
, which featured his representation and facilitation of the Rolling Stones's staging of the disastrous December 6, 1969, Altamont Free Concert. Belli enjoyed his frequent television and movie appearances; in 1965, he told an interviewer for Playboy
that he "might have been an actor" if he had not become an attorney. He also played a criminal defense lawyer in an episode of the series Hunter. In that episode he got three college students off the hook on charges of raping and murdering a fellow student at a party. The police were initially investigating the girls' death as a drug overdose when one suspect blurted a confession before police had an opportunity to read them their rights. The victim's older sister then embarked on a vigilante spree, killing two of the suspects before police stopped her just prior to killing the third.
In June 1996, Belli recited the oratory to David Woodard's brass fanfare setting of Mark Twain
's "The War Prayer
" at San Francisco's Old First Church.
es later became common courtroom practice. His autobiography
, My Life on Trial is an account of his life and the noteworthy events he was involved in during his career.
proceeding in 1988, in which Belli was fined $1000 for calling his wife "El Trampo," accused his wife of throwing their pet dog off the Golden Gate Bridge
, and was ultimately compelled to pay her an estimated $15 million. She later married a self-styled Romanian prince, Paul Lambrino
. Belli married his sixth wife, Nancy Ho, on March 29, 1996. His youngest child, Melia, from fifth wife Lia, became an art history scholar.
, at his home in San Francisco, on July 9, 1996, aged 88. His death came suddenly, and in the presence of his wife Nancy. The New York Times quoted his publicist Edward Lozzi
saying "He was sitting; he just stopped breathing", http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/10/us/melvin-belli-dies-at-88-flamboyant-lawyer-relished-his-role-as-kingof-torts.html"Working with him was the highlight of my career. One of my proudest accomplishments was announcing to the media his billion dollar law suit against the tobacco industries in 1994. We connected Belli with Patrick Reynolds, anti-tobacco activist and grandson of the Head of RJReynolds. We also spread the classic quote from Belli about the tobacco industry's conspiracy to addict Americans. 'They grab you, hold you, addict you then kill you without the slightest remorse.' This quote was devastating to big tobacco and helped bring them down with the help of the Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA)." As of his death he had three sons, three daughters, twelve grandchildren, and two dogs. He is buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Sonora, California, his birthplace.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and by detractors as 'Melvin Bellicose'. He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
, Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Sirhan
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is a Jordanian citizen who was convicted for the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He is serving a life sentence at Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, California.Sirhan was a Christian Arab born in Jerusalem who strongly opposed Israel...
, the Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker
Jim Bakker
James Orsen "Jim" Bakker is an American televangelist, a former Assemblies of God minister, and a former host of The PTL Club, a popular evangelical Christian television program.A sex scandal led to his resignation from the ministry...
and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha Mitchell, Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
, Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
, and Mae West
Mae West
Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned seven decades....
. He won over USD $600,000,000 in judgments during his legal career.
Early life
Melvin Mouron Belli was born in the California Gold RushCalifornia Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
town of Sonora, California
Sonora, California
Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,903, up from 4,423 at the 2000 census. Sonora is the only incorporated community in Tuolumne County.-Geography:...
in the Sierra foothills. His parents were of Italian ancestry from Switzerland By the 1920s, the family had moved to the city of Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
where Belli attended Stockton High School.
Education and early career
Belli graduated from the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
in 1929 and after traveling around the world for a year, attended the Boalt Hall School of Law at Berkeley in 1933. After graduation, his first job was posing as a hobo
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
for the Works Progress Administration
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
and riding the rails to observe the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
's impact on the country's vagrant
Vagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
population. His first major legal victory came shortly after graduation, in a personal injury
Personal injury
Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. The term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation...
lawsuit representing an injured cable car
Cable car (railway)
A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are hauled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required...
gripman. Over insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
lawyers' objections, Belli brought a model of a cable car intersection, and the gear box and chain involved in the accident, to demonstrate to jurors exactly what had happened.
"King of Torts"
Besides his notorious personal injuryPersonal injury
Personal injury is a legal term for an injury to the body, mind or emotions, as opposed to an injury to property. The term is most commonly used to refer to a type of tort lawsuit alleging that the plaintiff's injury has been caused by the negligence of another, but also arises in defamation...
cases, which earned for him his byname "King of Torts," Belli was also instrumental in setting up some of the foundations of modern consumer rights law, arguing several cases in the 1940s and 1950s that formed the basis for later lawsuits and landmark litigation by such figures as Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
. Belli argued (in cases such as Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co., 24 Cal.2d 453, 150 P.2d 436 , was a decision of the Supreme Court of California involving an injury caused by an exploding bottle of Coca-Cola...
, in 1944, which arose from an incident in which a restaurant manager from Merced, California
Merced, California
Merced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 78,958. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government...
was injured by an exploding Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
bottle) that all products have an implied warranty
Implied warranty
In common law jurisdictions, an implied warranty is a contract law term for certain assurances that are presumed to be made in the sale of products or real property, due to the circumstances of the sale. These assurances are characterized as warranties irrespective of whether the seller has...
, that it is to be foreseen that products will be used by a long chain of people, not just the direct recipient of the manufactured product, and that negligence
Negligence
Negligence is a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in like circumstances. The area of tort law known as negligence involves harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.According to Jay M...
by a defendant need not be proven if the defendant's product is defective. Belli also was one of the first major attorneys to prominently use demonstrative evidence
Demonstrative evidence
Demonstrative evidence is evidence in the form of a representation of an object. This is, as opposed to, real evidence, testimony, or other forms of evidence used at trial.-Examples:...
and courtroom exhibits (such as graphics, charts, photographs, and films).
In his book Ready for the Plaintiff, Belli noted examples of negligence cited by himself and other personal-injury lawyers to win in court--for example, a colleague in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, who showed how a builder violated a building code in Miami Beach concerning the use of wooden shims
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
in construction of outside walls (forbidden by the municipal code because of the effect of the ocean salt and air). The facing was a slab of Carrara glass, whose adhesion was eventually weakened by the climate; it fell off the side of the building and injured a passerby, who sued the builder. After winning a court case, Belli would raise a Jolly Roger
Jolly Roger
The Jolly Roger is any of various flags flown to identify a ship's crew as pirates. The flag most commonly identified as the Jolly Roger today is the skull and crossbones, a flag consisting of a human skull above two long bones set in an x-mark arrangement on a black field. This design was used by...
flag over his Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street
Montgomery Street is a north-south thoroughfare in San Francisco, California, in the United States.It runs about 16 blocks from the Telegraph Hill neighborhood south through downtown, terminating at Market Street. South of Columbus Avenue, Montgomery Street runs through the heart of San Francisco's...
office building in the Barbary Coast
Barbary Coast, San Francisco, California
Barbary Coast was a red-light district in old San Francisco, California. Geographically it constituted nine blocks bounded by Montgomery Street, Washington Street, Stockton Street, and Broadway...
district of San Francisco (which Belli claimed had been a Gold Rush-era brothel) and fire a cannon, mounted on his office roof, to announce the victory and the impending party.
In his best-known case, Belli represented Jack Ruby
Jack Ruby
Jacob Leon Rubenstein , who legally changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in 1947, was convicted of the November 24, 1963 murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy. Ruby, who was originally from Chicago, Illinois, was then a nightclub operator in Dallas, Texas...
, for free, after Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
. Belli attempted to prove that Ruby was legally insane and had a history of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
in his family. On Saturday, March 14, 1964, Ruby was convicted of 'murder with malice,' and received a death sentence
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:...
. Immediately thereafter, Ruby and his siblings fired Belli. In late 1966, Ruby's conviction was overturned with help from other defense lawyers on the grounds that he did not receive a fair trial and a retrial was scheduled outside of Dallas, but Ruby died of cancer before the retrial could take place. Belli became very critical of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
; the agency compiled at least 367 pages of evidence about Belli's activities.
Belli's firm filed for bankruptcy protection in December, 1995. Belli was representing 800 women in a class action lawsuit against breast implant manufacturer Dow Corning
Dow Corning
Dow Corning is a multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, USA. Dow Corning specializes in silicon and silicone-based technology, offering more than 7,000 products and services...
. Belli won the lawsuit, but when Dow Corning declared bankruptcy, Belli had no way to recover the $5,000,000 (USD) his firm had advanced to doctors and expert witnesses.
Film, television, and recordings
Belli appeared in numerous films and television shows, frequently as himself, and was played by Brian Cox in the 2007 film ZodiacZodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
(Belli received a letter from the Zodiac Killer
Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women...
in 1969).
In perhaps his best-known role, other than as himself, Belli appeared in a 1968 Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode, "And the Children Shall Lead." In it he appeared as Gorgan, an evil being who corrupted a group of children, one of whom was played by his son Caesar.
In 1970, he appeared in the Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles
Albert and David Maysles were a documentary filmmaking team whose cinéma vérité works include Salesman , Gimme Shelter and Grey Gardens . Their 1964 film on The Beatles forms the backbone of the DVD, The Beatles: The First U.S. Visit...
documentary Gimme Shelter
Gimme Shelter (documentary)
Gimme Shelter is a 1970 documentary film directed by Albert and David Maysles and Charlotte Zwerin, chronicling the last weeks of The Rolling Stones' 1969 US tour, which culminated in the disastrous Altamont Free Concert. The film is named after "Gimme Shelter", the lead track from The Rolling...
, which featured his representation and facilitation of the Rolling Stones's staging of the disastrous December 6, 1969, Altamont Free Concert. Belli enjoyed his frequent television and movie appearances; in 1965, he told an interviewer for Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
that he "might have been an actor" if he had not become an attorney. He also played a criminal defense lawyer in an episode of the series Hunter. In that episode he got three college students off the hook on charges of raping and murdering a fellow student at a party. The police were initially investigating the girls' death as a drug overdose when one suspect blurted a confession before police had an opportunity to read them their rights. The victim's older sister then embarked on a vigilante spree, killing two of the suspects before police stopped her just prior to killing the third.
In June 1996, Belli recited the oratory to David Woodard's brass fanfare setting of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's "The War Prayer
The War Prayer
"The War Prayer," a short story or prose poem by Mark Twain, is a scathing indictment of war, and particularly of blind patriotic and religious fervor as motivations for war....
" at San Francisco's Old First Church.
Author
Belli was the author of several books, including the six-volume Modern Trials (written between 1954 and 1960) which has become a classic textbook on the demonstrative method of presenting evidence. Belli's unprecedented -- and some thought undignified -- use of graphic evidence and expert witnessExpert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
es later became common courtroom practice. His autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, My Life on Trial is an account of his life and the noteworthy events he was involved in during his career.
Personal life
Belli was married six times and divorced five. His marriage to his fifth wife, the former Lia Georgia Triff ended with a scandalous and acrimonious divorceDivorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
proceeding in 1988, in which Belli was fined $1000 for calling his wife "El Trampo," accused his wife of throwing their pet dog off the Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. As part of both U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1, the structure links the city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to...
, and was ultimately compelled to pay her an estimated $15 million. She later married a self-styled Romanian prince, Paul Lambrino
Paul Lambrino
Paul al României , also Paul Philippe Hohenzollern or Paul Philip Hohenzollern with "al României" recognised as his legal surname by a 1995 Alexandria court ruling, is the son of the late Carol Mircea Gregor Hohenzollern, also known as Mircea Grigore al României according to his amended Romanian...
. Belli married his sixth wife, Nancy Ho, on March 29, 1996. His youngest child, Melia, from fifth wife Lia, became an art history scholar.
Death
Belli died of complications from pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
, at his home in San Francisco, on July 9, 1996, aged 88. His death came suddenly, and in the presence of his wife Nancy. The New York Times quoted his publicist Edward Lozzi
Edward Lozzi
Edward Lozzi is an American publicist, political consultant and writer. He is the founder of a Beverly Hills-based public relations company. He is an occasional contributor to The Huffington Post...
saying "He was sitting; he just stopped breathing", http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/10/us/melvin-belli-dies-at-88-flamboyant-lawyer-relished-his-role-as-kingof-torts.html"Working with him was the highlight of my career. One of my proudest accomplishments was announcing to the media his billion dollar law suit against the tobacco industries in 1994. We connected Belli with Patrick Reynolds, anti-tobacco activist and grandson of the Head of RJReynolds. We also spread the classic quote from Belli about the tobacco industry's conspiracy to addict Americans. 'They grab you, hold you, addict you then kill you without the slightest remorse.' This quote was devastating to big tobacco and helped bring them down with the help of the Federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA)." As of his death he had three sons, three daughters, twelve grandchildren, and two dogs. He is buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery in Sonora, California, his birthplace.
Filmography (as actor)
- 1968, Star TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
(as Gorgan in the episode "And the Children Shall LeadAnd the Children Shall Lead (TOS episode)"And the Children Shall Lead" is a third-season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, and was broadcast October 11, 1968. It is episode #59, production #60, written by Edward J...
") - 1968, Wild in the StreetsWild in the StreetsWild in the Streets is a 1968 film featuring Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook, and Shelley Winters. It was produced by American International Pictures and based on a short story by writer Robert Thom...
(as himself) - 1970, Gimme ShelterGimme Shelter"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling...
(as himself) - 1973, Ground Zero (aka The Golden Gate Is Ground Zero)
- 1978, Lady of the House (TV, as Mayor Jim of San Francisco)
- 1979, Whodunnit? (TV series, as himself)
- 1984, Guilty or Innocent (TV Series, as himself)
- 1991, Murder, She WroteMurder, She WroteMurder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(TV series, as Judge Harley in the episode "From the Horse's Mouth") - 2000, "American Justice: Divorce Wars" (TV documentary)
External links
- "Enter justice, in alligator boots and a polka-dot tie" (December 11, 1984)
- Film interview with Belli
- Belli's 1996 rendering of "The War Prayer" (mp3)
- Lawyer Hall of Fame: Melvin Belli
- bay area lawyers
Sources
- Melvin Belli, King of the Courtroom by Mark Shaw, Barricade Books, 2006