‘Twilight Zone’ Prosecutor Subpoenas Actor Bellamy

Hours after he sat in the courtroom Tuesday as a spectator at the “Twilight Zone” manslaughter trial in a show of support for director John Landis, actor Ralph Bellamy was hit with a subpoena to testify in the proceedings.

Bellamy had told reporters earlier outside the court that Landis is a man of “discrimination, warmth, care and humanity” who is being railroaded by a prosecutor with “personal ambition(s).

“John is being persecuted,” the actor said. “There is a theatricality to this.”

When asked who is persecuting the director, Bellamy responded: “The district attorney’s office. . . . The thing smacks of personal ambition, and there’s a question of legal manipulation.”

Played Roosevelt

After hearing about Bellamy’s remarks, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino said the actor should be forced to tell the Los Angeles Superior Court jury any information he has on the case. She subpoenaed the octogenarian, who has played President Franklin D. Roosevelt in several films, to appear as a witness next Tuesday.

“Everyone has a First Amendment right to say what they wish, we all know that,” D’Agostino explained. “(But) he’s making characterizations about the prosecution, the prosecutor and the evidence.

“He is a well respected actor. His opinions will be carried on television and in the newspapers. And I have a right to know on what he bases them.”

The subpoena, served on the 82-year-old actor as he left the courtroom with Landis at day’s end, caught the defense by surprise.

‘Abuse of Power’

Defense counsel Harland Braun, visibly angered, characterized D’Agostino’s action “an outrage(ous) abuse of the power of the state,” and said of the prosecutor, “She’s scum.”

At first, Landis seemed to think it was a joke, saying to Bellamy, “It’s Mrs. D’Agostino--she wants your autograph.”

Landis, who directed the 1983 movie “Trading Places,” in which Bellamy co-starred, termed the subpoena “harassment.”

After determining the subpoena’s validity, Landis, Braun and Bellamy went back inside the courtroom and confronted the prosecutor, who refused to tell them the purpose of the court order.

Says He Can’t Make It

Bellamy also told D’Agostino that he could not be in court next Tuesday, because he will be working on a film. The prosecutor did not directly respond.

Later, D’Agostino told reporters: “If he (Bellamy) wants to make outrageous comments like that, he should be prepared to back them up. . . . I don’t care if Landis has 1,000 (famous) friends here, I truly don’t. But if they choose to make a statement to the press, they should be able to back up their statement.”

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert I. Garcetti later backed the prosecutor, saying, “You don’t mess around with Lea. If you make light of the case, or make out that you knew something about the case, we’re going to dig and find out what you actually know.”

First Star to Appear

Bellamy was the first major film star to appear in court during the first five weeks of the “Twilight Zone” trial, in which Landis and four associates are accused of manslaughter in the 1982 film set deaths of star Vic Morrow and two child actors.