From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. William Henry Rorke (October 23, 1910 – August 19, 1987, height 5' 11" (1,8 m)) was an American actor best known for playing Col. Dr. Alfred E. Bellows on the hit 1960s American sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Biography Rorke was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1910. He was the son of screen and stage actress Margaret Rorke (née Hayden), and he took his stage forename from her maiden name. He attended Brooklyn Preparatory School. At school he was president of the Dramatics Society and the Student Government and 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 army, where he made his film debut in the musical This is the Army starring Ronald W. Reagan, for which he was uncredited as the stage manager and as a soldier in the background. Following the war, he left the army and worked in small parts on Broadway, finally returning to Hollywood for the 1949 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 1950 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 those days, small bit parts were often uncredited)