Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 - March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her screen debut in All the King's Men (1949) and was nominated in the same category for Giant (1956). She also provided the voice of the demon Pazuzu in The Exorcist (1973).
McCambridge married her first husband, William Fifield, in 1939. They had a son, John Lawrence Fifield, born in December, 1941. The couple divorced in 1946 after seven years of marriage.
In 1950 McCambridge married Canadian Fletcher Markle, an actor/producer/director who directed her in productions on Ford Theater and Studio One. Her son, John, later took Markle's name, thereafter being known as John Markle. During the marriage and afterward, McCambridge battled alcoholism, often being hospitalized after episodes of heavy drinking. She and Markle divorced in 1962, after twelve years of marriage. In 1969, after years with Alcoholics Anonymous, she achieved sobriety.
From 1975 to 1982, McCambridge devoted her time to the nonprofit Livengrin Foundation of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. She first served as a volunteer member of the Board of Directors, then as president and CEO, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the treatment center, which at the time was a 76-bed residential program for both male and female alcoholics. Livengrin still operates today, and has 129 beds and 8 outpatient clinics throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, treating both alcoholism and drug addiction. McCambridge, through her celebrity and larger-than-life personality, helped bring public recognition to, and acceptance of the disease of addiction, as well as the benefits of seeking treatment for the disease. She freely shared her own story of addiction and recovery as a means of reaching others in need of help.
She was a staunch outspoken liberal Democrat who campaigned for Adlai Stevenson.[1]
McCambridge died on March 2, 2004, two weeks before her 88th birthday in La Jolla in San Diego, California, of natural causes.[3]
Family tragedy
McCambridge's son John Markle, a UCLA graduate with a Ph.D. in Economics,[1] joined the Little Rock, Arkansas investment firm Stephens Inc. in 1979, after working for Salomon Brothers in New York City.[12] Markle was a successful futures trader, and quickly rose through the company's ranks. McCambridge gave Markle $604,000 to manage for her, but in the fall of 1987, the company discovered that Markle had opened a secret account in McCambridge's name.[12] Soon the company found that Markle had been charging trading losses to the Stephens house account, while crediting profitable trades to McCambridge's account.[12] Markle was later shown to have forged his mother's signature in opening the account.[12]
Markle was placed on medical leave, then fired from his position at Stephens. McCambridge refused to cooperate with Markle and the company in instituting a repayment scheme that would have kept the matter from becoming public, saying that she had done nothing wrong and that Stephens Inc. owed her money.[12] Shortly thereafter, in November 1987, Markle killed his family-his wife Christine (age 45) and daughters Amy (age 13) and Suzanne (age 9)-and then himself.[3] He left a note taking responsibility for his crimes and a long, bitter letter to his mother.[1] The letter contained the following: "Initially you said, 'well, we can work it out' but NO, you refused… You called me a liar, a cheat, a criminal, a bum. You said I have ruined your life… You were never around much when I needed you, so now I and my whole family are dead-so you can have the money… 'Night, Mother."[13][note 1]
Legacy
For her contributions to television and the motion picture industry, Mercedes McCambridge has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures at 1722 Vine Street, and one for television at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard.
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