Marian McCargo

Marian McCargo Bell (March 18, 1932 – April 7, 2004) was a champion tennis player who later found success in film and television roles. She was sometimes credited as Marian Moses. (The book Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d edition gives her date of birth as February 19, 1932.)

Early life & education

Born in Pittsburgh, McCargo attended Boston's West Hills College. In 1951, she married Richard Cantrell Moses, who later became an advertising executive in Los Angeles. They had four sons: Graham Moses; actor William R. Moses;[1] director Harry Moses [2]; and actor Rick Moses[3]. They were divorced in 1963.

Acting career

Theatrical poster for the
1969 film "The Undefeated".
(McCargo standing, 2nd from left)

McCargo first entered acting as a supporting player on such popular television shows as Perry Mason (in 1964 she played murder victim Sibyll Pollard in "The Case of the Latent Lover"; and in 1965 she played defendant Louise Selff in "The Case of the Wrathful Wraith".) Her other television show appearances included: Hawaii Five-O, Hogan's Heroes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Mannix, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E..

McCargo made her feature film debut in the crime comedy Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round in 1966, which was also the debut film of Harrison Ford. Subsequent film roles included: Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell in 1968 (playing opposite Peter Lawford, Gina Lollobrigida, Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, and Phil Silvers); The Undefeated in 1969 (with John Wayne and Rock Hudson); and Doctors' Wives in 1971. McCargo also became known for her television role as Harriet Roberts on the nighttime soap, Falcon Crest.

Political wife

McCargo's husband,
Congressman Alphonzo Bell

In 1970, McCargo married U.S. Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell, Jr. of California, a widower with three sons of his own. They had met while she was starring with John Wayne in The Undefeated, Wayne being a close personal friend of Bell's. She then retired from acting to become a political wife.

Using the married name Marian McCargo Bell, she was active politically during his eight-term congressional career and campaigned for her husband, including during his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1976.

Death

McCargo died of pancreatic cancer in 2004, in Santa Monica, California, just eighteen days before her husband Alphonzo.