Marian McCargo


Marian McCargo Bell was an American actress and champion tennis player who later found success in film and television roles. She was sometimes credited as Marian Moses.

Early life & education

Born in Pittsburgh, McCargo graduated from Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, and 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: actors Rick and William R. Moses, director Harry Moses, and Graham Moses. They were divorced in 1963.

Acting career

McCargo first entered acting as a supporting player on such popular television shows as Perry Mason Her other television show appearances included: Hawaii Five-O, Hogan's Heroes, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Mannix, Gomer Pyle, USMC, 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 ; The Undefeated in 1969 ; and Doctors' Wives in 1971. McCargo also became known for her television role as Harriet Roberts on the nighttime soap, Falcon Crest.

Political wife

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.