M

Marian McCargo

Died
April 7, 2004
Age
72 years
Cause
pancreatic cancer

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About Marian McCargo

Marian McCargo was a notable figure. McCargo died in 2004 at the age of 72.

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60 Seconds Life Story

Marian McCargo was a remarkable American talent who excelled as both a championship tennis player and a

60 Seconds Life Story

Marian McCargo

d. 2004

0:00 / 1:02

60 Seconds: Marian McCargo's Life Story

1:02Added 2026-10-24Generated

A look at the life and career of American actress and champion tennis player Marian McCargo.

Transcript

Marian McCargo was a remarkable American talent who excelled as both a championship tennis player and a successful actress. Before her rise in Hollywood, she attended school in Connecticut and married Richard Cantrell Moses, with whom she had four sons. Her television career featured roles on popular programs like Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-O, and Mannix. In 1966, she made her feature-film debut in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round alongside Harrison Ford. She later shared the screen with legends like John Wayne and Rock Hudson in The Undefeated. During filming, she met Congressman Alphonzo E. Bell Jr., eventually retiring from acting to become a political wife. Marian McCargo passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2004 at the age of seventy-two, leaving behind a diverse and accomplished legacy.

Play the illustrated life story above, or read the full biography on this page.

Visual credits: 2017 US Open Tennis - Qualifying Rounds - Viktoriya Tomova (BUL) def. Polona Hercog (SLO) (CC BY 2.0)source · Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0)source · Vintage Television Collection: Motorola Porthole "Suitcase" 7-Inch Television Set, Uses Electrostatic Deflection, Missing Antenna Housed in Cover (Typical of These Sets), Very Good Condition, Circa 1949 (CC BY-SA 2.0)source · Vxdpics / Pixabay (Pixabay Content License)source · https://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view.php?id=55167 (image link) (Public domain)source · Uploaded by Diliff (CC BY 2.5)source · Generated illustration by The Deaths Archive (Generated illustration, not a photograph)source

An illustrated presentation assembled inside the archive from the approved script and the credited images: narration, scene transitions and captions. Caption timing is estimated from the narration.

Narrated illustration. Images are sourced and credited; they are not presented as authenticated photographs.

Full Biography

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Marian McCargo Bell (March 18, 1932 – April 7, 2004) 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 and education

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 (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, 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 (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

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.

Death

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

Content from Wikipedia — licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

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Sources

People who died on April 7

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