Carlotta Mercedes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004), nicknamed Mercy, was an Academy Award-winning American film actress, also known for her acting in radio dramas.

Early life

McCambridge was born in Joliet, Illinois, the daughter of Irish American Catholic parents Marie (née Mahaffry) and John Patrick McCambridge. She graduated from Mundelein College in Chicago before embarking on a career.

Radio

She began her career as a radio actor during the 1940s while also performing on Broadway. Her radio work in this period included her portrayal of Rosemary Levy on Abie's Irish Rose and various characters on the radio series I Love A Mystery in both its West Coast and East Coast incarnations (most notably as "Charity Martin" in The Thing That Cries in the Night, "Nasha" and "Laura" in Bury Your Dead, Arizona, "Sunny Richards" in both The Million Dollar Curse and The Temple of Vampires and "Jack 'Jacqueline' Dempsey Ross" in The Battle of the Century). She frequently did feature roles on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Films

Her Hollywood break came when she was cast opposite Broderick Crawford in the 1949 film All the King's Men. McCambridge won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, which won Best Picture for that year. McCambridge also won the Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress and New Star of the Year - Actress for her performance.

In 1954, the actress co-starred with Joan Crawford and Sterling Hayden in the offbeat western drama, Johnny Guitar, now regarded as a cult classic. McCambridge and Hayden publicly declared their dislike of Crawford, with McCambridge labeling the film's star "a mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady."

McCambridge played the supporting role of "Luz" in the 1956 George Stevens classic Giant, which starred Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean. She was nominated for another Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress but lost to Dorothy Malone in Written on the Wind.

In 1959, McCambridge appeared opposite Katharine Hepburn, Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in Joseph L. Mankiewicz' film adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly, Last Summer.

McCambridge was well-known for providing the dubbed-in voice of the demonically possessed character in The Exorcist, acted by Linda Blair. McCambridge was promised a screen credit for the film's initial release, but she discovered at the premiere that her name was absent. Her dispute with director William Friedkin and the Warner Bros. brass over her exclusion ended when, with the help of the Screen Actors Guild, she was properly credited for her vocal work in the film.

In the 1970s, she toured in a road company production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Big Mama, opposite John Carradine as Big Daddy. She appeared as a guest artist in college productions such as El Centro College's 1979 The Mousetrap, in which she received top billing despite being murdered (by actor Jim Beaver) less than 15 minutes into the play. El Centro brought her back the following year as title role in "The Madwoman of Chaillot."

McCambridge has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, located at 1722 Vine Street, and one for television located at 6243 Hollywood Boulevard. She told the story of her life in The Quality of Mercy: An Autobiography (Times Books, 1981), ISBN 0-8129-0945-3.

Personal life

McCambridge married her first husband, William Fifield, when she was 23 years old. The couple had a son, John Lawrence Fifield. The couple divorced in 1946.

In 1950, McCambridge married Canadian Fletcher Markle, a radio director. Her son, John, later took Markle's name, thereafter being known as John Markle. During the marriage and afterward, McCambridge battled alcoholicism, often hospitalized after episodes of heavy drinking. She and Markle divorced in 1962. In 1969, after years with Alcoholics Anonymous, she achieved sobriety.

McCambridge's son, John Markle, a UCLA graduate, had a PhD in Economics. After being fired from his position as a futures trader at Stephens and Company for mishandling funds, a $5 million lawsuit was filed against him and McCambridge. Although some of the mishandled funds had been handled under McCambridge's name through Markle's power of attorney, she was subsequently cleared of any wrongdoing. Markle killed his family and then himself in a murder/suicide in 1987. He reportedly left a bitter thirteen page note to his mother.

McCambridge died on March 2, 2004 in La Jolla, California, of natural causes, aged 87.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1949	All the King's Men	Sadie Burke	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Golden Globe
1951	Inside Straight	Ada Stritch
	The Scarf	Connie Carter
	Lightning Strikes Twice	Liza McStringer
	Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Awards	Herself	short subject
1954	Johnny Guitar	Emma Small
1956	Giant	Luz Benedict	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1957	A Farewell to Arms	Miss Van Campen
1958	Touch of Evil	Gang leader	uncredited
1959	Suddenly, Last Summer	Mrs. Grace Holly
1960	Cimarron	Mrs. Sarah Wyatt
1961	Angel Baby	Sarah Strand
1965	Run Home Slow	Nell Hagen
1968	The Counterfeit Killer	Frances
1969	99 Women	Thelma Diaz
	Justine	Madame Dusbois
1971	The Last Generation		archive footage
1972	The Other Side of the Wind	Maggie	unreleased - scheduled for 2008 release
1973	Sixteen	Ma Irtley
	The Exorcist	Pazuzu	voice only
1977	Thieves	Street Lady
1979	The Concorde: Airport '79	Nelli
1983	Echoes	Lillian Gerben
1992	Amazing Stories: Book Two	Miss Lestrange	voice - segment "Family Dog"

Further reading

• Lackmann, Ronald W. Mercedes Mccambridge: A Biography And Career Record. McFarland & Company. 2005. ISBN 0786419792.
• McCambridge, Mercedes. The Quality of Mercy: An Autobiography. Times Books, 1981. ISBN 0-8129-0945-3.
• Terrace, Vincent. Radio Programs, 1924-1984. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 1999. ISBN 0-7864-0351-9.

References

External links