Marian McCargo Bell, 72, Had Long Acting Career

Marian McCargo Bell, television and movie actress and wife of former U.S. Cong. Alphonzo Bell Jr., died Wednesday, April 7, of pancreatic cancer at an assisted living facility in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 72.

Mrs. Bell was a regular visitor to the Vineyard for much of her life. Her parents, Graham McCargo and Mary McCargo, owned a home in Edgartown. Grant McCargo is her brother.

A prolific actress throughout the 1950s, '60s and '70s, Marian McCargo starred with John Wayne and Rock Hudson in the epic Western, Undefeated. She also starred in Dead Heat on a Merry Go Round with James Colburn, Doctor's Wives with Carroll O'Connor and Gene Hackman and Buena Sera Mrs. Campbell with Gina Lolabrigida.

Her television roles included recurring spots on Hawaii 5-O, Perry Mason, Hogan's Heroes, Falcon Crest, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

A former tennis champion and Whiteman Cup winner, she defeated Mo Connelly at Forest Hills in 1950. Later in life, she won the State Senior Tennis Championship in doubles.

She married Mr. Bell in 1970. She was an active political wife, campaigning for her husband during his eight-term congressional career and his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 1976. In addition to her husband, she leaves seven sons, Rick, Graham, Harry, Billy, Matt, Bob and Tony, and 18 grandchildren.

Services were held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, at Forest Lawn in Glendale.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 1111 South Arroyo Parkway, Suite 400, Pasadena, CA 91105.