Career Mercedes McCambridge

1 career

1.1 radio
1.2 television
1.3 films

career
radio

she began career radio actor during 1930s while performing on broadway , continued through 40s , 50s. in 1941, played judy s girl friend in date judy. had title role in defense attorney, crime drama broadcast on abc in 1951-52. other work on radio included:

episodes of lights out (including happened , 05/11/38; execution , 04/27/43 , word , 09/14/43)
episodes of inner sanctum (including blood of cain , 01/29/46, death s old sweet song , 11/04/46, dead walk alone (december 2, 1946). , til death part , 10/27/47)
episodes of bulldog drummond radio series
episodes of gang busters
episodes of murder @ midnight (including man black beard , 05/08/50)
episodes of studio 1 (including anthony adverse , 10/14/47; kitty foyle , 11/04/47 , thirty-nine steps , 03/28/48)
episodes of screen directors playhouse (including spellbound , 01/25/51 , yesterday , 07/05/51)
episodes of ford theater (including horn blows @ midnight , 03/04/49)
rosemary levy on abie s irish rose
peggy king martinson on nora drake (1948)
various characters on radio series love mystery in both west coast , east coast incarnations (most notably stewardess , charity martin in thing cries in night, nasha , laura in bury dead, arizona, sunny richards in both million dollar curse , temple of vampires , jack jacqueline dempsey ross in battle of century)

she did feature roles on cbs radio mystery theater, , original cast member on guiding light (before bauers took on central characters). starred in own show, defense attorney on abc 1951–52, martha ellis bryan.

from june 22, 1953, march 5, 1954, mccambridge starred in soap opera family skeleton on cbs.

television

she played katherine wells in wire service - american drama series aired on abc 1956-7, produced desilu productions. series starred mercedes mccambridge, george brent , dane clark reporters fictional trans globe wire service.

films

her hollywood break came when cast opposite broderick crawford in king s men (1949). mccambridge won 1949 academy award best supporting actress role, while film won best picture year. mccambridge won golden globe awards best supporting actress , new star of year - actress performance.

in 1954, actress co-starred joan crawford , sterling hayden in offbeat western drama, johnny guitar, regarded cult classic. mccambridge , hayden publicly declared dislike of crawford, mccambridge labeling film s star mean, tipsy, powerful, rotten-egg lady.

mccambridge played supporting role of luz in george stevens classic giant (1956), starred elizabeth taylor, rock hudson, , james dean. nominated academy award best supporting actress lost dorothy malone in written on wind. in 1959, mccambridge appeared opposite katharine hepburn, montgomery clift , elizabeth taylor in joseph l. mankiewicz film adaptation of tennessee williams suddenly, last summer.

mccambridge provided dubbed voice of pazuzu, demon possessing young girl regan (acted linda blair) in exorcist. sound disturbing possible, mccambridge insisted on swallowing raw eggs, chain smoking , drinking whiskey make voice harsh , performance aggressive. director william friedkin arranged bound chair during recordings, demon seemed struggling against restraints. according friedkin, requested no credit film — fearing take away attention of blair s performance - later complained absence of credit during film s premiere. dispute friedkin , warner bros. brass on exclusion ended when, of screen actors guild, credited vocal work in film.

in 1970s, toured in road company production of cat on hot tin roof big mama, opposite john carradine big daddy. appeared guest artist in college productions, such el centro college s 1979 mousetrap, in received top billing despite character being murdered (by actor jim beaver) less 15 minutes play.

el centro brought following year in title role of madwoman of chaillot.

she starred longtime character actor lyle talbot (of abc s adventures of ozzie , harriet) in 1970 production of come back, little sheba in university of north alabama summer theatre productions. in mid-1970s, mccambridge briefly took position director of livingrin, pennsylvania rehabilitation center alcoholics. @ same time putting finishing touches on soon-to-be released autobiography, quality of mercy: autobiography (times books, 1981), isbn 0-8129-0945-3.