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Mercedes McCambridgeImage: Wikimedia Commons

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Mercedes McCambridge

American actress (1916-2004)

Mercedes McCambridge (16 March 1916 to 2 March 2004) was an American actress whose voice was her great instrument: Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress". Born in Joliet, Illinois, she worked in radio and on Broadway from 1938, then won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her first film, All the King's Men (1949). A second nomination came for Giant (1956), and decades later she supplied most of the voice of the demon Pazuzu in The Exorcist (1973).

Mercedes McCambridge appears in 6 films in The Rerun, from 1949 to 1959. Most of that work is in drama, mystery and thriller. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Elizabeth Taylor (2), Orson Welles (2).

Known for

  • All the King’s Men (1949). Her screen debut, which won her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
  • Giant (1956). Earned her a second Oscar nomination in the supporting category.
  • The Exorcist (1973), Pazuzu (voice). She voiced the majority of the demon’s dialogue.
  • Touch of Evil (1958). A 1958 film credit, listed on this site with its full cast.
  • Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). A 1959 film credit, listed on this site with its full cast.

Career

McCambridge was a mainstay of radio drama in its golden age, working on Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, I Love a Mystery and Studio One, and starring in her own ABC series, Defense Attorney. Her film debut, as the hard-edged political aide Sadie Burke in All the King’s Men, also won her two Golden Globes, and the film took Best Picture.

She did not make many films, but chose sharply. She played Joan Crawford’s furious rival in the western Johnny Guitar (1954), Rock Hudson’s sister Luz in Giant, a leather-jacketed gang member in Welles’s Touch of Evil (1958) and a role in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). Television brought guest turns on Lost in Space and Bewitched. Her raw, unsettling work as the voice of Pazuzu, recorded while bound to a chair at William Friedkin’s direction, was initially uncredited; with help from the Screen Actors Guild, she won the credit.

Where to start

  • All the King’s Men (1949): the Oscar-winning debut, in a Best Picture winner.
  • Giant (1956): her second nomination, holding her own beside Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean.
  • Touch of Evil (1958): a brief, startling reunion with her old radio colleague Welles.
  • Suddenly, Last Summer (1959): Tennessee Williams on film, with Katharine Hepburn and Montgomery Clift.

Movies

Quick answers

What movies and TV shows has Mercedes McCambridge been in?
Mercedes McCambridge appears in Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Touch of Evil (1958), A Farewell to Arms (1957), Giant (1956), Johnny Guitar (1954) and All the King’s Men (1949) on The Remote.
When was Mercedes McCambridge born?
Mercedes McCambridge was born on 16 March 1916.

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