Anecdotes

During filming of Johnny Guitar (1954) she and Joan Crawford' fought both on and off the set. One night, in a drunken rage, Crawford scattered the costumes worn by McCambridge along an Arizona highway. Cast and crew had to collect the outfits.

Suffered from bronchitis for the most part of her life. She later revealed she was able to use this to her advantage for the chilling, unearthly breathing of the demon in L'exorciste (1973).

She was originally not credited for her voice work on L'exorciste (1973) after director William Friedkin assured her that she would be. An appeal by her to the Screen Actors Guild rectified this matter, and a new print of the film was made with her name in the credits.

The hat she wore in Géant (1956) was given to her by Gary Cooper.

Although she passed away in 2004, she is listed in the 2018 film The Other Side of the Wind. The filming of this movie was begun in the seventies and shelved for many years, after which it was completed.

She has appeared in five films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: All the King's Men (1949), Johnny Guitar (1954), Géant (1956), Touch of Evil (1958) and L'exorciste (1973).

Had one son, John Lawrence Fifield (DOB: December 25, 1941, in Hollywood, California), who was later adopted by his stepfather Fletcher Markle and took his last name. On November 16, 1987 he killed his wife, both of his children and then himself in Little Rock, Arkansas after being fired from his job on November 13, 1987 for an embezzlement scheme involving accounts belonging to his mother.

Was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater, together with Agnes Moorehead, with whom she appeared as Endora's old nemesis, Carlotta, in an episode of Bewitched (1964).

Was the 33rd actress to win an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for All the King's Men (1949) at The 22nd Academy Awards on March 23, 1950.

Gave birth to her only child at age 25, a son John Lawrence Fifield (later Markle) on December 25, 1941. Child's father was her 1st ex-husband, William Fifield.

Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" bu Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).

Was nominated for Broadway's 1972 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Dramatic) for "The Love Suicide at Schofield Barracks."

Grandmother of Suzanne Marie Markle (February 8, 1978-November 16, 1987).

Her father was of Irish descent, and her mother was of three quarters Irish ancestry (with her mother's other roots being English and German). From a Catholic background, Mercedes was educated at Catholic schools.

Is one of 14 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for All the King's Men (1949)). The others are Hattie McDaniel for Autant en emporte le vent (1939), Teresa Wright for Madame Miniver (1942), Celeste Holm for Le Mur invisible (1947), Donna Reed for Tant qu'il y aura des hommes (1953), Eva Marie Saint for Sur les quais... (1954), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (1961), Meryl Streep for Kramer contre Kramer (1979), Juliette Binoche for Le patient anglais (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare et Juliette (1998), Jennifer Connelly for Un homme d'exception (2001), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002) Lupita Nyong'o for Esclave pendant douze ans (2013), and Jamie Lee Curtis for Tout, partout, tout à la fois (2022).

She was awarded the 1992 Drama Logue Award for Performance in "Lost in Yonkers" in presented by the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson at the James A. Doolittle (University of California) Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

On film, Mercedes McCambridge was twice related to Elizabeth Taylor: her sister-in-law in "Giant" (1956) and her mother in "Suddenly, last summer" (1959).

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 342-343. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Body Cremated and Ashes scattered at sea.