Christine Markle (right) with daughters Suzanne (left), 9, and Amy, 13. (Arkansas Gazette file photo)

A well-liked and widely respected man with a deep love for his wife and two young daughters — that’s how many who knew Markle well described the influential Little Rock businessman.

Associates and friends recalled Markle as a striking individual, given to eccentric, humorous antics. Markle didn’t dress for the boardroom and often wore rumpled clothes and white socks. He worked long hours. On one occasion, a co-worker spotted him taking a nap on a bench in front of his office.

Markle frequently went to work on a motorcycle or in an “ancient, battered, wildly painted pickup,” the Arkansas Gazette reported, noting that his daughters had been responsible for the playful array of colors.

At birth, Markle had been propelled into the spotlight and whirlwind life of a Hollywood star.

His mother was radio-turned-film actress Mercedes McCambridge, winner of an Academy Award in 1950 as best supporting actress for her role in All the King’s Men and the sinister voice of the demon in 1973 horror film The Exorcist. Markle’s father was writer William Fifield. Mercedes McCambridge (file photo)

At a young age, Markle would take the last name of his adoptive father, McCambridge’s second husband: film and television director Fletcher Markle.

John Markle’s wife, Christine, was active in many Quapaw Quarter neighborhood and community activities, and she volunteered with the Girl Scouts and in other activities for her children.

Markle’s youngest daughter, Suzanne, was a fourth-grader at Gibbs Magnet School. She took ballet and dance classes and was close to her big sister, Amy.

Amy, an eighth-grader, attended Mann Magnet School. Friends described her as an excellent student who wanted to be a dancer. She was planning to apply to the School of the Arts in Minneapolis.

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