Council Cargle (February 8, 1935 – January 2, 2013) was an American stage and film actor, whose career in theater spanned more than six decades. Based in Detroit, Cargle was described as one of the "best-known theater actors" in the U.S. state of Michigan. His film credits included Detroit 9000 in 1973, Word of Honor, a 1981 television movie, and Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown in 1997.

Biography

Cargle was born on February 8, 1935, in Detroit, Michigan. His mother, Alice Cargle, worked as a domestic and housekeeper. Cargle was raised in Detroit's East Side neighborhood and began acting when he was ten years old, charging friends a dime for a performance. He graduated from Northeastern High School in Detroit and took a job with the Detroit Traffic Court when he was seventeen years old. He earned a bachelor's degree from Wayne State University.

Outside of acting, Cargle worked as a deputy clerk for District Judge Denise Page Hood of Michigan's 36th District Court. He retired after Judge Hood took a position with the city's Recorder's Court in 1989.

Cargle's first professional show was with the Civic Players. Over the next sixty years, he is believed to have performed with most of the major theaters and theater companies in southeast Michigan. He particularly active with the Detroit Repertory Theater, the Plowshare Theater Company, and the Jewish Ensemble Theatre Company.

Cargle and his wife, Maggie Porter, co-founded the Harmonie Park Playhouse in 1985 in the basement of the Madison-Lenox Hotel. The space had previously served as a former barbershop and artist studio before the couple transformed it into a 40-seat theater for off-Broadway productions. The Harmonie Park Playhouse closed in 1990. (The Madison-Lenox Hotel was demolished in 2005).

Cargle's last public performance was in the role of Simon in "The Whipping Man," a play jointly produced by the Plowshare Theater Company and the Jewish Ensemble Theatre Company.

Council Cargle died on January 2, 2013, at the age of 77. He was survived by his wife, Maggie Porter. Cargle was planning to perform August Wilson's "Gem of the Ocean" during the spring of 2013 at the time of his death. He was also auditioning for new roles at the Detroit Repertory Theatre, where he had performed for more than fifty years.