An obvious answer is that she's enjoying the success of this popular CBS series, which has survived its fourth season in the sudden-death jungle of TV sitcoms. A look behind the scenes, however, reveals Candice Bergen as a most un-Murphy-like person who is happily married and loves living quietly.

The daughter of famous ventriloquis Edgar Bergen, Candice grew up in the Hollywood limelight contending not only with fame, but also with a unique sibling rivalry -- her wooden "brother," Charlie McCarthy got more attention than she did.

"Candy never knew a day without Charlie, which was a bizarre relationship for a little girl," Candice's mother, Frances Bergen says. "How do you explain why this piece of wood was an important as a live, little girl? She was photgraphed with Charlie in her cradle when she was an infant."

In her teen years, Bergen rebelled. She went through some pretty colorful phases beginning at age 14 when her parents sent her to school in Switzerland. They later yanked her out upon learning that she ahd bleached her hair and was majoring in Bloody Marys. "When Candy was 15, I was ready to give her away," Frances says. At 17, Candice enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, but spent so much time modeling that she flunked out.

Today, her mother can laugh when asked if Candy and Murphy are one and the same person. "They are not entirely different at all," she says. "That's one reason Candy is having so much fun doing the series." Bergen, herself, confesses it's the kind of "flatout comedy I've been wanting to do in the movies for years and didn't get a chance to do." "My father kept pushing me toward comedy," she says. "He would have loved this kind of show.

At 24, Bergen was referred to as the most beautiful woman on the screen. Her romances included affairs with a Brazilian radical and an Austrian count, a date with Henry Kissinger, and a more serious involvement with record producer Terry Melcher, son of Doris Day.

The real thing finally came along, however, after photographer Marry Ellen Mark suggested that Candice and Louis Malle, known for directing Atlantic City and My Dinner With Andre, might be a perfect match. He was fourteen years her senior, divorced with two children, and Bergen at first looked the other way. But ten years later, in the summer of 1980, she and Malle married. Currently their home is Malle's 18th century chateau in Lagagnac, France, as well as a duplex in Paris and an apartment in New York. But nine months of the year Bergen resides in Los Angeles -- home of her mother and brother -- where Murphy Brown is filmed.

Bergen is proud of her role as devoted stepmother to Malle's children -- Cuote, 17, and Justine, 14 -- and mother to Chloe, their 6-year-old daughter. When not on the set, Bergen is at home with Chloe playing games or watching Sesame Street. Of course, on Monday nights they settle down to watch -- what else -- Murphy Brown.

The Murphy Brown role was not presented to Bergen on the proverbial silver platter; she lobbied hard to become this outspoke broadcast celebrity -- said to look like Diane Sawyer and behave like Mike Wallace. After the first threee years home with Chloe, Bergen decided she was not comfortable away from her work. And when she read the pilot script, she was hooked. Although not one of creator Diane English's original choices for the part, she arranged a dinner with English and emerged with the role. And two Emmys now prove that her talent has at last come home.

Although her father would have liked the show, complete with things like whoopee cushions and "kick me" signs on someone's back -- how would he, and perhaps millions of faithful Murphy Brown fans, embrace the character of a pregnant single woman who refuses to marry the baby's father? "Candice and I both went trhough a very long period in our early lives when we were just good girls," English says. "And this character has helped us get to another level. We are not afraid for everyone not to like us, either."

A hard and fast rule among compositors is to "follow the copy if it goes out the window," An actor also follows the script even though it may occasionally conflict with his or her moral priciples, trusting the writer's judgement to present an entertaining version of real life that will reach the audience.

Script-writer English and actress Bergen agreed that having Murphy come down with a case of pregnancy while single was worth the risk. They felt the situation to be topical, pointing out the publicity give to babies of TV personalities such as Katie Couric, Deborah Norville, and Meredith Viera. And hadn't Connie Chung taken leave to try to get pregnant? All of this Candice Bergen leaves on the set when she comes home to play with her daughther, read, and spend a quiet evening with her husband. "I can't think of anything greater than that," she says.

Declared to be the least pretentious of Hollywood's celebrites, Candice Bergen is perhaps quietest when "giving something back."

"When I see people losing their families, their homes -- even farmers -- I have to find a way to do something more," she says. She is now working with the Starlight Foundation, involved in granting wishes to dying children. Her best friends all say that she cares very deeply. So exactaly what is Candice Bergen doing in the role of Murphy Brown? She's having fun, speaking out, cashing in, bettering the lives of those around her, and finding joy in the work that makes life complete.

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