In 1931,[4] Bell and his wife, actress Clara Bow, founded the Walking Box Ranch,[5] at Searchlight, Nevada.

[6] His final film appearance was an uncredited but very prominent role as a loquacious old cowboy in a bar and attending a rodeo in John Huston's The Misfits (1961) starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.

[1] In 1944, Bell ran for the United States House of Representatives on the Republican ticket against Democrat Berkeley Bunker.

The Nevada State Journal commented on November 1: "He has made friends where ever he appeared, but consensus is that the time is too short to overcome a handicap of not being so well known as his opponent".

Bell died after giving a campaign speech on July 4, 1962, while running for governor, still in office, of a heart attack at the El Rancho Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

[13] Bell died of a heart attack on July 4, 1962, a few hours after attending a political rally and picnic in Las Vegas.