At the time of his resignation in November last year, Bell said he was stepping aside to concentrate on his fight against cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease only a month after taking over as McDonald's CEO in April 2004, after the sudden death of Jim Cantalupo.
Bell's career at McDonald's was the kind of fairytale that the fast food chain loves. He left school to work in a branch of McDonald's in Sydney at the age of 15, and worked his way through the ranks.
At the age of 19, he was Australia's youngest store manager, and he became vice-president at 27 and a member of the Australian board of directors by 29. Between 1983 and 1985, Bell spent two years working for the McDonald's Europe development company in Frankfurt, Germany, and worked with joint venture partners and developmental licensees in Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.
He held the position of operations director and regional manager before being made vice-president of marketing in 1990. In 1993, Bell was appointed managing director of McDonald's Australia.
He was promoted to president of Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa Group, then president of Europe. In December 2002, Bell took the role of president and chief operating officer. Bell was replaced in November by another McDonald's lifer, Jim Skinner.
Andrew McKenna, chairman of the board of directors, said: "This is a tragic loss. Charlie Bell gave his all to McDonald's. Even during his hospitalisation and chemotherapy, Charlie led this company with pride and determination.
"Now he leaves a remarkable legacy -- a legacy that the McDonald's system will benefit from for years to come. It began with his partnership with Jim Cantalupo and Jim Skinner to create a strategic Plan to Win."
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