JoBeth Williams
Encyclopedia
JoBeth Williams is an American film and television actress and director, and current President of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation.
, the daughter of Frances Faye (née
Adams), a dietitian
, and Fredric Roger Williams, an opera singer and manager of a wire and cable company. Williams grew up in the South Park neighborhood, and she attended Jones High School
.
She attended Brown University
in Providence, Rhode Island
, intending to become a child psychologist. Instead, she turned to theater, training with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh
as well as at the Trinity Repertory Company
, taking voice lessons to neutralize her Texan accent. Then she moved to New York City
and began to appear in television series in the mid-1970s.
, which debuted in 1974. Her character was named, appropriately enough, JoBeth. She joined the "Jabberwocky" cast in season two, replacing the original hostess, Joanne Sopko. The series ran until 1978. She was a regular on two soap operas, playing Carrie Wheeler on Somerset
and Brandi Sheloo on Guiding Light
. Williams' feature film debut came in 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer
as a girlfriend of Dustin Hoffman
's character, memorably quizzed by his son after being discovered walking nude to the bathroom.
(1980) with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and Steven Speilberg's Poltergeist (1982) as suburban housewife Diane Freeling (she reprised her character in the sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side
, 1986). A year later she was part of the ensemble comedy-drama The Big Chill
(1983). This led to her only major starring role in a studio feature film, American Dreamer
(1984), opposite Tom Conti
. High profile co-starring roles in Teachers
(1984) with Nick Nolte
, Desert Bloom
(1986) with Jon Voight
, Memories of Me
with Billy Crystal
(1988) and Blake Edwards
's Switch
(1991) with Ellen Barkin
followed.
She is also known for starring opposite Kris Kristofferson
in Oscar-winning director Franklin J. Schaffner's final film, the Vietnam POW drama Welcome Home (1989). In 1992, she re-teamed with Big Chill
director Lawrence Kasdan
to portray Bessie Earp in Wyatt Earp
with Kevin Costner
and starred as Crazy Diane/Sane Diane, a schizophrenic shut-in, in the dark independent comedy Me, Myself & I
.
She also co-starred with Ed O'Neil in director John Hughes's comedy Dutch
(1991) and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) as the police detective love interest of Sylvester Stallone
. In 1997, she played a domineering lesbian in the independent comedy Little City
with Jon Bon Jovi
and a hysterical publishing editor in Just Write
with Jeremy Piven
. In 2005, she appeared in the Drew Barrymore
-Jimmy Fallon
baseball comedy Fever Pitch
.
In October 2011, she appeared with Steve Martin
, Owen Wilson
, Rashida Jones
, and Jack Black
in the birdwatching comedy The Big Year
, for Twentieth Century Fox.
(1983), Murder Ordained
(1987), as Lois Burnham Wilson
in My Name is Bill W.
(1989) and the critically acclaimed Masterpiece Theater presentation of The Ponder Heart (2003) for director Martha Coolidge
.
She earned Emmy nominations for starring as real-life characters Revé Walsh (the wife of John Walsh
) in the film Adam
(1983) and Mary Beth Whitehead in Baby M
(1988). In 1993, she anchored the improvised Showtime dramedy Chantilly Lace
with Helen Slater
and Martha Plimpton
.
She also had an Emmy-nominated guest starring role on Frasier
and played Reggie Love in the CBS
TV version of the film The Client
, which lasted only 21 episodes but gained a wider audience when it was re-broadcast in reruns on the TNT Network.
In 1995 she was nominated for an Academy Award
for her 1994 live-action short, "On Hope" which starred Annette O'Toole
. It was her debut as a director. She appeared on a 2006 episode of 24
as Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller
)'s wife, Miriam, who literally takes a (non-fatal) bullet for her husband.
She appeared in one episode of the 1998 TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon as Marge Slayton, the wife of Deke Slayton
. The episode is part 11 of the series and titled 'The Original Wives Club.'
In 1999, JoBeth teamed with John Larroquette
and Julie Benz
for the CBS network situation comedy Payne
. The show, which was the American television version of the hit British comedy, Fawlty Towers
, lasted just ten episodes.
In 2007, she joined Dexter
for a four-episode arc as the serial-killer's future mother-in-law. Also, she appeared in a memorable 2009 Criminal Minds
listed as Special Guest Star in the episode, 'Empty Planet' as Professor Ursula Kent who helps the BAU with a bomb threat in Seattle.
She has played the recurring role of Bizzy Forbes-Montgomery, mother of Kate Walsh's Addison, on ABC
's Private Practice since 2009.
(with whom she worked on Jungle 2 Jungle
); they have two children.
Early life
Williams was born as Margaret JoBeth Williams in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, the daughter of Frances Faye (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Adams), a dietitian
Dietitian
Dietitians supervise the preparation and service of food, develop modified diets, participate in research, and educate individuals and groups on good nutritional habits. The goals of dietitians are to provide medical nutritional intervention, and to obtain, safely prepare, serve and advise on...
, and Fredric Roger Williams, an opera singer and manager of a wire and cable company. Williams grew up in the South Park neighborhood, and she attended Jones High School
Jones High School (Houston)
Jesse H. Jones High School is a public secondary school in South Park, Houston, Texas, United States.Jones, which serves grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Houston School District...
.
She attended Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, intending to become a child psychologist. Instead, she turned to theater, training with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh
John Emigh
John Emigh is Professor Emeritus from the Departments of Theatre, Speech and Dance and of English at Brown University, Providence, RI. Emigh taught at Brown from 1967 to 2009.-Biography:...
as well as at the Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company is a non-profit regional theater located in Providence, Rhode Island. The theater is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1963, the theater is "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country"...
, taking voice lessons to neutralize her Texan accent. Then she moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and began to appear in television series in the mid-1970s.
Early career
Williams' first television role was on the Boston-produced first-run syndicated children's television series JabberwockyJabberwocky (TV series)
Jabberwocky was a daily children's TV show designed for 5-10 year-olds that eventually went into national syndication. The original series ran Monday through Friday for over two seasons, from 1972 to 1974, on WCVB in Boston; the nationally syndicated version ran weekly and was rerun in the wee...
, which debuted in 1974. Her character was named, appropriately enough, JoBeth. She joined the "Jabberwocky" cast in season two, replacing the original hostess, Joanne Sopko. The series ran until 1978. She was a regular on two soap operas, playing Carrie Wheeler on Somerset
Somerset (TV series)
Somerset is an American television soap opera which ran on NBC from March 30, 1970 until December 31, 1976. The show was a spinoff of another NBC serial, Another World.-Overview :...
and Brandi Sheloo on Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
. Williams' feature film debut came in 1979's Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer
Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son...
as a girlfriend of Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
's character, memorably quizzed by his son after being discovered walking nude to the bathroom.
Motion pictures
She is perhaps most recognized for her roles in Stir CrazyStir Crazy (film)
Stir Crazy is a 1980 American comedy film starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as down-on-their-luck friends who are given 125-year prison sentences after being framed for a bank robbery; while in prison they befriend other inmates and ultimately escape. In 2000, Total Film magazine voted it the...
(1980) with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, and Steven Speilberg's Poltergeist (1982) as suburban housewife Diane Freeling (she reprised her character in the sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side
Poltergeist (film series)
The Poltergeist movies are a trilogy of American horror films distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the 1980s. The films revolve around the members of the Freeling family, who are stalked and terrorized by a group of ancient ghosts that are attracted to the youngest daughter, Carol Anne. The...
, 1986). A year later she was part of the ensemble comedy-drama The Big Chill
The Big Chill (film)
The Big Chill is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. It is about a group of baby boomer college friends who reunite briefly after 15 years due to...
(1983). This led to her only major starring role in a studio feature film, American Dreamer
American Dreamer (film)
American Dreamer is a 1984 American film starring JoBeth Williams and Tom Conti. It was directed by Rick Rosenthal from a script by Ann Biderman, David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf.An American housewife wins a trip to Paris in a mystery-writing contest...
(1984), opposite Tom Conti
Tom Conti
Thomas "Tom" Conti is a Scottish actor, theatre director and novelist.-Early life:Born Thomas Conti in Paisley, Renfrewshire, he was brought up Roman Catholic, but he considers himself anti-religious...
. High profile co-starring roles in Teachers
Teachers (film)
# "Teacher, Teacher" - 38 Special# "Cheap Sunglasses" - ZZ Top# "Foolin' Around" - Freddie Mercury# "I Can't Stop the Fire" - Eric Martin# "Edge of a Dream" - Joe Cocker# " Teacher" - Ian Hunter# "One Foot Back in Your Door" - Roman Holliday...
(1984) with Nick Nolte
Nick Nolte
Nicholas King "Nick" Nolte is an American actor whose career has spanned over five decades, peaking in the 1990s when his commercial success made him one of the most popular celebrities of that decade.-Early life:...
, Desert Bloom
Desert Bloom
Desert Bloom is a 1986 American drama film directed by Eugene Corr and starring an ensemble cast led by Jon Voight and JoBeth Williams. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and funded through the Sundance Film Festival Institute.-Plot:World War II has...
(1986) with Jon Voight
Jon Voight
Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....
, Memories of Me
Memories of Me
Memories of Me is a 1988 film by director Henry Winkler, starring Billy Crystal, Alan King, and JoBeth Williams.- Plot :After a heart attack, Abbie Polin , a New York doctor, goes to Los Angeles to see his father, Abe , who works in Hollywood as the "king of the extras." Their relationship has been...
with Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
(1988) and Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
's Switch
Switch (film)
Switch is a 1991 comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. A promiscuous man is murdered by his lovers and reincarnated as a beautiful woman .-Legacy:...
(1991) with Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin
Ellen Barkin is an American film, television and theatre actress.-Early life:She was born Ellen Rona Barkin in Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York, the daughter of Evelyn , a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman...
followed.
She is also known for starring opposite Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
in Oscar-winning director Franklin J. Schaffner's final film, the Vietnam POW drama Welcome Home (1989). In 1992, she re-teamed with Big Chill
The Big Chill (film)
The Big Chill is a 1983 American comedy-drama film directed by Lawrence Kasdan, starring Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Mary Kay Place, Meg Tilly, and JoBeth Williams. It is about a group of baby boomer college friends who reunite briefly after 15 years due to...
director Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Edward "Larry" Kasdan is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Kasdan was born in Miami, Florida, the son of Sylvia Sarah , an employment counselor, and Clarence Norman Kasdan, who managed retail electronics stores.His Brother is the writer/producer Mark...
to portray Bessie Earp in Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Earp (film)
Wyatt Earp is a 1994 American semi-biographical Western film, written by Dan Gordon and Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Kasdan. It stars Kevin Costner in the title role as lawman Wyatt Earp, and features an ensemble cast that includes Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Isabella Rossellini, Mark Harmon,...
with Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner
Kevin Michael Costner is an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and businessman. He has been nominated for three BAFTA Awards, won two Academy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Costner's roles include Lt. John J...
and starred as Crazy Diane/Sane Diane, a schizophrenic shut-in, in the dark independent comedy Me, Myself & I
Me, Myself and I (film)
Me, Myself & I is a 1992 dark romantic comedy starring JoBeth Williams and George Segal. The movie is the directorial debut of editor and producer Pablo Ferro. Bill Macy, Shelley Hack and Ruth Gilbert also appear in this independent film shot in Ontario, Canada.-Cast:*JoBeth Williams ... Crazy...
.
She also co-starred with Ed O'Neil in director John Hughes's comedy Dutch
Dutch (film)
Dutch is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Faiman and written by John Hughes. The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri...
(1991) and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) as the police detective love interest of Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
. In 1997, she played a domineering lesbian in the independent comedy Little City
Little city
Little City is a 1997 comedy/romance film written and directed by Roberto Benabib. It went straight to video in the UK.- Plot :Adam, a San Francisco-based artist who works as a cab driver on the side, is having a hard time committing to his girlfriend, Nina...
with Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Bon Jovi is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder, occasional rhythm guitarist, and lead singer of rock band Bon Jovi, which was named after him...
and a hysterical publishing editor in Just Write
Just Write
Just Write is a 1997 romantic comedy directed by Andrew Gallerani starring Jeremy Piven, Sherilyn Fenn, JoBeth Williams and Wallace Shawn.-Plot:...
with Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy Samuel Piven is an American film producer and actor best known for his role as Ari Gold in the television series Entourage for which he has won three Emmy Awards as well as several other nominations for Best Supporting Actor....
. In 2005, she appeared in the Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
-Jimmy Fallon
Jimmy Fallon
James Thomas "Jimmy" Fallon, Jr. is an American actor, comedian, singer, musician and television host. He currently hosts Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, a late-night talk show that airs Monday through Friday on NBC...
baseball comedy Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life is the title of a 1992 autobiographical book by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: Fever Pitch was released in 1997, and Fever Pitch in 2005...
.
In October 2011, she appeared with Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
, Owen Wilson
Owen Wilson
Owen Cunningham Wilson is an American actor and writer, known for his roles in the films The Haunting, The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, You, Me and Dupree, Bottle Rocket, the Cars series, The Darjeeling Limited, Marley & Me, Midnight in Paris, Shanghai Noon,...
, Rashida Jones
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones is an American film and television actress, comic book author, screenwriter and occasional singer. She played Louisa Fenn on Boston Public and Karen Filippelli on The Office as well as roles in the films I Love You, Man and The Social Network...
, and Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
in the birdwatching comedy The Big Year
The Big Year
The Big Year is a 2011 comedy film starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Jim Parsons, Rashida Jones, Anjelica Huston, Dianne Wiest, JoBeth Williams, Brian Dennehy, Rosamund Pike and Tim Blake Nelson. The Big Year was directed by David Frankel and written by Howard Franklin...
, for Twentieth Century Fox.
Television work
Williams has also gained critical acclaim for a number of performances in notable television movies, including the nuclear holocaust film The Day AfterThe Day After
The Day After is a 1983 American television movie which aired on November 20, 1983, on the ABC television network. It was seen by more than 100 million people during its initial broadcast....
(1983), Murder Ordained
Murder Ordained
Murder Ordained is 1987 Emmy-nominated CBS miniseries starring JoBeth Williams, Kathy Bates, and Keith Carradine. The telefilm, directed and co-written by Mike Robe, was inspired by real events that occurred in Emporia, Kansas. Much of the principal photography and filming occurred on location in...
(1987), as Lois Burnham Wilson
Lois Wilson (activist)
Lois Wilson was the co-founder of Al-Anon, a support group for the friends and family of alcoholics. She was the wife of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill W....
in My Name is Bill W.
My Name is Bill W.
My Name Is Bill W. is a 1989 CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie directed by Daniel Petrie, starring James Woods, JoBeth Williams and James Garner. William G. Borchert, who wrote the film for television, based it on the true story of William Griffith Wilson and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith,...
(1989) and the critically acclaimed Masterpiece Theater presentation of The Ponder Heart (2003) for director Martha Coolidge
Martha Coolidge
Martha Coolidge is an American film director and former President of the Directors Guild of America. -Career:Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Ms. Coolidge first made her reputation by directing many award winning documentaries in New York before moving out to Hollywood in 1976. She spent several...
.
She earned Emmy nominations for starring as real-life characters Revé Walsh (the wife of John Walsh
John Walsh
John Edward Walsh is an American television personality, criminal investigator, human and victim rights advocate and formerly the host, as well as creator, of America's Most Wanted...
) in the film Adam
Adam (TV movie)
Adam is a 1983 American television film which aired on October 10, 1983 on NBC. On its original air date, it was seen by an audience of 38 million people. It was rebroadcast on April 30, 1984, and again on April 29, 1985...
(1983) and Mary Beth Whitehead in Baby M
Baby M
Baby M was the pseudonym used In re Baby M, 537 A.2d 1227, 109 N.J. 396 for the infant named Sara Elizabeth Whitehead at her birth, and later named Melissa Stern by her father and adoptive mother....
(1988). In 1993, she anchored the improvised Showtime dramedy Chantilly Lace
Chantilly Lace (film)
Chantilly Lace is a 1993 film shot in Sundance, Utah for the Showtime Network and eventually released on video via Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. The film was directed by Linda Yellen and features a script that was largely improvised by its ensemble cast, led by JoBeth Williams, Helen...
with Helen Slater
Helen Slater
Helen Rachel Slater is an American actress and singer-songwriter.She appeared in the title role in the 1984 film Supergirl. In the following years she starred in several very successful comedy-drama films such as Ruthless People, The Secret of My Success, and City Slickers...
and Martha Plimpton
Martha Plimpton
Martha Campbell Plimpton is an American actress and singer and former model. Plimpton is a screen, stage and television actress. She first appeared as Jonsy in the feature film River Rats before rising to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies portraying the character Stef...
.
She also had an Emmy-nominated guest starring role on Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
and played Reggie Love in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
TV version of the film The Client
The Client
The Client is a legal thriller written by American author John Grisham, set mostly in Memphis, Tennessee and New Orleans, Louisiana...
, which lasted only 21 episodes but gained a wider audience when it was re-broadcast in reruns on the TNT Network.
In 1995 she was nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for her 1994 live-action short, "On Hope" which starred Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole
Annette O'Toole is an American actress, dancer, and singer-songwriter. She is most recently known for portraying Martha Kent, the mother of Clark Kent on the television series Smallville.-Early life and career:...
. It was her debut as a director. She appeared on a 2006 episode of 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
as Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller
Peter Weller
Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension...
)'s wife, Miriam, who literally takes a (non-fatal) bullet for her husband.
She appeared in one episode of the 1998 TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon as Marge Slayton, the wife of Deke Slayton
Deke Slayton
Donald Kent Slayton , better known as Deke Slayton, was an American World War II pilot and later, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts....
. The episode is part 11 of the series and titled 'The Original Wives Club.'
In 1999, JoBeth teamed with John Larroquette
John Larroquette
John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. is an American film, television and Broadway actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.-Personal...
and Julie Benz
Julie Benz
Julie M. Benz is an American actress, best known for her roles as Darla on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and as Rita Bennett on Dexter, for which she won the 2006 Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television...
for the CBS network situation comedy Payne
Payne (TV series)
Payne is an American television series, patterned after the British program Fawlty Towers. It starred American actor John Larroquette, who portrayed assistant district attorney Dan Fielding on the American television program Night Court...
. The show, which was the American television version of the hit British comedy, Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
, lasted just ten episodes.
In 2007, she joined Dexter
Dexter (TV series)
Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
for a four-episode arc as the serial-killer's future mother-in-law. Also, she appeared in a memorable 2009 Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
listed as Special Guest Star in the episode, 'Empty Planet' as Professor Ursula Kent who helps the BAU with a bomb threat in Seattle.
She has played the recurring role of Bizzy Forbes-Montgomery, mother of Kate Walsh's Addison, on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Private Practice since 2009.
Personal life
She is married to TV and film director John PasquinJohn Pasquin
John Pasquin is a American director of film, television and theatre.-Career:An alum of Beloit College and Carnegie Mellon University, Pasquin began directing Broadway theatre plays in the early 1980s. He moved on to television directing episodes of the series Family Ties, Growing Pains, Alice,...
(with whom she worked on Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle
Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville . Jungle 2 Jungles plot follows the original film fairly closely...
); they have two children.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Kramer vs. Kramer Kramer vs. Kramer Kramer vs. Kramer is a 1979 American drama film adapted by Robert Benton from the novel by Avery Corman, and directed by Benton. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son... |
Phyllis Bernard | |
| 1980 | Stir Crazy Stir Crazy (film) Stir Crazy is a 1980 American comedy film starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor as down-on-their-luck friends who are given 125-year prison sentences after being framed for a bank robbery; while in prison they befriend other inmates and ultimately escape. In 2000, Total Film magazine voted it the... |
Meredith | |
| 1980 | Jessie Shannon | ||
| 1982 | Endangered Species | Harriet Purdue | directed by Alan Rudolph |
| 1982 | Poltergeist | Diane Freeling | Produced by Steven Speilberg |
| 1983 | Adam | Revé Walsh | Emmy nomination |
| 1983 | Karen | ||
| 1983 | Nurse Nancy Bauer | ||
| 1984 | Teachers Teachers (film) # "Teacher, Teacher" - 38 Special# "Cheap Sunglasses" - ZZ Top# "Foolin' Around" - Freddie Mercury# "I Can't Stop the Fire" - Eric Martin# "Edge of a Dream" - Joe Cocker# " Teacher" - Ian Hunter# "One Foot Back in Your Door" - Roman Holliday... |
Lisa Hammond | |
| 1984 | American Dreamer American Dreamer (film) American Dreamer is a 1984 American film starring JoBeth Williams and Tom Conti. It was directed by Rick Rosenthal from a script by Ann Biderman, David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf.An American housewife wins a trip to Paris in a mystery-writing contest... |
Cathy Palmer/Rebecca Ryan | |
| 1985 | Kids Don't Tell Kids Don't Tell Kids Don't Tell is a CBS television movie about child molestation starring Michael Ontkean and JoBeth Williams. The docudrama, which was directed by Oscar-nominated film editor Sam O'Steen , was broadcast on March 5, 1985.-Plot:Driven by a duty to his young daughter , filmmaker John Ryan agrees... |
Claudia Ryan | |
| 1986 | Desert Bloom Desert Bloom Desert Bloom is a 1986 American drama film directed by Eugene Corr and starring an ensemble cast led by Jon Voight and JoBeth Williams. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and funded through the Sundance Film Festival Institute.-Plot:World War II has... |
Lois Chismore | |
| 1986 | Poltergeist II: The Other Side Poltergeist II: The Other Side Poltergeist II: The Other Side is a 1986 horror film. A sequel to Poltergeist, it features the return of the original's family and once again sees a spirit trying to harm their daughter, Carol Anne. It received mixed reviews from critics and did not gross as much at the box office as its... |
Diane Freeling | |
| 1986 | Adam: His Song Continues | Revé Walsh | |
| 1987 | Murder Ordained Murder Ordained Murder Ordained is 1987 Emmy-nominated CBS miniseries starring JoBeth Williams, Kathy Bates, and Keith Carradine. The telefilm, directed and co-written by Mike Robe, was inspired by real events that occurred in Emporia, Kansas. Much of the principal photography and filming occurred on location in... |
Lorna Andersen | |
| 1988 | Memories of Me Memories of Me Memories of Me is a 1988 film by director Henry Winkler, starring Billy Crystal, Alan King, and JoBeth Williams.- Plot :After a heart attack, Abbie Polin , a New York doctor, goes to Los Angeles to see his father, Abe , who works in Hollywood as the "king of the extras." Their relationship has been... |
Lisa the Christian | |
| 1988 | Baby M Baby M Baby M was the pseudonym used In re Baby M, 537 A.2d 1227, 109 N.J. 396 for the infant named Sara Elizabeth Whitehead at her birth, and later named Melissa Stern by her father and adoptive mother.... |
Mary Beth Whitehead | Golden Globe & Emmy nomination |
| 1989 | My Name Is Bill W. My Name is Bill W. My Name Is Bill W. is a 1989 CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie directed by Daniel Petrie, starring James Woods, JoBeth Williams and James Garner. William G. Borchert, who wrote the film for television, based it on the true story of William Griffith Wilson and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith,... |
Lois Bernham Wilson | |
| 1990 | Welcome Home | Dee Mobley | directed by Franklin J. Schaffner |
| 1990 | Child in the Night Child in the Night Child In The Night is a motion picture made for television broadcast during the 1990 May Sweeps. It aired on the CBS Network before a subsequent release to home video and syndication. The psychological thriller stars JoBeth Williams as a child psychologist, Tom Skerritt as a local police chief... |
Dr. Hollis | |
| 1991 | Switch Switch (film) Switch is a 1991 comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards. A promiscuous man is murdered by his lovers and reincarnated as a beautiful woman .-Legacy:... |
Margo Brofman | Directed by Blake Edwards |
| 1991 | Dutch Dutch (film) Dutch is a 1991 American comedy-drama film directed by Peter Faiman and written by John Hughes. The original music score was composed by Alan Silvestri... |
Natalie | directed by John Hughes |
| 1991 | Victim of Love Victim of Love (film) Victim of Love is a 1991 psychological thriller film starring Pierce Brosnan, JoBeth Williams and Virginia Madsen. The film was originally produced for CBS Network but due to its popularity, steamy scenes were expanded and the film was given a PG-13 rating and re-released on DVD as Raw Heat by... |
Dr. Tess Palmer | aka Raw Heat |
| 1992 | Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot | Lt. Gwen Harper | |
| 1992 | Me, Myself & I Me, Myself and I (film) Me, Myself & I is a 1992 dark romantic comedy starring JoBeth Williams and George Segal. The movie is the directorial debut of editor and producer Pablo Ferro. Bill Macy, Shelley Hack and Ruth Gilbert also appear in this independent film shot in Ontario, Canada.-Cast:*JoBeth Williams ... Crazy... |
Crazy Diane/Sane Diane | |
| 1992 | Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted Jonathan: The Boy Nobody Wanted, inspired by a true story concerning a landmark legal decision for rights of the disabled, is a 1992 NBC Movie of Week starring JoBeth Williams and Chris Burke... |
Ginny Moore | |
| 1993 | Chantilly Lace Chantilly Lace (film) Chantilly Lace is a 1993 film shot in Sundance, Utah for the Showtime Network and eventually released on video via Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. The film was directed by Linda Yellen and features a script that was largely improvised by its ensemble cast, led by JoBeth Williams, Helen... |
Natalie | |
| 1994 | Wyatt Earp Wyatt Earp (film) Wyatt Earp is a 1994 American semi-biographical Western film, written by Dan Gordon and Lawrence Kasdan and directed by Kasdan. It stars Kevin Costner in the title role as lawman Wyatt Earp, and features an ensemble cast that includes Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Isabella Rossellini, Mark Harmon,... |
Bessie Earp | directed by Lawrence Kasdan |
| 1994 | On Hope | Director;nominated for an Oscar | |
| 1994 | Parallel Lives Parallel Lives (film) Parallel Lives is a 1994 TV movie, directed by Linda Yellen. The movie resumes some actors and similar patterns of the previous Yellen's work, Chantilly Lace... |
Winnie Winslow | |
| 1997 | When Danger Follows You Home | Anne Werden | |
| 1997 | Little City Little city Little City is a 1997 comedy/romance film written and directed by Roberto Benabib. It went straight to video in the UK.- Plot :Adam, a San Francisco-based artist who works as a cab driver on the side, is having a hard time committing to his girlfriend, Nina... |
Anne | |
| 1997 | Jungle 2 Jungle Jungle 2 Jungle Jungle 2 Jungle is a 1997 comedy feature film starring Tim Allen, Martin Short and Sam Huntington. It is an American remake of the 1994 French film Un indien dans la ville . Jungle 2 Jungles plot follows the original film fairly closely... |
Dr. Patricia Cromwell | |
| 1997 | Just Write Just Write Just Write is a 1997 romantic comedy directed by Andrew Gallerani starring Jeremy Piven, Sherilyn Fenn, JoBeth Williams and Wallace Shawn.-Plot:... |
Sidney Stone | |
| 1998 | Maddie Parker | ||
| 1999 | It Came From the Sky It Came From the Sky (film) It Came From the Sky, also known as Visiteurs impromptus, Les was a 1999 made-for-TV movie which was a comedy drama that starred Yasmine Bleeth, John Ritter, Christopher Lloyd and JoBeth Williams.-Plot:... |
Alice Bridges | |
| 2001 | Masterpiece Theater: The Ponder Heart | Edna Earle Ponder | directed by Martha Coolidge |
| 2005 | Into the Fire | June Sickles | |
| 2005 | 14 Hours 14 Hours (2005 film) 14 Hours is a 2005 medical emergency docudrama produced for the TNT Network and starring JoBeth Williams. The film was set in Houston, Texas and filmed in Vancouver, Canada... |
Jeanette Makins | |
| 2005 | Fever Pitch Fever Pitch (2005 film) Fever Pitch, which was released as The Perfect Catch outside of the United States and Canada, is a 2005 Farrelly brothers romantic comedy film. It is a remake of a 1997 British film of the same name. Both films are loosely based on the Nick Hornby book of the same name, a best-selling memoir in... |
Maureen Meeks | directed by the Farrelly Brothers |
| 2007 | Sybil Sybil (2007 film) Sybil is a 2007 American docudrama directed by Joseph Sargent. The teleplay by John Pielmeier is based on the 1973 book of the same name by Flora Rheta Schreiber, which fictionalized the story of Shirley Ardell Mason, who was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder... |
Hattie | |
| 2009 | TiMER TiMER (film) TiMER is a 2009 science-fiction romantic comedy film by Jac Schaeffer about a device that counts down to the moment you meet your soul mate.-Plot:TiMER is a corporation specializing in a unique matchmaking device... |
Marion | |
| 2009 | Uncorked | Sophia Browning | |
| 2011 | Charlyn |
Episodic television work
- 1974 - JabberwockyJabberwocky (TV series)Jabberwocky was a daily children's TV show designed for 5-10 year-olds that eventually went into national syndication. The original series ran Monday through Friday for over two seasons, from 1972 to 1974, on WCVB in Boston; the nationally syndicated version ran weekly and was rerun in the wee...
as JoBeth - 1992 - Fish PoliceFish Police (1992 TV series)Fish Police is an animated television series from Hanna-Barbera based on the comic book series that first aired on CBS in 1992, lasting only six episodes over one season. In February of that year, three episodes of the series aired, but the show was promptly axed after failing in the television...
as voice of Angel - 1998 - From the Earth to the Moon as Marge Slayton
- 1999 - PaynePayne (TV series)Payne is an American television series, patterned after the British program Fawlty Towers. It starred American actor John Larroquette, who portrayed assistant district attorney Dan Fielding on the American television program Night Court...
as Constance Payne (10 episodes) - 2006-2007 - The NineThe Nine (TV series)The Nine is an American television serial drama that premiered October 4, 2006 on ABC and aired only one season. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Television.- Plot :...
as Sheryl Kates - 2006 - Criminal MindsCriminal MindsCriminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
as Ursula Kent - (Episode: "Empty Planet") - 2007 - DexterDexter (TV series)Dexter is an American television drama series, which debuted on Showtime on October 1, 2006. The sixth season premiered on October 2, 2011. The series centers on Dexter Morgan , a bloodstain pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department who moonlights as a serial killer...
as Gail Brandon (5 episodes) - 2009-2011 Private Practice as Bizzy Montgomery - (6 episodes)
- 2010 - The Last Film FestivalThe Last Film FestivalThe Last Film Festival is an upcoming American comedy film starring the late Dennis Hopper, Chris Kattan and Jacqueline Bisset. It is written and directed by Linda Yellen. Yellen hosted a special screening of the film on 15 September in New York City...
as Mayor - 2011 - NCISNCIS (TV series)NCIS, formerly known as NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is an American police procedural drama television series revolving around a fictional team of special agents from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which conducts criminal investigations involving the U.S...
as Leona Phelps (Episode: "One Last Score") - 2011 - Hart of DixieHart of DixieHart of Dixie is an American medical-drama television series, created by Leila Gerstein. On May 17, 2011, The CW officially picked up the series...
as Candace Hart (2 episodes)