Margaret JoBeth Williams (born December 6, 1948) is an American actress. She rose to prominence appearing in such films as Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Stir Crazy (1980), Poltergeist (1982), The Big Chill (1983), The Day After (1983), Teachers (1984), and Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986). A three-time Emmy Award nominee, she was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for her work in the TV movie Adam (1983) and the TV miniseries Baby M (1988). Her third nomination was for her guest role in the sitcom Frasier (1994). She also starred in the TV series The Client (1995–96) and had recurring roles in the TV series Dexter (2007) and Private Practice (2009–11).
Her directorial debut with the 1994 short film On Hope earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2009, she began serving as president of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation; she is president emerita of the foundation.
Early life Williams was born in Houston, Texas, to 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 of Houston,Shilcutt, Katharine. "Still Standing." Houston Press. Wednesday January 12, 2011. 1. Retrieved on January 13, 2011. and attended Jones High School, from which she graduated in 1966."Distinguished HISD Alumni ," Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on January 13, 2011.
Career
Early career Williams's first television role was on the Boston-produced, first-run, syndicated, children's television series Jabberwocky, which debuted in 1972. Her character was named JoBeth. She joined the Jabberwocky cast in season two, replacing the original hostess, Joanne Sopko.JoBeth Williams- Biography, Yahoo! Movies The series ran until 1978. She was a regular on two soap operas, playing Carrie Wheeler on Somerset and Brandy Shelloe on Guiding Light. Williams's 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.
Motion pictures Williams is perhaps most recognized for her roles in Stir Crazy (1980), with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor, The Dogs of War (1980) with Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger, and Poltergeist (1982), as suburban housewife Diane Freeling, a character she reprised in a sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, 1986). A year later, she was part of the ensemble comedy-drama The Big Chill (1983). Her starring role in the film American Dreamer (1984), opposite Tom Conti, earned her the 1985 Best Actress Award from the Kansas City Film Critics Circle. 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 reteamed with The 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'Neill in the John Hughes-written comedy Dutch (1991) and starred in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) as the police detective/love interest of Sylvester Stallone's character. In 1995, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her 1994 live-action short On Hope, starring Annette O'Toole; the film was Williams's directorial debut. In 1997, she played a domineering lesbian in the independent comedy Little City with Jon Bon Jovi, and an hysterical publishing editor in Just Write with Jeremy Piven. In 2005, she appeared in the Drew Barrymore-Jimmy Fallon baseball comedy Fever Pitch.
In 2011, she appeared with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Rashida Jones, and Jack Black in the bird-watching comedy The Big Year for 20th 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 After (1983), Murder Ordained (1987), as Lois Burnham Wilson in My Name is Bill W. (1989), and the critically acclaimed Masterpiece Theatre 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 1995–1996 CBS series The Client (adapted from the 1994 film of the same title), which lasted only 21 episodes, but gained a wider audience when it was rebroadcast in reruns on the TNT Network.
Williams appeared on a 2006 episode of 24 as Christopher Henderson (Peter Weller)'s wife, Miriam, who literally takes a (nonfatal) bullet for her husband.
She appeared in one episode of the 1998 TV miniseries 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, Williams 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 10 episodes.
In 2007, she joined Dexter for a four-episode arc as the serial killer's future mother-in-law, whose daughter was also played by Benz. Also, she appeared in a memorable 2009 Criminal Minds listed as a 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.
In 2014, she appeared in the CBS science-fiction drama Extant, as Leigh Kern (season one, episode seven).
Personal life She married TV and film director John Pasquin on March 13, 1982. They have two sons, Will and Nick; and she has a stepdaughter, Sarah.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role1979Kramer vs. KramerPhyllis Bernard 1980Stir CrazyMeredithJessie Shannon 1982PoltergeistDiane FreelingEndangered SpeciesHarriet Purdue1983Karen Bowens 1984TeachersLisa HammondAmerican DreamerCathy Palmer / Rebecca Ryan 1986Desert BloomLily ChismorePoltergeist II: The Other SideDiane Freeling1988Memories of MeLisa1989Welcome HomeSarah 1991SwitchMargo BrofmanDutchNatalie Standish 1992Stop! Or My Mom Will ShootLt. Gwen HarperMe Myself & IDiane1994Wyatt EarpBessie Earp 1997Jungle 2 JungleDr. Patricia CromwellJust WriteSidney StoneLittle CityAnneWhen Danger Follows You HomeAnne Werden2002Dr. Lillian RoseSearching for Debra WingerHerself 2005Fever PitchMaureen MeeksCrazyloveMrs. Mayer2007In the Land of WomenAgnes Webb2009TimerMarion Depaul2011Edith Preissler2016WithinRosemary Fletcher 2017BarracudaPatriciaWhat the Night Can DoBettye Sue Dryer2018Alex & the ListMrs. Stern2019Sgt. Will GardnerSherry2023Chantilly BridgeWilliams2025 Not Without HopeMarcia2026Behemoth!TBA
Television Year Title Role Notes1974Great PerformancesConstance WildeEpisode: "Feasting with Panthers"JabberwockyJoBeth1976SomersetCarrie Wheeler2 episodes1977–1981Guiding LightBrandy SchlooeRecurring role1978Marian FaberTelevision film1980Fun and GamesLaura WestonPaula HarrisEpisode: "Reunion"1981Tiffany FarrenpourTelevision film1983AdamReve WalshNancy Bauer1985Kids Don't TellClaudia Ryan1986Adam: His Song ContinuesReve Walsh1987Murder OrdainedLorna Anderson1989My Name Is Bill W.Lois 'Lo' Wilson1990Child in the NightDr. HollisTimeless Tales from HallmarkBettinaEpisode: "The Elves and the Shoemaker"1991Victim of LoveTess PalmerTelevision filmQueen IleneVoice, episode: "The Secret of Perilous Garde"1992Fish PoliceAngel JonesVoice, main roleJonathan: The Boy Nobody WantedGinny MooreTelevision film1993Jonny's Golden QuestJade KenyonVoice, television filmSex, Love and Cold Hard CashSarah GallagherTelevision filmChantilly LaceNatalieFinal AppealChristine BiondiGloria VaneGloria Vane1993–94FrasierDanielle, Madeline Marshall2 episodes1994Batman: The Animated SeriesMay, JuneVoice, episode: "Sideshow"Parallel LivesWinnie WinslowTelevision filmVoices from WithinNancy Parkhurst1995Elizabeth Hackett1995–1996Reggie LoveMain role1996Ruby Jean and JoeRoseTelevision filmBreaking ThroughPam Willis1998From the Earth to the MoonMarge SlaytonEpisode: "The Original Wives Club"Madeline 'Maddie' Parker-HillTelevision filmStories from My ChildhoodQueen HildegardVoice, episode: "The Wild Swans"1999PayneConstance 'Connie' PayneMain roleJusticeJane NewhartTelevision filmIt Came from the SkyAlice BridgesJackie's backJo Face2000Trapped in a Purple HazeSophie HansonClaire StackhouseEpisode: "Norm vs. Youth"2001Edna Earle PonderTelevision filmSarahEpisode: "Heart"2002E! True Hollywood StoryHerselfEpisode: "Curse of Poltergeist"Law & Order: Special Victims UnitMrs. RawleyEpisode: "Waste"I Love the '80sHerselfDocumentary miniseries2003Judging AmyGemma LawnsdaleEpisode: "Judging Eric"SkinDr. Sara RoseEpisode: "Endorsement"Miss MatchLianne Fox3 episodes2004Strong MedicineMargieEpisode: "Fractured"200514 HoursJeanette MakinsTelevision filmInto the FireJune SicklesLas VegasLizEpisode: "The Real McCoy"200624Miriam HendersonEpisode: "Day 5: 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m."Numb3rsMargaret EppesEpisode: "Hot Shot"Criminal MindsProf. Ursula KentEpisode: "Empty Planet"Worst Week of My LifeLibbyEpisode: "Pilot"Twenty Good YearsKateEpisode: "Remember the Alimony"Stroller WarsRobertaTelevision film2006–2007Sheryl Kates2 episodes2007SybilHattie DorsettTelevision filmDexterGail BrandonGuest role (season 2) Episode: That Night, A Forest Grew2008Life in GeneralMary Kate WaltonWebseries2009UncorkedSophia BrowningTelevision film2009–2011Private PracticeBizzy Forbes2011NCISLeona PhelpsEpisode: "One Last Score"Law & Order: LAMrs. WalkerEpisode: "Benedict Canyon"Love's Christmas JourneyMrs. Beatrice ThompsonTelevision film2011–2015Hart of DixieCandice HartGuest role (seasons 1–4)2012ScandalSandra HardingEpisode: "Hell Hath No Fury"2013MistressesJanetEpisode: "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"2013–2015PerceptionMargaret Pierce2 episodes2014In My DreamsCharlotte SmithTelevision filmExtantLeigh Kern2 episodes2014–2015Marry MeMyrna SchuffmanRecurring role2015Your Family or MineRicky WestonMain role2016Childrens HospitalLindaEpisode: "DOY"HomeHelenTelevision filmRizzoli & IslesTilly DunnEpisode: "For Richer or Poorer"2018RuthEpisode: "She"Living BiblicallyDianaEpisode: "Let Us Pray"2023A Million Little ThingsLana StrobeEpisode: "Dear Diary"
References
External links