15 Facts About Ted Bessell

Ted Bessell was initially preparing for a career as a classical musician.

Ted Bessell studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, studied dance and dramatic movement with Martha Graham and Louis Horst, was a member of a professional acting class under Meisner and worked with Wynn Handman in another professional acting group.

Ted Bessell worked at ABC New York as a page to supplement his income in the late 1950s.

Ted Bessell directed and acted in stock where he appeared in a wide spectrum of theatre works ranging from Shakespeare to Jule Styne.

Ted Bessell then was cast in the off-Broadway production of The Power of Darkness, which led to further off-Broadway work with the Blackfriars Guild.

Ted Bessell co-produced Joe Orton's Crimes of Passion, directed by Michael Kahn.

Ted Bessell first went to Los Angeles in the West Coast production of Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel, for which he received great critical notices.

Ted Bessell appeared in such feature films as McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force, and Don't Drink the Water.

Ted Bessell appeared in the TV films Two on a Bench and Your Money or Your Wife, which won the Peabody Award for Best Mystery of the Year.

Ted Bessell had a supporting role in the television film Scream, Pretty Peggy and Bessell carried the lead role in the television film Bobby Parker and Company and another supporting role in Three Comedies.

Ted Bessell played regular roles on a pair of short-lived sitcoms, Good Time Harry and, in his last major role, Hail to the Chief, as the husband of Patty Duke's character, the fictional first female President of the United States.

Ted Bessell moved into directing, helming episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show and Sibs.

Ted Bessell died on October 6,1996, due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm at age 61.

Ted Bessell is interred in Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, California.

Ted Bessell was married to Linnell Nobori and had two daughters, Sarah and Mary.