Ted Bessell's original goal In life was to become a priest. He was born in Flushing, L.I. the elder of two sons of a toy creator-executor and a former New York radio actress. During his senior year at Georgetown University, Washington, he made the major decision to serve in another capacity and graduated with a degree in business. While he was preparing to enter the University's law school friends persuaded him to try acting and he studied in New York and went into summer stock. While appearing in a play in Los Angeles he came to the attention of director Delbert Mann who cast him in the movie "Lover Come Back." From there we appeared in many television shows including "Gomer Pyle." "Dr. Kildare," "Ben Casey," etc. He was interested in sports and reading and lived in an early-American decorated cottage in Encino. Calif. He is best known for his role as Donald Hollinger, the boyfriend and eventual fiancé of Marlo Thomas's character in the TV series That Girl.
Known For
Credits
Cast Credits
The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970)
Guest starring as Joe Warner
(2 episodes)
- Episode 6x14: One Boyfriend Too Many (Dec 13, 1975)
- Episode 6x11: Mary Richards Falls in Love (Nov 22, 1975)
Love, American Style (1969)
Guest starring as Roger Bowen
- Episode 1x23: Love and the Roommate (Nov 17, 1969)
That Girl (1966)
Starring as Donald Hollinger
(136 episodes)
- Episode 5x24: The Elevated Woman (Mar 19, 1971)
- Episode 5x23: Soot Yourself (Mar 12, 1971)
- Episode 5x22: Two for the Money (Mar 5, 1971)
- Episode 5x21: Stag Party (Feb 26, 1971)
- Episode 5x20: That King (Feb 19, 1971)
- Episode 5x19: Chef's Night Out (Feb 12, 1971)
- Episode 5x18: That Shoplifter (Feb 5, 1971)
- Episode 5x17: The Russians Are Staying (Jan 29, 1971)
- Episode 5x16: A Limited Engagement (Jan 15, 1971)
- Episode 5x15: Those Friars (Jan 8, 1971)
- Episode 5x14: That Script (Jan 1, 1971)
- Episode 5x13: An Uncle Herbert for All Seasons (Dec 18, 1970)
- Episode 5x12: That Senorita (Dec 11, 1970)
- Episode 5x11: Super Reporter (Dec 4, 1970)
- Episode 5x10: Stop the Presses, I Want to Get Off (Nov 27, 1970)
- Episode 5x09: That Girl's Daddy (Nov 20, 1970)
- Episode 5x08: That Cake (Nov 13, 1970)
- Episode 5x07: There Sure Are a Bunch of Cards in St. Louis (2) (Nov 6, 1970)
- Episode 5x06: There Sure Are a Bunch of Cards in St. Louis (1) (Oct 30, 1970)
- Episode 5x05: Rattle of a Single Girl (Oct 23, 1970)
- Episode 5x04: No Man is Manhattan Island (Oct 16, 1970)
- Episode 5x03: I Ain't Got Nobody (Oct 9, 1970)
- Episode 5x02: Donald, Sandi, and Harry and Snoopy (Oct 2, 1970)
- Episode 5x01: Counter Proposal (Sep 25, 1970)
- Episode 4x26: All's Well That Ends (Mar 26, 1970)
- Episode 4x25: Easy Faller (Mar 19, 1970)
- Episode 4x24: They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? (Mar 12, 1970)
- Episode 4x23: Gone-a-Courtin' (Mar 5, 1970)
- Episode 4x22: The Reunion (Feb 26, 1970)
- Episode 4x21: The Night They Raided Daddy's (Feb 19, 1970)
- Episode 4x20: Stocks and the Single Girl (Feb 12, 1970)
- Episode 4x19: Ugh, Wilderness (2) (Feb 5, 1970)
- Episode 4x18: Fly by Night (1) (Jan 29, 1970)
- Episode 4x17: That Meter Maid (Jan 22, 1970)
- Episode 4x16: Opening Night (Jan 8, 1970)
- Episode 4x15: Ten Percent of Nothing is Nothing (Jan 1, 1970)
- Episode 4x14: I Am a Curious Lemon (Dec 25, 1969)
- Episode 4x13: She Didn't Have the Vegas Notion (2) (Dec 18, 1969)
- Episode 4x12: She Didn't Have the Vegas Notion (1) (Dec 11, 1969)
- Episode 4x11: Kiss That Girl Goodbye (Nov 27, 1969)
- Episode 4x10: Fix My Screen and Bug Out (Nov 20, 1969)
- Episode 4x09: Shake Hands and Come Out Acting (Nov 13, 1969)
- Episode 4x08: Write is Wrong (2) (Nov 6, 1969)
- Episode 4x07: The Snow Must Go On (1) (Oct 30, 1969)
- Episode 4x06: Hearing Today, Gone Tomorrow (Oct 23, 1969)
- Episode 4x05: At the Drop of a Budget (Oct 16, 1969)
- Episode 4x04: Nobody Here But Us Chickens (Oct 9, 1969)
- Episode 4x03: My Part Belongs to Daddy (Oct 2, 1969)
- Episode 4x02: Mission Improbable (2) (Sep 25, 1969)
- Episode 4x01: Mission Improbable (1) (Sep 18, 1969)
- Episode 3x26: Sue Me, Sue Me, What Can You Do Me? (Mar 27, 1969)
- Episode 3x25: Bad Day at Marvin Gardens (Mar 20, 1969)
- Episode 3x24: It's So Nice to Have a Mouse Around the House (Mar 13, 1969)
- Episode 3x23: Fly Me to the Moon (Mar 6, 1969)
- Episode 3x22: The Defiant One (Feb 27, 1969)
- Episode 3x21: The Subject Was Rabies (Feb 20, 1969)
- Episode 3x20: There Was a Time Ann Met a Pie Man (Feb 13, 1969)
- Episode 3x19: My Sister's Keeper (Feb 6, 1969)
- Episode 3x18: Many Happy Returns (Jan 30, 1969)
- Episode 3x17: The Earrings (Jan 23, 1969)
- Episode 3x16: Dark on Top of Everything Else (Jan 16, 1969)
- Episode 3x15: The Eye of the Beholder (Jan 9, 1969)
- Episode 3x14: The Homewrecker and the Window Washer (Jan 2, 1969)
- Episode 3x13: Should All Our Old Acquaintances Be Forgot (Dec 26, 1968)
- Episode 3x12: Decision Before Dawn (Dec 12, 1968)
- Episode 3x11: Ann vs. Secretary (Dec 5, 1968)
- Episode 3x10: The Seventh Time Around (Nov 28, 1968)
- Episode 3x09: Just Donald and Me and Jerry Makes Three (Nov 21, 1968)
- Episode 3x08: A Muggy Day in Central Park (Nov 14, 1968)
- Episode 3x07: The Face in the Shower Room Door (Nov 7, 1968)
- Episode 3x06: Secret Ballot (Oct 31, 1968)
- Episode 3x05: 7 1/4 (2) (Oct 24, 1968)
- Episode 3x04: 7 1/4 (1) (Oct 17, 1968)
- Episode 3x03: Eleven Angry Men and That Girl (Oct 10, 1968)
- Episode 3x02: The Hi-Jack and the Mighty (Oct 3, 1968)
- Episode 3x01: Sock It to Me (Sep 26, 1968)
- Episode 2x30: Old Man's Darling (Apr 25, 1968)
- Episode 2x29: The Drunkard (Apr 18, 1968)
- Episode 2x28: The Beard (Apr 11, 1968)
- Episode 2x27: Just Spell the Name Right (Mar 28, 1968)
- Episode 2x26: If You Were Almost the Only Man in the World (Mar 21, 1968)
- Episode 2x25: The Detective Story (Mar 14, 1968)
- Episode 2x24: Great Guy (Mar 7, 1968)
- Episode 2x23: Odpdypahimcaifss (Feb 22, 1968)
- Episode 2x22: He and She and He (Feb 8, 1968)
- Episode 2x21: The Other Woman (Feb 1, 1968)
- Episode 2x20: Call of the Wild (Jan 25, 1968)
- Episode 2x19: Sixty-Five on the Aisle (Jan 18, 1968)
- Episode 2x18: The Rivals (Jan 11, 1968)
- Episode 2x17: Fur All We Know (Jan 4, 1968)
- Episode 2x16: A Friend in Need (Dec 28, 1967)
- Episode 2x15: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, You're Under Arrest (Dec 21, 1967)
- Episode 2x14: It's a Mod, Mod World (2) (Dec 14, 1967)
- Episode 2x13: It's a Mod, Mod World (1) (Dec 7, 1967)
- Episode 2x12: The Mailman Cometh (Nov 30, 1967)
- Episode 2x11: Thanksgiving Comes But One a Year, Hopefully (Nov 23, 1967)
- Episode 2x10: When in Rome (Nov 9, 1967)
- Episode 2x09: The Collaborators (Nov 2, 1967)
- Episode 2x08: There's Nothing to Be Afreud of But Freud Himself (Oct 26, 1967)
- Episode 2x07: The Philadelphia Story (2) (Oct 19, 1967)
- Episode 2x06: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder (1) (Oct 12, 1967)
- Episode 2x05: The Apartment (Oct 5, 1967)
- Episode 2x04: To Each Her Own (Sep 28, 1967)
- Episode 2x03: Black, White and Read All Over (Sep 21, 1967)
- Episode 2x02: The Good Skate (Sep 14, 1967)
- Episode 2x01: Pass the Potatoes, Ethel Merman (Sep 7, 1967)
- Episode 1x30: The Mating Game (Apr 6, 1967)
- Episode 1x29: Author, Author (Mar 30, 1967)
- Episode 1x28: This Little Piggy Had a Ball (Mar 23, 1967)
- Episode 1x27: The Honeymoon Apartment (Mar 16, 1967)
- Episode 1x26: You Have to Know Someone to Be Unknown (Mar 9, 1967)
- Episode 1x25: Leaving the Nest is for the Birds (Mar 2, 1967)
- Episode 1x24: A Tenor's Loving Care (Feb 23, 1967)
- Episode 1x23: What Are Your Intentions? (Feb 16, 1967)
- Episode 1x22: Paper Hats and Everything (Feb 9, 1967)
- Episode 1x21: Rain, Snow and Rice (Feb 2, 1967)
- Episode 1x20: Gone with the Breeze (Jan 26, 1967)
- Episode 1x19: Kimomo My House (Jan 19, 1967)
- Episode 1x18: These Boots Weren't Made for Walking (Jan 12, 1967)
- Episode 1x17: Among My Souvenirs (Jan 5, 1967)
- Episode 1x16: Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid (Dec 22, 1966)
- Episode 1x15: Beware of Actors Bearing Gifts (Dec 15, 1966)
- Episode 1x14: Phantom of the Horse Opera (Dec 8, 1966)
- Episode 1x13: All About Ann (Dec 1, 1966)
- Episode 1x12: Soap Gets in Your Eyes (Nov 24, 1966)
- Episode 1x11: What's in a Name? (Nov 17, 1966)
- Episode 1x10: Break a Leg (Nov 10, 1966)
- Episode 1x09: Time for Arrest (Nov 3, 1966)
- Episode 1x08: Little Auction Annie (Oct 27, 1966)
- Episode 1x07: Help Wanted (Oct 20, 1966)
- Episode 1x06: Rich Little Rich Kid (Oct 13, 1966)
- Episode 1x05: Anatomy of a Blunder (Oct 6, 1966)
- Episode 1x04: I'll Be Suing You (Sep 29, 1966)
- Episode 1x03: Never Change a Diaper on Opening Night (Sep 22, 1966)
- Episode 1x02: Goodbye, Hello, Goodbye (Sep 15, 1966)
- Episode 1x01: Don't Just Do Something, Stand There (Sep 8, 1966)
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964)
Guest starring as Frankie
- Episode 2x29: Desk Job for a Sergeant (Apr 8, 1966)
12 O'Clock High (1964)
Guest starring as Cpl. William "Billy" Smith
- Episode 2x03: Then Came the Mighty Hunter (Sep 27, 1965)
It's a Man's World (1962)
Starring as Thomas A. 'Tom-Tom' DeWitt
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1x11: Chicago Gains a Number (Dec 3, 1962)
- Episode 1x08: The Bravest Man in Cordella (Nov 12, 1962)
Crew Credits
A League of Their Own (1993)
Episode crew as Director
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1x04: Marathon (Aug 13, 1993)
- Episode 1x02: The Fat Boys of Summer (Apr 17, 1993)
That Girl (1966)
Episode crew as Director
(2 episodes)
- Episode 4x17: That Meter Maid (Jan 22, 1970)
- Episode 3x16: Dark on Top of Everything Else (Jan 16, 1969)