Whatever happened to Ted Bessell? He did so well in "That Girl." We watch reruns every night. - Mrs. L.M., Burbank, Ill.
STATS: Born March 20, 1935, in Flushing, N.Y. Attended Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; Neighborhood Playhouse, New York, N.Y. Married twice, two daughters.IN EARLY YEARS: Bessell started acting in high school, decided on it as a career after graduating from Georgetown. He studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and started in soap operas and summer stock. In 1960, he went to California, did theater at night, sold TV time by day. In 1962, he landed his first series, "It's a Man's World." He went on to be a regular on "Gomer Pyle, USMC," "That Girl," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Me and the Chimp," "Good Time Harry" and "Hail to the Chief," and to appear in feature films: "The Outsider," "Captain Newman" and "Don't Drink the Water."
FAMOUS FOR: The five seasons, 1966-71, he played Donald Hollinger, the nice-guy boyfriend of Anne Marie (Marlo Thomas) in "That Girl." Bessell believes the show was bad for his career - "an imposition on my creative needs," he told People magazine.
IN RECENT YEARS: Bessell's post-"That Girl" career was a succession of what he calls "bad choices." But, since 1980, he has been successful as as artist and TV director. He was nominated twice for an Emmy for direction of the "Tracey Ullman Show."
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