Bess Armstrong

Acting

Bess Armstrong

Born

1953-12-11 (72)

Place of birth

Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

75 titles

Bess Armstrong (born December 11, 1953) is an American film and television actress.

Known for

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

NCIS poster
7.6

From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has any connection to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.

NCIS

2003

Grey's Anatomy poster
8.2

Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Grey's Anatomy

2005

Criminal Minds poster
8.3

An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.

Criminal Minds

2005

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation poster
7.6

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

2000

Castle poster
8.0

After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.

Castle

2009

Film credits

2010s · 3 titles

I Married Who? poster
6.0

Straight-laced Jordan (Martin) is about to marry Peter (Snedeker), a clean-cut ambitious attorney. Before she walks down the aisle, Jordan and her best friends, Claire (Adrienne Frantz) and Jessica (Daphnee Duplaix), head to Vegas for a bachelorette party, because what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? But when Jordan wakes up the next morning unable to recall the night before, she panics when she finds she’s in movie star Matt's (Ethan Erickson) hotel suite with a gigantic diamond on her finger and a marriage certificate lying nearby. Before Jordan can have the marriage annulled and put this nightmare behind her, the impromptu wedding explodes into a publicity stunt fueled by Matt’s manager Eric (Bruce Nozick) to promote his latest movie. With her wedding day approaching, Jordan finds herself more confused than ever when she starts falling in love with the movie star she’s married to instead of the fiancé she thought was her perfect match.

I Married Who?

2012

Love and Sunshine poster
7.1

Ally Craig has been fostering retired military dog, Sunshine, as she recovers from a broken engagement. But sparks fly again when Sunshine's military partner, Jake Terry, returns to claim the dog.

Love and Sunshine

2019

Diagnosis Delicious poster
6.2

Chef Dave Oberlin's career is in shambles when his altercation with a famous food critic goes viral. After being blacklisted by the elite restaurants, Dave is forced to take a teaching position at his friend's culinary arts school. When cardiologist Nina Kirby is up for a promotion at the local hospital, the Head of Cardiology informs her if she gets Dave on board to teach the Healthy Living seminars she would be a shoo-in for the position. The only problem is Nina can't cook and she doesn't want to learn. With a little coaxing from her best friend Olivia, Nina agrees to take Dave's class. When Nina presents Dave with the Healthy Living seminars he's disinterested in working with her due to her lack of class participation. In her effort to persuade him to get on board, Nina and Dave come across some unexpected common ground.

Diagnosis Delicious

2016

1990s · 14 titles

That Darn Cat poster
5.0

While making his nightly rounds in the neighborhood, Patti's pet cat D.C. finds himself the carrier of a call for help from a kidnap victim. Patti enlists skeptical law enforcement help to find the victim before it's too late.

That Darn Cat

1997

Dream Lover poster
6.8

Not long after they cross paths at an art gallery, architect Ray Reardon and hypnotically sensual Lena are married with children. But as strange incidents occur, Ray begins to realize he may not really know the woman he married.

Dream Lover

1994

Serial Mom poster
6.7

Beverly is the perfect happy homemaker, along with her doting husband and two children, but this nuclear family just might explode when her fascination with serial killers collides with her ever-so-proper code of ethics.

Serial Mom

1994

Pecker poster
6.1

A Baltimore teenager who picks up a second-hand camera starts snapping his way to stardom, soon turning into a nationwide sensation, with a fateful choice between his life and his art.

Pecker

1998

She Cried No poster
5.7

A college freshman is date-raped and tries to press charges.

She Cried No

1996

Mixed Blessings poster
6.1

Three couples are followed as they struggle to have children. Pilar and Brad Coleman are both very mature, Brad already has grown up a daughter and Pilar wants to have a baby of her own. Diana and Andy Douglas are a newlywed couple with great careers. It would be difficult for Diana to conceive, so they explore other options, like surrogacy and adoption. Charlie Winwood is an orphan who, like Diana, always wanted to have children. He is married to Barbie, an aspiring actress who isn't too enthusiastic to become a mother.

Mixed Blessings

1995

Christmas Every Day poster
6.0

Billy Jackson is not having a good Christmas. He got a basketball for Christmas and just cannot make a jump shot. His Uncle David is coming to town to open a ValueMall, which will put his Dad's store out of business. When he tells his little sister Sarah that there is no Santa, she makes a wish that it would be Christmas every day. Billy now has to relive Christmas Day over and over again.

Christmas Every Day

1996

The Skateboard Kid poster
3.3

No one could be more bored than Zack, the new kid in town with no friends in sight. When a gang of hip, skateboarding thrashers start cruising his neighborhood, Zack hopes his luck will change. But they want nothing to do with him. Then Zack makes the discovery of his life: a talking wisecracking, magical skateboard. And suddenly, skateboarding rises to entirely new heights.

The Skateboard Kid

1993

Forever Love poster
6.8

Lizzie and Alex Brooks are a young couple in love and parents of a little girl, Emma. A stroke puts Lizzie into a coma. Alex takes her home, providing love, care and devotion through the years. Gail, Lizzie's best friend, offers a loving friendship to Alex, and she fills in for Lizzie with young Emma. 20 years after her stroke, Lizzie emerges from the coma and begins to try to assimilate back into a world that has radically changed. Emma, who is about to be married, is thrilled to have her mother back, as are Alex and Gail...

Forever Love

1998

Stolen Innocence poster
6.2

Stacy, a rebellious teenager, leaves home for the freedom and adventure of life on the road away from her parents. Afraid and alone, she is befriended by Richard, a handsome ex-con traveling across the country on a crime spree. Her short lived joy soon turns to terror.

Stolen Innocence

1995

The Lies Boys Tell poster
6.3

Ed Reece, an old travelling salesman, decides to end his days in the place in which he was born. Therefore he convinces his elder son to acompany him on his last long voyage of farewell.

The Lies Boys Tell

1994

Forgotten Sins poster
5.5

A county sheriff is accused by his daughter of having abused her. Her accusation gets more and more elaborate, involving satanic rituals. As nearly everyone around him seems to believe he's guilty, he starts breaking up and questioning his own innocence.

Forgotten Sins

1996

She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal poster
4.2

A dramatized account of a female US Naval officer's ordeal of being sexually harassed at a Naval convention and her legal retaliation.

She Stood Alone: The Tailhook Scandal

1995

The Perfect Daughter poster
5.0

Alexandra Michaelson has spent two years on the city streets as a runaway, but she awakens after an accident with no memory of her recent past. Her family welcomes her back, but soon she's visited by a man who claims he's her boyfriend. While trying to rekindle her memory, he tells Alexandra that somewhere she has hidden $100,000 stolen from a dangerous drug dealer.

The Perfect Daughter

1996

1980s · 12 titles

Jaws 3-D poster
4.5

A giant thirty-five-foot shark becomes trapped in a SeaWorld theme park and it's up to the sons of police chief Brody to rescue everyone.

Jaws 3-D

1983

Nothing in Common poster
5.9

A successful advertising executive finds his freewheeling life crashing to a halt when his parents end their longtime marriage.

Nothing in Common

1986

The Four Seasons poster
6.3

Three middle-aged wealthy couples take vacations together in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Along the way we are treated to mid-life, marital, parental and other crises.

The Four Seasons

1981

Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again poster
5.0

While conducting a research experiment intended to bring about an alternative to modern surgery, exhausted Los Angeles surgeon Dr. Daniel Jekyll falls asleep and accidentally inhales the white powders, transforming him into a wildly uninhibited nymphomaniac.

Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again

1982

High Road to China poster
6.0

A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.

High Road to China

1983

This Girl for Hire poster
5.0

In this pilot for a proposed TV series, B.T. Brady is a flippant, but somewhat klutzy female private detective in Hollywood who sets out to solve the murder of a obnoxious mystery writer. Along the way, Brady gets help from her flamboyant mother Zandra, a washed-up actress, as well as Brady's live-in boyfriend Wolfe who runs a memorabilia shop.

This Girl for Hire

1983

The House of God poster
3.2

Comedy about a couple of interns in a hospital named 'The House of God'.

The House of God

1984

Second Sight poster
4.4

Wills is an ex-cop who pairs up with Bobby, a wacky psychic, to form the "Second Sight Detective Agency." Bobby's clairvoyant abilities come in handy during their investigations. When a nun recruits them for a case involving car theft, they suddenly find themselves dealing with the abduction of a prominent cardinal who has a chance of becoming the next pope. Bobby's psychic powers go haywire as they pursue the case.

Second Sight

1989

Barefoot In the Park poster
6.3

HBO Standing Room Only presentation of the 1981 stage revival. From the Neil Simon Book. New Yorkers Paul Bratter and Corie Bratter née Banks have just gotten married. He is a stuffed shirt just starting his career as a lawyer. She is an independently minded free spirit who prides herself on doing the illogical purely out of a sense of adventure

Barefoot In the Park

1982

The Making of Jaws 3-D: Sharks Don't Die poster
5.0

Academy Award winner Lou Gossett Jr. takes you underwater on the trail of the great white shark and behind the scenes on the production of Jaws 3-D.

The Making of Jaws 3-D: Sharks Don't Die

1983

11th Victim poster
4.0

A news anchorwoman from the Midwest comes to Hollywood to learn the truth about the death of her sister, the 11th victim of a killer preying on aspiring actresses, and finds herself possibly the next one on his list despite the help of an overworked cop.

11th Victim

1984

Mother, Mother poster
6.0

A Blue Ribbon winner at the American Film Festival, this hard-hitting, dramatic production is about the relationship between a young man with AIDS and his estranged mother. Unable to understand or accept each other's lives, mother and son are at a stalemate of their own making.

Mother, Mother

1989

Series credits

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson poster
7.6

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

1962

NCIS poster
7.6

From murder and espionage to terrorism and stolen submarines, a team of special agents investigates any crime that has any connection to Navy and Marine Corps personnel, regardless of rank or position.

NCIS

2003

Grey's Anatomy poster
8.2

Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Grey's Anatomy

2005

Criminal Minds poster
8.3

An elite team of FBI profilers analyze the country's most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again. The Behavioral Analysis Unit's most experienced agent is David Rossi, a founding member of the BAU who returns to help the team solve new cases.

Criminal Minds

2005

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation poster
7.6

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

2000

Castle poster
8.0

After a serial killer imitates the plots of his novels, successful mystery novelist Richard "Rick" Castle receives permission from the Mayor of New York City to tag along with an NYPD homicide investigation team for research purposes.

Castle

2009

S.W.A.T. poster
8.0

A Los Angeles S.W.A.T. sergeant is assigned to lead a highly skilled unit in the community where he grew up. Torn between loyalty to the streets, where the cops are sometimes the enemy, and allegiance to his brothers in blue, he strategically straddles the two worlds.

S.W.A.T.

2017

The Good Doctor poster
8.5

Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital's surgical unit. Unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

The Good Doctor

2017

One Tree Hill poster
7.8

In Tree Hill, North Carolina two half brothers share a last name and nothing else. Brooding, blue-collar Lucas is a talented street-side basketball player, but his skills are appreciated only by his friends at the river court. Popular, affluent Nathan basks in the hero-worship of the town, as the star of his high school team. And both boys are the son of former college ball player Dan Scott whose long ago choice to abandon Lucas and his mother Karen, will haunt him long into his life with wife Deb and their son Nathan.

One Tree Hill

2003

Frasier poster
7.7

After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty.

Frasier

1993

The Love Boat poster
6.2

Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.

The Love Boat

1977

Mad Men poster
8.1

Set in 1960-1970 New York, this sexy, stylized and provocative drama follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.

Mad Men

2007

Scandal poster
7.2

Everyone has secrets and Olivia Pope has dedicated her life to protecting and defending the public images of the elite by keeping those secrets under wraps. Pope and her team are at the top of their game when it comes to getting the job done for their clients, but it becomes apparent that these "gladiators in suits," who specialize in fixing the lives of other people, have trouble fixing those closest at hand -- their own.

Scandal

2012

Bosch poster
7.9

Harry Bosch, an LAPD homicide detective, stands trial for the fatal shooting of a serial murder suspect. A cold case involving the remains of a missing boy forces Bosch to confront his past. As daring recruit Julia Brasher catches his eye and departmental politics heat up, Bosch will pursue justice at all costs.

Bosch

2015

Boston Legal poster
7.9

Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. A spin-off of long-running series The Practice.

Boston Legal

2004

The Nanny poster
8.1

That flashy girl from Flushing with the heart of an angel (and the voice of a slighty more nasal angel). The comic misadventures of the sweet and sassy Fran Fine, her sophisticated employer, Broadway producer Mr. Sheffield, his boisterous brood and his wisecracking staff.

The Nanny

1993

The Nanny poster
8.1

That flashy girl from Flushing with the heart of an angel (and the voice of a slighty more nasal angel). The comic misadventures of the sweet and sassy Fran Fine, her sophisticated employer, Broadway producer Mr. Sheffield, his boisterous brood and his wisecracking staff.

The Nanny

1993

True Blood poster
7.6

Thanks to a Japanese scientist's invention of synthetic blood, vampires have progressed overnight from legendary monsters to fellow citizens. And while humans have been safely removed from the menu, many remain apprehensive about these creatures "coming out of the coffin." Religious leaders, government officials, and vampire fundamentalists around the world have chosen their sides. But in the small Louisiana town of Bon Temps, the jury is still out.

True Blood

2008

Batman: The Animated Series poster
8.6

Vowing to avenge the murder of his parents, Bruce Wayne devotes his life to wiping out crime in Gotham City as the masked vigilante "Batman".

Batman: The Animated Series

1992

Touched by an Angel poster
7.2

Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.

Touched by an Angel

1994

Longmire poster
7.7

A Wyoming sheriff rebuilds his life and career following the death of his wife. Based on the “Walt Longmire” series of mystery novels written by best-selling author Craig Johnson.

Longmire

2012

Switched at Birth poster
7.5

The story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez, who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working-class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.

Switched at Birth

2011

Tales from the Crypt poster
8.0

Cadaverous scream legend the Crypt Keeper is your macabre host for these forays of fright and fun based on the classic E.C. Comics tales from back in the day. So shamble up to the bar and pick your poison. Will it be an insane Santa on a personal slay ride? Honeymooners out to fulfill the "til death do we part" vow ASAP?

Tales from the Crypt

1989

Zoo poster
6.8

Set amidst a wave of violent animal attacks sweeping across the planet, a young renegade scientist is thrust into a race to unlock the mystery behind this pandemic before time runs out for animals and humans alike.

Zoo

2015

Zoo poster
6.8

Set amidst a wave of violent animal attacks sweeping across the planet, a young renegade scientist is thrust into a race to unlock the mystery behind this pandemic before time runs out for animals and humans alike.

Zoo

2015

House of Lies poster
6.6

Charming, fast talking Marty Kaan and his crack team of management consultants know how to play the corporate game better than anyone, by using every dirty trick in the book to woo powerful CEOs and close huge deals. In the board rooms, barrooms, and bedrooms of the power elite, corruption is business as usual and everyone's out for themselves first. Nothing is sacred in this scathing, irreverent satire of corporate America today.

House of Lies

2012

The Irrational poster
6.7

Alec Mercer is a world-renowned professor of behavioral psychology with a unique insight into human nature who lends his expertise to an array of high-stakes cases involving governments, corporations and law enforcement. However, he meets his match in a female domestic terror suspect who turns his world upside down.

The Irrational

2023

My So-Called Life poster
7.7

The life of a 15 year-old high school student, whose angst-ridden journey through adolescence, friendship, parents, and life teaches her what it means to grow up.

My So-Called Life

1994

Good Morning, Miami poster
6.9

A talented young TV producer arrives in Miami to revamp the lowest-rated morning show in the country. Jake Silver risks taking the job when he sets eyes on the show's beautiful, down-to-earth hair stylist Dylan, who wows him like nobody before – and presents a romantic challenge.

Good Morning, Miami

2002

Conviction poster
6.8

A brilliant young attorney, who is also the daughter of a former U.S. president, is blackmailed to head up LA's new Conviction Integrity Unit. She and her team investigate cases where people may have been wrongly convicted.

Conviction

2016

Bad Internet poster
6.7

A satirical anthology series about the terrifying potential futures of internet technology and culture. Not at all similar to any other shows about technological overreaching.

Bad Internet

2016

I Love That for You poster
6.5

A woman overcomes childhood leukemia to achieve her dream of becoming an on-air host at a home shopping network.

I Love That for You

2022

No artwork available
NR

An anthology depicting the lives of people who hope to win a large amount of money in a sweepstakes and what happens after they win — or do not win — the money.

$weepstake$

1979

Damien poster
6.2

After discovering his origins, Damien Thorn must cope with life as the Anti-Christ.

Damien

2016

Lace poster
7.2

A young actress gathers three former school friends to find out which one is her natural mother, who gave her up for adoption as a newborn.

Lace

1984

On Our Own poster
6.0

On Our Own is a short-lived American sitcom broadcast on CBS from October 1977 to April 1978, lasting for one season and 22 episodes. Maria Bonino and Julia Peters are two secretaries in a high-powered New York advertising agency. They are promoted to art director and copywriter and begin their new careers with enthusiasm. Other people in the agency include J.M. Bedford, chairman of the board; Toni McBain, the President; April Baxter, a copywriter; Eddie Barnes, a TV commercial producer, and Craig Boatwright, a salesman.

On Our Own

1977

Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures poster
10.0

Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures is a slice of life cartoon intended for young children. The show premiered on January 19, 2008 on PBS Kids. The show follows a girl named Betsy as she starts out her school years. The series premiere shows Betsy facing the uncertainty of her first day of school and the adjustments she must make as she meets her new teacher and classmates, encounters unfamiliar rules and routines, and finds herself in an entirely new environment. Subsequent episodes show Betsy's excitement and sense of adventure as she adapts to the new experiences of kindergarten. This show is similar to other PBS Kids shows like Caillou and Clifford the Big Red Dog that cater to an audience of children between the ages of 2-6.

Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures

2008

All Is Forgiven poster
6.3

Paula Russell is the producer of a soap opera called All Is Forgiven who just married a donut executive with a teenage daughter.

All Is Forgiven

1986

No artwork available
5.8

Married People is an American television situation comedy that aired on ABC as part of its 1990-91 schedule. Jay Thomas and Bess Armstrong led the ensemble cast.

Married People

1990

That Was Then poster
8.0

Travis Glass is about to turn 30 and his life couldn't be worse. He lives with his mother. He's a door salesman. And the longtime love of his life is married to his brother. His descent into loserdom dates back to a fateful and humiliating week in high school, and all Travis wants is a second chance to get it right. Be careful what you wish for … Travis wakes up the next morning, 16 again, with a chance to relive all of life's firsts. While tinkering with the past, he manages to save a life, jeopardize a marriage, and lose the most precious thing in his otherwise flawed future. Before he knows it, Travis is transported back to adulthood, about to turn 30 again, and his life couldn't be worse … Now, he'll have to keep hopping back and forth between high school and adulthood until he figures out how to put things right once and for all. But how do you put things right when every move you make can result in a new and totally unexpected future?

That Was Then

2002