Howard Weston "Ted" Bessell Jr. (March 20, 1935 – October 6, 1996) was an Americantelevisionactor and director widely known for his role as Donald Hollinger, the boyfriend and eventual fiancé of Marlo Thomas's character in the TV series That Girl (1966–1971).
Born in Flushing, New York, to Howard Weston "Buster" Bessell (1904–1958) and his wife, Jo (1915–2004), Ted Bessell grew up in Manhasset, New York. He was initially preparing for a career as a classical musician. As a 12-year-old child prodigy, he performed a piano recital at Carnegie Hall.[1] Bessell played lacrosse in high school with future football star and actor Jim Brown.
In 1962, he played 27-year-old college student Tom-Tom DeWitt on the short-lived television series It's a Man's World. In 1965, he appeared in an episode of 12 O'Clock High and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode, "Thou Still Unravished Bride", as Elliott. In 1965 to 1966, he was also regularly featured on Jim Nabors's Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as Private Francis "Frankie" Lombardi.
Bessell's best-known TV role was as Donald Hollinger, Marlo Thomas's boyfriend and fiancé on the hit series That Girl, which ran for five seasons from 1966 to 1971.[4]
When That Girl ended its run, he tried his hand at another sitcom, Me and the Chimp, in which he played Mike Reynolds, a dentist who is persuaded by his children to take in a runaway chimpanzee. Created by Garry Marshall, the show had a short, unsuccessful run of 19 episodes in 1972.[1] He had a supporting role in the television film Scream, Pretty Peggy (1973) and Bessell carried the lead role in the television film Bobby Parker and Company (1974) and another supporting role in Three Comedies (1975).
It was not until 1975 that Bessell would appear in another sitcom, as Joe Warner, the boyfriend of Mary Richards, for two episodes on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. In the 1980s, he appeared in several other TV movies, including Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (1979) and The Acorn People (1981). He also played regular roles on a pair of short-lived sitcoms, Good Time Harry (1980) and, in his last major role, Hail to the Chief, (1985) as the husband of Patty Duke's character, the fictional first female President of the United States.
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.