JoBeth Williams Movies
A graduate of Brown University, JoBeth Williams launched her acting career on the East Coast repertory theater circuit. Williams made her Broadway bow in 1980's A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking and gained a TV following as a regular on the daytime serials The Guiding Light and Somerset. She made an impressible film debut in a "flash part" in the Oscar-winning Kramer vs. Kramer (1979). Williams' star ascended with such roles as the mother of long-suffering Heather O'Rourke in the first two Poltergeist films and the sixties activist-cum-housewife in The Big Chill (1983). While she hasn't always been well-served by Hollywood, she has managed to show up in a number of worthwhile assignments, ranging from 1984's Teachers (in which she spontaneously performing the most dramatically justifiable striptease in movie history) to 1994's Wyatt Earp (as Bessie Earp) Her TV-movie credits are even more impressive: she had several memorable moments in the post-apocalyptic The Day After (1983) and was brilliant as the anguished mother of the murdered title character in Adam (1983). She has also participated in series television, lending her voice to the character of Angel in the animated nighttimer Fish Police (1992) and essaying the Susan Sarandon role in the 1995 weekly TV adaptation of The Client. In addition, she served as executive producer of the 1991 TV movie Bump in the Night, and as co-producer of the Oscar-nominated documentary On Hope (1994). JoBeth Williams is married to director John Pasquin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1994
In the conclusion of a two-part story, Frasier's dreams of a romantic rendezvous in Bora Bora are dashed when he runs smack-dab into his ex-wife, Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), who is vacationing with her new beau, a seismologist named Brian (James Morrison). In his efforts to one-up his former spouse, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) succeeds only in convincing everyone on the island -- including his girlfriend Madeleine (JoBeth Williams) -- that he's a few bricks shy of a full load. Upon returning to Seattle, Frasier is desperate to patch things up with Madeleine, but the omnipresent Lilith botches this up as well. It is giving nothing away this late in the game to note that there is a BIG surprise at episode's end -- but it was one of TV's best-kept secrets of 1994. (And listen for the voice of Roz's latest "bad date.") ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan, this epic version of the legendary western sheriff-gunslinger's life story stars Kevin Costner as Earp, who lived from 1848 to 1929. Growing up on a farm in Iowa, Earp tries to run away to join the Union Army in the Civil War, but he is turned away because of his youth. Instead, he studies law and marries Urilla Sutherland (Annabeth Gish). But Urilla dies of typhoid fever before they can have children. Earp grows despondent and descends into drinking and petty thievery, but his father Nicholas (Gene Hackman) finds him, sobers him up, and sets him straight. Earp becomes a buffalo hunter and a close companion of Bat Masterson (Tom Sizemore) and his brother Ed (Bill Pullman). With his brothers, Virgil (Michael Madsen) and Morgan (Linden Ashby), Earp sets out to clean up the violence-plagued towns of the old West -- by using his own guns to settle scores. Earp takes up with Mattie Blaylock (Mare Winningham), a drug addict and prostitute, then discards her for actress Josie Marcus (Joanna Going). In Tombstone, Arizona, the Earp brothers and their comrade Doc Holliday (Dennis Quaid), who is plagued by tuberculosis and a compulsion for gambling, meet their match in a ruthless gang led by Ike Clanton (Jeff Fahey). ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, (more)
A nurse suffering from multiple-personality syndrome dies, leaving her sister to team up with police to figure out why. At first the sister suspects murder, but further investigation reveals an even more painful truth. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, Corbin Bernsen, (more)
- 1994
Directed by Linda Yellen, this made-for-cable movie originally aired on the Showtime network and featured a star-studded cast including Dudley Moore, Liza Minelli, and James Belushi. The plot centers around several fraternity and sorority graduates who have decided to regroup at their alma mater. Nick (Belushi), a determined but gloomy reporter, attends on the sole hope of finding some good gossip. His highest hope lies within the career ties of his ex-lover Winnie (JoBeth Williams), who now serves as publicist to rising politician Rebecca Ferguson Stone (Patricia Wetig). Fellow alumni Charlie (Ben Gazzara) is returning for equally dishonest reasons--he's hoping to convince his ex Francie (Gena Rowlands) to pay off his gambling debts. Francie, however, has found herself more interested in bonding with a single mom/housekeeper (Ally Sheedy). All of their lives take a turn for the unexpected when the big man on campus mysteriously dies. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- 1993
Based on actual events, this drama centers on an abused wife who stands accused of murdering her husband. With no one else to help her, she desperately begs her alcoholic brother, a lawyer who has fallen on hard times, to represent her in court. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brian Dennehy, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1993
Can it be true that, a long, long time ago Martin Crane (John Mahoney) cheated on his late wife? That's the conclusion to which Martin's sons, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce), have jumped. The reason? The boys have "caught" Martin in a compromising position with Marilyn Lawlor (Patricia Crowley), an old family friend whom Frasier and Niles have known since they were kids. And as if that wasn't complication enough, a big surprise awaits our two outraged heroes at episode's end. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1993
A group of seven women reunite three times a year to share their experiences with each other in this made-for-cable drama. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1992
This true story tells of the loving adoption of a Down Syndrome boy by a volunteer following the decision of the boy's parents to not allow a life-extending operation. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chris Burke
Despite his status as a major action star, Sylvester Stallone has made a number of attempts to remodel himself as a comic actor; one of his more infamous efforts in this direction was Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot!. Police detective Joe Bromowski (Sylvester Stallone) has just broken off his relationship with his girlfriend (and fellow police officer) Gwen Harper (JoBeth Williams), so Joe's mother Tutti (Estelle Getty) decides it's time to pay him a visit. Tutti proceeds to make Joe's life miserable by nagging him about his clothes, cleaning his apartment, washing his gun, tagging along on investigations, and somehow getting involved with a gun-running organization that the police have been trying to infiltrate. After this film, Stallone would stay away from comedy until 1997, when he played a cameo in another unenthusiastically received film, An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sylvester Stallone, Estelle Getty, (more)
- 1992
- R
The title plays on the schizophrenia suffered by JoBeth Williams in this comedy from director Pablo Ferro. George Segal plays her neighbor, a writer with whom she falls in love. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, George Segal, (more)
- 1991
- PG
It probably takes an intimate acquaintance with East Germany's famously awful car, a smoky, noisy two-cylinder lawnmower on wheels, the Trabant 601, to fully appreciate the jokes in this extremely popular, celebrity-filled comedy. In the story, Gunther (German television star Thomas Gotttschalk) is an East German inventor who has journeyed with his homely car to an inventor's convention in Hollywood: he has figured out a way to get his Trabbi to run on turnip juice and zoom like a sports car. When his odd car is stolen, he tries to get it back, but L.A. and it's culture are alien to him and he is very much a fish out of water, despite the friendly advice he receives from Billy Dee Williams as a knowledgeable parking-lot attendant. Look for cameos by Milton Berle and Dom DeLuise, among others. This Trabbi film is a sequel to the enormously popular comedy Go, Trabi, Go. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thomas Gottschalk, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
John Hughes re-works his already over-used formulas from Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, and Uncle Buck in this bald-faced rip-off directed by Peter Faiman. Ed O'Neill stars as working stiff Dutch Dooley. Dutch is in love with Natalie (JoBeth Williams), who is recovering from a failed marriage to the priggish Reed (Christopher McDonald). Her 13-year-old son Doyle (Ethan Randall) blames Natalie for the break-up of the marriage. Doyle is an effete and snobbish rich kid betraying inflections of William F. Buckley. When he refuses to join his mother for Thanksgiving, Dutch heads off to Doyle's Atlanta boarding school to kidnap him and force him to go on a ride to Chicago to spend Thanksgiving with his mother. Doyle hates Dutch for his loutish working-class ways, but when the vengeful teenager destroys Dutch's car, the two must join forces to get to Chicago by any means necessary. Along the way the two learn to love and respect each other. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ed O'Neill, Ethan Randall, (more)
Ellen Barkin stars in this mystical comedy about a detestable male chauvinist temporarily reincarnated into the body of a woman. Steve Brooks (Perry King) foolishly accepts an invite for an evening of debauchery from three former girlfriends, and thinks he's got it made when he shows up to find them waiting for him in a hot tub. Eager to exact revenge on the scoundrel, the women proceed to drown him, and Steve is cast into a purgatory in which two unseen voices are deciding whether to send him to heaven or hell. Steve is given one chance to save himself from damnation -- if he can find a woman alive who actually liked him. To complicate his task and teach him a lesson, Steve is reincarnated as a sexy woman (Barkin), just the type who would have been the target of his cheesy advances. Sloppily adjusting to his new body, Steve (now Barkin) tells people he is the sister of the missing Steve Brooks, and begins working at his old advertising agency as a means toward completing his arduous task. As Steve's sister, he also enlists the help of his best friend, Walter (Jimmy Smits), despite the complication that Walter is noticeably attracted to the woman he has become. Steve's homophobia -- and several of his other hateful traits -- are put to the test. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ellen Barkin, Jimmy Smits, (more)
In the made-for-television thriller Victim of Love, a psychologist (JoBeth Williams) falls in love with a widowed professor (Pierce Brosnan), who happens to also be having an affair with one of her patients (Virginia Madsen). When Williams discovers that Brosnan is not only the man responsible for her patient's emotional turmoil, but also that he murdered his wife in order to be with Madsen, the therapist is thrown into a world of danger. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1990
In this made-for-TV mystery a troubled psychologist must somehow reach a traumatized 8-year old boy who witnessed a family murder. The trouble is the boy cannot distinguish between reality and fact. According to him, the killer is Captain Hook from Peter Pan. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
My Name Is Bill W reunited the stars of the highly acclaimed 1986 TV movie The Promise: James Garner and James Woods. This time Woods has the bigger role as the real-life Bill Wilson, who comes marching home from World War One with a "little" liquor problem. He drinks steadily throughout the Prohibition Era, but Wilson's habit doesn't catch up with him until he is ruined by the 1929 stock market crash. This disaster propels Wilson into flat-out alcoholism, costing him his family and his reputation. While drying out in detox, Wilson strikes up a friendship with Bob Smith (Garner), an alcoholic doctor. Through Smith's influence, Bill Wilson organizes a small band of chronic drinkers into what will eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous. The formation of AA consumes the emotional final third of My Name Is Bill W, which like its Garner/Woods predecessor The Promise was originally presented as a Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
In this made-for-cable TV drama, Lt. Jake Robbins (Kris Kristofferson) was presumed to have been killed in action during the Vietnam War. His wife, Sarah (JoBeth Williams) and his son were forced to get on with their lives; however when Jake turns up in Thailand many years later with a Cambodian wife and two children, the two families must struggle to deal with this complication. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kris Kristofferson, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1988
Baby M is a two-part TV movie predicated on a headline-making true event. In 1985, Mary Beth Whitehead accepted $10,000 to bear a child, which then would be adopted by William and Elizabeth Stern. But after the baby's birth in March of 1986, Whitehead reneged on the agreement. The subsequent high-profile custody trial raged on for well over nine months. The film strives for impartiality, though those pre-disposed members of the audience will not be swayed from their support of the parents or of the surrogate mother. John Shea and Robin Strasser portray the married couple, while JoBeth Williams plays Whitehead. Baby M was initially telecast on May 22 and 23, 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
The bittersweet comedy Memories of Me stars Billy Crystal as Dr. Abbie Polin, a New York heart surgeon, long estranged from his father, Abe (Alan King). When the doctor suffers a mild heart attack, he tries to patch things up with his dad, hoping in this way to bring some equilibrium to his own life. This proves well-nigh impossible; Abe, the self-described "king of the Hollywood extras," is not only a play-actor in Tinseltown but in life itself, refusing to take on any real responsibilities, least of all the responsibility of parenthood. So far as Abe is concerned, his only "family" consists of his fellow extras. Though Abbie is extremely judgmental of his father, he himself is no prize in the commitment department, especially when dealing with his longtime lady friend (JoBeth Williams). Star/co-writer Crystal, co-star/co-producer King, and director Henry Winkler lay on the sentiment in thick, juicy slices toward the end. The final sequence in Memories of Me, a Felliniesque funeral, is very clever but somewhat out of synch with what has gone before. One of the film's highlights is a brief celebrity cameo by one of Alan King's "close personal friends." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Billy Crystal, Alan King, (more)
- 1987
Murder Ordained is the true story of a crime of passion in Emporia, Kansas. Terry Kinney plays the reverend Tom Bird, whose wife Sandy (Annabella Price) was found dead in 1983. At first, it seems as though Sandy was killed in a car accident. But highway patrolman John Rule (Keith Carradine) has a different theory: Rule believes that Bird murdered his wife out of love for his mistress (JoBeth Williams). A second killing in another Kansas county serves to confirm Rule's hypothesis. Filmed on location, the two-part Murder Ordained was originally telecast May 3 and 5, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keith Carradine, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1986
Adam: His Song Continues is a sequel to the highly regarded fact-based 1983 TV movie Adam. The first film was the heartrending story of Floridians John and Reve Walsh (Daniel J. Travanti, JoBeth Williams) whose six-year-old son Adam was kidnapped and murdered in 1981, whereupon the Walshes lobbied for creation of the Federal Missing Child Act, which allowed public access to FBI files of other lost youngsters. The sequel, also starring Travanti and Williams, doesn't have the emotional drive of the original, but is still absorbing in its chronicling of John Walsh's efforts to create a advocacy service for missing kids--and the pressures brought to bear on Reve, who is expecting another baby. Both Adam films end with a roll call of missing children, with His Song Continues listing those children who'd been found since the first movie. The real-life John Walsh later became the host of a Fox "reality" series America's Most Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set in 1950, this is a convincing, well-acted drama about a young girl's growing up in Las Vegas amidst poverty and a turbulent home life. The 13-year-old Rose (Annabeth Gish) lives with her mother (JoBeth Williams), stepfather (Jon Voight), and two sisters in a working-class home. Trouble is brewing on several fronts: her stepfather is his usual abusive self but is dipping into the bottle more frequently, her glitzy Aunt Starr (Ellen Barkin) arrives for a six-week stay and causes an upheaval in the marriage, and an above-ground nuclear bomb is about to be exploded at the government test site (only 65 miles away). If Rose can survive all this with her health, her sanity, and her clear intelligence intact, it will not be due to her supportive environment. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jon Voight, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
One of the more effectively spooky and financially successful horror films of the '80s got an inevitable sequel with this effects-heavy installment. The Freeling family is trying to grapple with the devastation wrought by the ghosts and ghouls that destroyed their lives. The insurance company doesn't believe their story about what happened to their house, so Steve (Craig T. Nelson), Diane (JoBeth Williams), and their kids, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) and Robbie (Oliver Robins), have been reduced to living in the home of Diane's mother, Jess (Geraldine Fitzgerald). Unfortunately for the Freelings, however, their new residence, just like their last, is situated on a haunted patch of unholy ground. A century before, the mad cult leader Kane (Julian Beck) slaughtered his followers nearby, and his evil spirit has returned in an effort to kidnap Carol Anne. When the Freelings realize what's happening, they call upon the psychic medium Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein) to help them again, and they also receive aid from a kindly Native American spiritualist, Taylor (Will Sampson). Noticeably absent from the sequel was older daughter Dana, who had been played by actress Dominique Dunne; Dunne was killed in 1982 by her obsessed boyfriend. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, (more)
