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 GuideComplete Filmography
- 1998
It is hardly an unusual occurrence when the Minneapolis airport is snowed in...even on Christmas eve, stranding thousands of disgruntled tourists. What makes this particular snowbound evening a bit different from others is the identity of two would-be flyers who must wait out the blizzard before they can take off to their respective destinations. Maddie Parker (JoBeth Williams), on the verge of divorcing her briefly unfaithful husband, has arrived at the terminal with sister and daughters, en route to her mother (Dina Merrill)'s house in Chicago. At the same time, Maddie's sportswriter husband, Matt (Michael Ontkean), who plans to visit his dad in Miami, is likewise cooling his heels in the selfsame terminal. Thus thrust together, Maddie and Matt are given ample time to decide if they ought to give their relationship a second chance. Meanwhile, long-married older couple Earl and Ruth Pulmer (Charles Durning and Barbara Barrie), battle-scarred veterans of many a domestic skirmish, benignly stand on the sidelines and kibitz. Although the conclusion of the film is foregone, getting there is half the fun. A Chance of Snow made its cable TV debut via the Lifetime network on December 7, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, Michael Ontkean, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1983
Adam is the heartbreakingly true story of the disappearance of 6-year-old Adam Walsh (John Boston) at a South Florida shopping mall. Adam's anguished parents John and Reve Walsh (Daniel J. Travanti and JoBeth Williams) turn to the FBI for help in finding their son, only to discover that the federal organization does not involve itself in such cases. As hope for Adam's return fades, the Walshes begin an organization to aid and comfort other families of missing children. The story does not end happily for Adam or his parents, but as a result of this tragedy, Congress passes the Federal Missing Children Act in 1983. This made-for-TV drama, originally telecast October 10, 1983, was followed by a sequel three years later. The real-life John Walsh later hosted the popular "reality-based" TV series America's Most Wanted. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Daniel J. Travanti, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
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- 1995
After the Silence concerns a deaf girl who must contend with numerous difficulties in order to make sure her father pays for abusing her. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, Kellie Martin, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
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- 1984
- PG
In this farcical look at a female detective/mystery story writer, Cathy Palmer (JoBeth Williams) is an ordinary housewife living in Ohio with a condescending husband who is far from ideal. When Cathy wins a writing contest and has the chance to go to Paris and meet the author of the romance novels she loves, her husband tries to prevent the trip. In the end, Cathy's interests prevail, though her husband still refuses to go with her. After arriving in Paris, Cathy is knocked down by a car and wakes up in the hospital with all memory of her past life erased. In its place, she believes she is Rebecca Ryan, the heroine in the romance novels she has read. Carrying her unconscious role to the hilt, she dresses in elegant clothes and meets the comically rattled Alan McMann (Tom Conti) who becomes her partner, of sorts. Little does she know that Alan is not Rebecca's secretary, but the actual ghost writer of the Ryan novels. Cathy begins to suspect that villains are lurking everywhere, and her intuition in that regard is unerring -- she has doubts about the klutzy leader of the French opposition party (Giancarlo Giannini), and it turns out her doubts are well-founded. As the plot thickens, it becomes apparent that sooner or later Cathy-cum-Rebecca will have to realize the truth about her identity, but in the meantime, much skullduggery awaits. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- JoBeth Williams, Tom Conti, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
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- 1998
- R
Gina Gallagher (Tracey Needham) is a federal prosecutor who sends a major drug dealer to prison only to find herself the target of his partners in crime. Their reprisals become too close for comfort when Gina's partner is killed, but she begins to suspect that the drug lords have gained some powerful allies when a major U.S. attorney begins running interference against her. However, Frank (James Belushi), an undercover FBI agent, and Moe (Charles Durning), a retired cop, become Gina's unlikely allies as she tries to get to the bottom of the dealers' tangled web and save her own neck in the process. JoBeth Williams also stars. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charles Durning, Tracey Needham, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1996
This fact-based TV movie stars JoBeth Williams as Pam Willis, a case worker for the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women. In the course of a standard investigation, Pam comes upon Laura Keyes (Kellie Martin), a 14-year-old deafmute girl who has been locked up since childhood and never taught sign language. Even worse, Laura has endured a lifetime of unspeakable abuse at the hands of her father. Taking Laura under her wing, Pam endeavors to teach the terrified girl how to communicate and function in the "outside" world--and in the process, awakens the soul that has been so long buried within Laura's battered consciousness. This mission turns out to be a desperate race against time when Laura's bestial father begins scouring the slums in search of his "runaway" daughter. Breaking Through debuted December 30, 1996 on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kellie Martin, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1986
- PG
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)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1991
- PG13
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)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1982
- R
Based on a true story, Endangered Species stars Robert Urich and JoBeth Williams. Urich plays vacationing ex-cop Ruben Castle, while Williams portrays Harriet Purdue, a small-town sheriff. Intrigued by Purdue's investigation of a rash of cattle mutilations, Castle begins following the evidence trail himself. What has been attributed to a religious cult or extraterrestrials by the locals turns out to be a covert operation conducted by a corrupt cartel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Urich, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1974
A non-linear stage production tracing writer Oscar Wilde's five-year tenure in England's Reading Goal prison, Adrian Hall and Richard Cumming's acclaimed stage production finally finds its way to home video. Starring Richard Kneeland as Wilde, the play follows the acclaimed writer's dark journey following an affair with the Marquis of Queensbury's son. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Kneeland, JoBeth Williams, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
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- 2005
- PG13
Nick Hornby's acclaimed memoir about one man's struggle to balance his love of a woman and his love for soccer was the basis of a well-reviewed British film in 1997, and now gets a Americanized rewrite with this picture, in which the game is changed from soccer to baseball. Ben (Jimmy Fallon) is a high-school teacher who meets Lindsay (Drew Barrymore), who has a successful career in business. Ben and Lindsay don't appear to have much in common on the surface, but they hit it off and are soon involved in a serious romance. But when spring rolls around, Lindsay becomes aware of the true love of Ben's life -- the Boston Red Sox. Despite the team's lamentable record, Ben has been a fiercely loyal Red Sox fan since childhood, and Lindsay finds it hard to compete with his passion for baseball, while Ben is forced to choose between the obsessions of his youth and the enthusiasms of a responsible adult. Fever Pitch was shot in part in Boston during the 2004 baseball season, which to the surprise of the filmmakers saw the Red Sox winning baseball's world series for the first time since 1918. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Drew Barrymore, Jimmy Fallon, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
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- 2000
Two friends get their first taste of adult responsibilities in this made-for-cable comedy-drama. Francesca (Mischa Barton) and Hazel (Ingrid Uribe) are two 12-year-old girls growing up in Percaucus, an economically depressed community that's seen better days. Hazel, who has an avid interest in politics and history, is upset with the slow decay of her hometown; she thinks new leadership would help, and when she discovers the city charter states no age requirement for the office of mayor, she decides to run against Mayor Harrison (Larry Musser), who has held the office for 28 years and is otherwise running unopposed. Meanwhile, Hazel's best friend Francesca loves the ballet, and has studied for years with the avid encouragement of her grandmother Phoebe (Joan Plowright). Phoebe has managed to get Francesca an audition for a scholarship with a prestigious dance academy; however, "Frankie," as her friends call her, also loves baseball, and has battled a sexist coach and dubious teammates to make it onto the local Little League team. Between her heavy schedule of dance practices and rehearsals, and her time with the team, Francesca's schoolwork is starting to suffer, and she realizes something will have to give. Frankie and Hazel was directed by actress-turned-filmmaker JoBeth Williams; it was produced for the Showtime premium cable network. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joan Plowright, Mischa Barton, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1994
In this first episode of a two-part story, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) is swept off his feet by sexy businesswoman Madeleine (JoBeth Williams). So smitten is our hero that he invites Madeleine on a romantic runaway to the isle of Bora Bora. Upon arriving in the tropical paradise, Frasier runs smack dab into his ex-wife, Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth in her second Cheers appearance). And the worst is still to come -- Art Garfunkel makes a memorable "appearance" as one Frasier's call-in radio listeners. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 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
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
- 1980
In Fun and Games, a professional career woman is harassed by her boss, who then rejects her for promotion. The woman then sues her boss for sexual harassment ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
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- 2007
- PG13
A man having trouble with women suddenly finds himself surrounded by them in this independent comedy drama. Carter Webb (Adam Brody) is a successful writer who has fallen into an emotional tailspin after his girlfriend, well-known actress Sophia (Elena Anaya), breaks up with him. When Carter learns that his grandmother (Olympia Dukakis) is in failing health, he decides to leave California and return to his hometown of Detroit to help take care of her and beginning work on his long-planned novel. As Carter spends time with his grandmother, he becomes friendly with her neighbors -- mom Sarah Hardwicke (Meg Ryan) and her two daughters, angst-ridden teen Lucy (Kristen Stewart) and precocious 11-year-old Paige (Makenzie Vega). As Sarah attempts to deal with a pressing personal crisis and Carter begins sorting out his relationship issues, he discovers that sometimes what feels like the end is actually just a new beginning. In the Land of Women was the first directorial project for actor and screenwriter Jon Kasdan, the son of writer and director Lawrence Kasdan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
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- 2004
- R
A man who has spent much of his life dealing with grief finally has more than he knows what to do with in this independent drama. Walter Hartwig Jr. (Sean Patrick Flanery) is a New York City cop who is haunted by the death of his sister, who drowned at Coney Island when he was a boy. Hartwig saw his sister die and has felt responsible ever since. Every year on her birthday, he has himself thrown into the ocean as penance, and works with the NYPD Harbor Unit in hope of someday paying back his act of childhood negligence. After a passenger jet crashes into the ocean near the city, Hartwig is sent out to help, and is mesmerized by the sight of Sabrina Hampton (Melina Kanakaredes), a musician who died in the accident. Sabrina reminds him of his sister, and he sets out to find her twin sister, who worked as a teacher but has been traumatized by her loss and now refuses to leave her apartment. As Hartwig begins losing touch with reality, he finds solace when he strikes up a friendship with June Sickles (JoBeth Williams). June lost her son, who was a police officer, on September 11, 2001, and since then has been raising his daughter, giving her plenty of experience in dealing with the harsh side of fate. Into the Fire was the first feature film from writer and director Michael Phelan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sean Patrick Flanery, Melina Kanakaredes, (more)
- Format:
- DVD | See other available versions
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