# Bibi Besch

Bibi Besch (born Bibiana Maria Köchert; February 1, 1942 – September 7, 1996) was an Austrian-American film, television, and stage actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Dr. Carol Marcus in the science fiction film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Her other notable film roles were in Who's That Girl (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), and Tremors (1990). Besch also appeared in a number of television productions, including the television film The Day After (1983) and The Jeff Foxworthy Show, and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

## Early life

Bibiana Maria Köchert was born in Vienna in 1942, the younger of two daughters born to theater actress Gusti Huber, who starred in German films during World War II, and Gotfrid Köchert, an Austrian racing driver, who served in the Wehrmacht. She had an elder sister, Christiana Barbara Köchert. Gusti and her two daughters remained in Vienna throughout World War II, immigrating to the United States after the war ended.
Joseph Besch, a radio executive and former U.S. Army captain, married Huber, a divorcee, in 1946, and became Huber's daughters' stepfather; his stepchildren took his surname. Huber and Besch later had two children, born in the United States, Drea and Andrew, the half-siblings of Bibiana and Christiana. She had a daughter, Samantha Mathis, also an actress.

## Career

Most of Besch's early TV experience came from years spent on New York-based daytime soap operas — The Secret Storm (1966), The Edge of Night (1969), Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1973) and Somerset (1974). In later years she was seen in primetime soaps, such as Secrets of Midland Heights (1980), The Hamptons (1983), Dynasty (1984), Dallas (1985), Falcon Crest (1985-1986), Knots Landing (1989) and an episode of Melrose Place which aired on September 9, 1996, two days after her death.
Besch guest starred in a variety of television series, including Street Hawk, The Rockford Files, The Golden Girls, Murder, She Wrote, Backstairs at the White House, and It's Garry Shandling's Show. Having appeared on a 1979 episode of James Arness' western series, How the West Was Won, she reunited with him in the 1981 made-for-TV film McClain's Law which served as the two-hour debut episode of Arness' 1981–82 same-named police detective series.
She played Dr. Carol Marcus, the early love of Admiral James T. Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). Her other films included Victory at Entebbe (1976), The Pack (1977), The Promise (1979), Meteor (1979), The Beast Within (1982), The Lonely Lady (1983), The Day After (1983), Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry (1986), He's My Girl (1987), Who's That Girl (1987), Date with an Angel (1987), Steel Magnolias (1989), Tremors (1990), and Betsy's Wedding (1990).
In 1992, she received an Emmy Award nomination for her performance in Doing Time on Maple Drive, which starred William McNamara and Jim Carrey as her sons. She received another Emmy nomination in 1993 for her recurring-character role as the neurotic mother of Janine Turner's character on Northern Exposure. She continued to act until her death in 1996, having amassed well over 100 television and film credits.

## Death

Bibi Besch died of breast cancer at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Los Angeles on September 7, 1996. She was 54 years old.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Distance | Joanne Morse | |
| 1976 | Victory at Entebbe | German Woman | TV movie |
| 1977 | The Pack | Marge | |
| 1978 | The Six Million Dollar Man | Countess Lysandra Korischeva | Episode: The Madonna Caper |
| 1979 | Hardcore | Mary | |
| 1979 | The Promise | Dr. Faye Allison | |
| 1979 | Meteor | Helen Bradley | |
| 1981 | McClain's Law | Annie Lammon | TV movie |
| 1982 | The Beast Within | Caroline MacCleary | |
| 1982 | Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan | Dr. Carol Marcus | |
| 1983 | The Lonely Lady | Veronica Randall | |
| 1983 | The Day After | Eve Dahlberg | TV movie |
| 1983 | Likely Stories, Vol. 3 | Beth Warner | |
| 1984 | Cagney & Lacey | Linda Carson | Episode: Matinee |
| 1986 | Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry | Doreen Delafield | TV movie |
| 1987 | Who's That Girl | Mrs. Worthington | |
| 1987 | He's My Girl | Marcia | |
| 1987 | Date with an Angel | Grace Sanders | |
| 1988 | Family Ties | Dr. Hewitt | |
| 1989 | Kill Me Again | Jack's Secretary | |
| 1989 | The Golden Girls | Helen Budd | Episode: Sick and Tired (part 2) |
| 1989 | Steel Magnolias | Belle Marmillion | |
| 1990 | Night Court | Mrs. Rollins | |
| 1990 | Tremors | Megan as The Doctor's Wife | |
| 1990 | Betsy's Wedding | Nancy Lovell | |
| 1991 | Lonely Hearts | Maria Wilson | |
| 1992 | Doing Time on Maple Drive | Lisa Carter | TV movie |
| 1992–1993 | Northern Exposure | Jane O'Connell | 2 Episodes: "Burning Down the House" and "Grosse Pointe, 48230" |
| 1995 | My Family | Mrs. Gillespie | |
| 1999 | California Myth | Harriet | (final film role) |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1984 | 4th Golden Raspberry Awards | Worst Supporting Actress | The Lonely Lady | Nominated |
| 1992 | 44th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special | Doing Time on Maple Drive | Nominated |
| 1993 | 45th Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series | Northern Exposure | Nominated |