ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 14, 1996 TAG: 9609160049
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
Bibi Besch, an actress who appeared on many of television's most popular shows and was on the board of the Screen Actors Guild, died Sept. 7 at the Daniel Freeman Hospital in Los Angeles. Besch, who lived in Los Angeles, was 54.
She died of cancer, said her sister-in-law, Jenny Besch of New York.
Besch, a daughter of the actress Gusti Huber and the mother of the actress Samantha Mathis, appeared on `` Northern Exposure,'' ``E.R.,'' ``L.A. Law,'' ``Law and Order,'' ``Night Court,'' Family Ties,'' ``Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,'' ``Coach,'' ``It's Garry Shandling's Show'' and ``Murder, She Wrote.''
Her performances in ``Doing Time on Maple Drive'' and on ``Northern Exposure'' won her Emmy nominations in 1992 and 1993.
Besch's film credits included "Steel Magnolias," "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan," "Tremors," "Betsy's Wedding," "Who's That Girl" and "The Promise."
A director of the Screen Actors Guild from 1990 until her death, Besch served on many of the organization's committees, among them the national communications committee, the women's committee, the agents relations committee, and the women's health task force.
Besch was born in Vienna, came to the United States as a child, and grew up in the Westchester County towns of Mount Kisco and Chappaqua, N.Y. She attended Connecticut College and the New York acting school HB studio.
In addition to her daughter, who lives in Los Angeles, Besch is survived by her brother, Andrew Besch of New York City; two sisters, Drea Gillogly, of Los Angeles, and Christina MacDonald, of Monceaux, France; and her stepfather, Joseph Besch, of New York.
- The New York Times
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Besch (Ran in Metro edition).by CNB