Jo Beth Williams

Jo Beth Williams may not have achieved top-billing status in Hollywood, but she has earned Emmy, Golden Globe, and Academy Award nominations throughout her career. While most people remember Jo Beth Williams as the frantic but determined mother who fought demonic spirits in her child’s closet in the blockbuster film Poltergeist, Williams has a very respectable list of big and small screen credits to her name.

Born Margaret Jo Beth Williams on December 6, 1948, in Houston, Texas, Williams was encouraged in the art of theater by her father, who was an opera singer. Though she had appeared in performances in high school, she attended Brown University intending to become a child psychologist. She instead earned her degree in English and pursued acting by becoming a member of the Trinity Repertory Company.

Beginning her career in daytime drama, Williams appeared regularly on both Somerset and The Guiding Light during the mid-1970s. In 1979, Williams made her first silver screen appearance in a memorable and revealing role in the film Kramer vs. Kramer, starring Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep. Williams achieved stardom in 1982 when she starred opposite Craig T. Nelson in Steven Spielberg’s Poltergeist. Her role in this film paved the way for another blockbuster the following year when she appeared alongside Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum, William Hurt, Kevin Cline, and Meg Tilly in the critically acclaimed movie The Big Chill. After portraying what may have been her two biggest roles, Williams appeared opposite Nick Nolte in Teachers and then in the disappointing sequel Poltergeist II: The Other Side. However, following her early 1980s run on the big screen, Williams found success in many made-for-television dramas and miniseries and appeared on several sitcoms as well. She earned her first Emmy nomination for her role in Adam, the television movie based on the real-life abduction of Adam Walsh.

Williams’s interests don’t stop at acting. She made her directorial debut in 1994 with the Showtime movie On Hope, for which she garnered an Academy Award nomination. She continues to search out directing opportunities on her own, though she is married to director John Pasquin. Jo Beth and John have been married since 1982 and have two children together. Jo Beth recently appeared in the 2005 film Fever Pitch starring Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon. She has also appeared in episodes of 24, Numb3rs, The Nine, and Criminal Minds.

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