# Bibi Besch
**Bibi Besch** was an Austrian-American actress of film, television, and stage whose three-decade career produced more than a hundred roles, and who is best remembered as Dr. Carol Marcus in *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* (1982). Born in Vienna in 1942, she spent most of her working life in the United States, where she became a familiar supporting actress on television and served on the board of the [Screen Actors Guild](https://www.edgepedia.org/screen-actors-guild).[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and origin | Bibiana Maria Köchert, born 1942 in Vienna, Austria, daughter of actress Gusti Huber and racing driver Gotfrid Köchert[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/bio/) • [1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) |
| Signature role | Dr. Carol Marcus, former love of Captain Kirk and mother of his son, in *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* (1982)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/) |
| Emmy nominations | 1992, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, for *Doing Time on Maple Drive*; 1993, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, for *Northern Exposure*[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) |
| Razzie nomination | 1984 Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Supporting Actress for *The Lonely Lady* (1983)[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) |
| Guild service | Director of the Screen Actors Guild from 1990 until her death; served on committees including the women's committee and the women's health task force[5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) |
| Output | More than 100 film and television productions from the 1960s onward[6](https://fmdb.mov/en/people/1794-bibi-besch) |
| Death | September 7, 1996, in Los Angeles, age 54, from breast cancer[5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) |
## Early life and family
Besch was born Bibiana Maria Köchert in Vienna, the younger of two daughters of the [Burgtheater](https://www.edgepedia.org/burgtheater) and later Broadway actress Gusti Huber and the Austrian racing driver Gotfrid Köchert, who served as a pilot for the [Wehrmacht](https://www.edgepedia.org/wehrmacht) during World War II.[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) Her parents divorced when she was very young, and she stayed in Vienna with her mother and older sister Christiana for the duration of the war.[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/)
In 1946 the family moved to the United States, settling in [Chappaqua, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/chappaqua-new-york). Her mother remarried that year to radio executive and former US Army captain Joseph Besch, from whom the daughters took their surname.[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) • [5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) She grew up in the Westchester County towns of Mount Kisco and Chappaqua, attended Horace Greeley High School, and studied at [Connecticut College](https://www.edgepedia.org/connecticut-college) in New London without completing a degree, before moving to New York to pursue acting; she also trained at the [HB Studio](https://www.edgepedia.org/hb-studio) acting school.[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) • [5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) In 1965 she married Donald B. Mathis, a civil rights activist and US government official; the marriage ended in divorce in 1973, and their daughter, the actress Samantha Mathis, was born of it.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/) • [1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/)
## Television career
Television was the backbone of Besch's working life. Her start came in daytime soap operas, beginning with *The Secret Storm* in the mid 1960s and continuing through *The Edge of Night*, *Love Is a Many Splendored Thing*, and *Somerset*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) • [7](https://www.kinobox.cz/osobnosti/18048-bibi-besch) From these she moved into guest parts on the hit series of the 1970s and 1980s, including *The Rockford Files*, *Charlie's Angels*, *The Six Million Dollar Man*, *Dallas*, *Knots Landing*, *Family Ties*, *The Golden Girls*, *Night Court*, *L.A. Law*, and *Murder, She Wrote*, in which she appeared twice between 1988 and 1994.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/person/bibi-besch/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/)
**Late recognition.** The early 1990s brought her the peer recognition of Emmy nominations: in 1992 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a [Miniseries](https://www.edgepedia.org/miniseries) or a Special for the television movie *Doing Time on Maple Drive*, and in 1993 for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for *Northern Exposure*.[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) Her final years of work included recurring and guest spots on *The Jeff Foxworthy Show*, *Melrose Place*, *ER*, and *Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman*, all in the mid 1990s.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/)
## Film work
Her first feature role came in 1975 in *Distance*, directed by Anthony Lover, after a television debut on NBC's *Children's Theatre*.[1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/) The American Film Institute catalog lists 16 feature film credits, among them *Hardcore* (1979), *The Promise* (1979), *Meteor* (1979), *The Beast Within* (1982), *The Lonely Lady* (1983), *Who's That Girl* (1987), *Steel Magnolias* (1989), *Betsy's Wedding* (1990), and *Tremors* (1990).[9](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/237099)
The role audiences remember is Dr. Carol Marcus in *Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan* (1982), a scientist and former lover of Captain Kirk and the mother of his son; sources repeatedly identify it as the part for which she is best remembered.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/) • [4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/) Two years later came the negative end of the spectrum: a Golden Raspberry (Razzie) nomination for Worst Supporting Actress for her work in *The Lonely Lady* (1983).[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/)
## Stage and guild work
Besch also acted on stage, in plays including *Fame*, *The Chinese Prime Minister*, *Here Lies Jeremy Troy*, and *Once For the Asking*.[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/bio/) Offstage she took on organized labor and public-health work within her union. From 1990 until her death she was a director of the Screen Actors Guild, serving on the national communications committee, the women's committee, the agents relations committee, and the women's health task force; she was also interested in protecting women in the working world and supported associations in the field of preventive medicine.[5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) • [1](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/)
## Death
Besch died of breast cancer on September 7, 1996, at Daniel Freeman Hospital in Los Angeles, at the age of 54.[5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm) Her last television appearance, a guest role on *Melrose Place*, aired two days after her death.[7](https://www.kinobox.cz/osobnosti/18048-bibi-besch) She was survived by her daughter [Samantha Mathis](https://www.edgepedia.org/samantha-mathis), who became an actress in her own right, as well as a brother, two sisters, and her stepfather Joseph Besch.[5](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm)
## References
1. [Bibi Besch – An Austrian in Hollywood, Cinema Austriaco (Marina Pavido, 2023)](https://cinema-austriaco.org/en/2023/08/03/bibi-besch-an-austrian-in-hollywood/)
2. [Bibi Besch, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/)
3. [Bibi Besch – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000935/bio/)
4. [Bibi Besch – Actress, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/bibi-besch/)
5. [Popular TV Actress Dead at 54, The New York Times (reprinted in the Roanoke Times, September 14, 1996)](https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/ROA-Times/issues/1996/rt9609/960914/09160049.htm)
6. [Bibi Besch, FMDb](https://fmdb.mov/en/people/1794-bibi-besch)
7. [Bibi Besch – Životopis, Kinobox.cz](https://www.kinobox.cz/osobnosti/18048-bibi-besch)
8. [Bibi Besch, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/bibi-besch/)
9. [Bibi Besch, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/237099)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Be to Bo*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license