Biografie

Supposedly turned down the lead in the sitcom Murphy Brown (1988), which had been created by Diane English with JoBeth in mind.

Jobeth's part in Die Hunde des Krieges (1980) was significantly cut in the American version released but much less so in the British version. Steven Spielberg happened to catch the unedited version in London and immediately cast her as the down-to-earth mom whose family is tormented by apparitions in Poltergeist (1982).

She was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame on March 10, 2006 in Austin, Texas. The other inductees were Matthew McConaughey, Kris Kristofferson, Cybill Shepherd and Lyle Lovett.

JoBeth Williams earned an Academy Award nomination for her directorial debut of On Hope (1994), but was nominated not for best director, but for Best Live Action Short Film, as the producer of the film made for Showtime Networks, along with her producing partner on that film, Michele McGuire.

Co-starred with Craig T. Nelson in 3 films: Poltergeist (1982), Poltergeist II - Die andere Seite (1986) and Zwei wahnsinnig starke Typen (1980).

"I live in a town where if you're a woman over 40, you're really passé. In the movies, a Sean Connery can get Catherine Zeta-Jones as a love interest. But Shirley MacLaine can't have Billy Crudup as a boyfriend".

Now that I'm directing is where I've felt how difficult it is. Out of 200 or so movies made last year, only seven were directed by women. There's been an enormous leap of women producers and heads of studios, but strangely enough, those women haven't given other women a boost. It's very frustrating.

I felt they had really moved the characters in a direction that was very interesting. The family had really felt the impact of what had happened to the.

I wanted to play the part that Mary Kay played, the lawyer who wanted to have baby and felt her clock ticking, because it was something I could relate to.

I think there's a danger of a being typecast as the all-American mom forever.