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File:Carol marcus.jpg

...as Doctor Carol Marcus in 1982

Actress Bibi Besch (1 February 19407 September 1996; age 56) is best known to Star Trek fans for playing the role of Doctor Carol Marcus in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). She also narrated the audio release of the Michael Jan Friedman novel Faces of Fire.

A 30-year veteran of television and feature films, Bibi (short for Bibiana) Besch got her television start in 1966 on the soap opera The Secret Storm, on which she spent one season. Trek actors John Colicos, Laurence Luckinbill, and Diana Muldaur were also part of that show's cast at one time or another.

Besch went on to have brief stints on three other long-running TV soap operas, The Edge of Night (1969-70), Love is a Many Spledored Thing (1971-1973), and Somerset (1973-1976). All of these programs also featured several other Trek alumni.

Besch would appear with her fellow Secret Storm actor Laurence Luckinbill in the 1979 film The Promise. That film also starred Stephen Collins from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Besch would work with her Wrath of Khan co-star Paul Winfield twice before that film went into production. First, in 1979, they co-starred together in the 1979 TV mini-series Backstairs at the White House. This series also featured Robert Hooks, Noble Willingham, and Bill Quinn. Then in 1981, she and Winfield would again co-star in the TV movie The Sophistacted Gents, which also featured Robert Hooks as well as Bernie Casey and Alfre Woodard.

After Star Trek II, Besch would reteam with that film's director, Nicholas Meyer, on the acclaimed, jarring made-for-TV film The Day After (1983).

She received one Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress for the TV special Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992, co-starring with James B. Sikking), and another in 1993 for a guest appearance on Northern Exposure. She also had a role on the 1991 TV movie Crazy from the Heart, which also featured TNG actor Brent Spiner in an uncredited cameo.

In addition to her role on Star Trek II, she had notable roles in other feature films, including Who's That Girl? (1987, also featuring Mike Starr and Roy Brocksmith), Steel Magnolias (1989, also featuring Nancy Parsons and Tom Hodges), and Tremors (1990). She also had a supporting role in the 1990 comedy Betsy's Wedding, as did DS9 guest actress Camille Saviola.

Sadly, Besch succumbed to metastasized breast cancer on September 7th, 1996, one day before Star Trek's 30th anniversary.

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