- A former 12-year-old child prodigy, his youthful highlight was performing a piano recital at Carnegie Hall.
- For five years (until his death) his professional partner was Penny Marshall at Parkway Productions.
- Best remembered by the public for his role as "Donald Hollinger" in That Girl (1966), starring Marlo Thomas, with whom he remained friends until his death. The two discussed a feature film remake of That Girl (1966), in which the two main characters, now 25 years older, would meet again and fall in love.
- Bessell died at age 61 after suffering an aortic aneurysm at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m. on October 6, 1996 in the emergency room. At the time, he was in the process of directing the movie version of the television series Bewitched (1964). Ironically, a quarter-century earlier, he had guest-starred in Echo from Another World (1971) as a doctor who misdiagnoses a patient who ends up having an aortic aneurysm. Bessell is interred at Woodlawn Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.
- Before becoming an actor, Ted Bessell reportedly considered the priesthood as a vocation.
- His widow, Linnell Nobori, is an artist; the couple had two daughters, Sarah and Mary. A former wife was Donna Gordon, an exotic dancer; they divorced in the 1980s.
- Bessell moved into directing and helmed episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show (1987) and, in 1989, shared an Emmy as a producer on Fox Broadcasting's "Tracey Ullman", which was honored as best variety or comedy program.
- He remained friends with his former That Girl (1966) co-star Marlo Thomas and they were often in touch. In early October of 1996, he told Marlo that he was having chest pains and she told him to go to a doctor, but it was too late. He passed away in an emergency room just a few days later. If his aneurysm had been diagnosed earlier, it could have been treated. Unfortunately, those whose aneurysm bursts have only a 20% chance of survival.
- On I Married Marge (1991), Homer and Marge walk down the aisle as Marge says "Well you may not look like Ted Bessel, but you're just as nice." What appears to be a 'That Girl' reference was more likely an insider nod of recognition. Ted Bessel directed many episodes of The Tracey Ullman Show (1987), from whence "The Simpsons" originated. Both Marge (Julie Kavner) and Homer (Dan Castellaneta) were members of the live-action supporting cast he worked with.
- Attending both Georgetown University and the University of Colorado, he graduated in 1958 and focused on acting. He studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse.
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