Elizabeth Hoffman obit

Elizabeth Hoffman, the Mother Bea on ‘Sisters,’ Dies at 97

The actress also played Eleanor Roosevelt in two acclaimed Herman Wouk miniseries and recurred on ‘Little House on the Prairie,’ ‘Matlock’ and ‘Stargate SG-1.’  

She was not on the list.

Elizabeth Hoffman, who portrayed Beatrice Reed Ventnor, the mother of the daughters played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips during the entire six-season run of the NBC drama Sisters, has died. She was 97.

Hoffman died Aug. 21 of natural causes at her home in Malibu, her son Chris told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hoffman stood out as Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1983 and 1988-89 Herman Wouk miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, directed by Dan Curtis and starring Robert Mitchum.

She also portrayed Meryl Streep’s mom in Curtis Hanson’s The River Wild (1994) and the elderly Ruth, the mother-in-law of Linda Hamilton’s character who lives in a cabin at the base of the volcano, in Roger Donaldson’s Dante’s Peak (1997).

Hoffman’s depressed Bea sets Sisters in motion when her four daughters reunite to care for her after she turns to alcohol to deal with her husband’s death and sells the family home. The actress appeared on 87 of the series’ 128 episodes from 1991-96, and during the run of the show, Bea will lose another husband and a fifth daughter will emerge.

Born on Feb. 8, 1926, in Corvallis, Oregon, Hoffman did lots of theater in the San Fernando Valley before she made her onscreen debut in 1980 as Miss Mason on the first of her three appearances on Little House on the Prairie.

She recurred as Judge Mary Russell on five episodes of Matlock in 1989-90 and as Dr. Catherine Langford on two episodes of Stargate SG-1 in 1997-98.

Her résumé also included work in the films Fear No Evil (1981), Nuts (1987) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) and on television in The Greatest American Hero, The A-Team, Hunter, L.A. Law, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Thirtysomething.

For the theater, Hoffman appeared in several Tennessee Williams plays and portrayed a woman who takes in a young Jewish girl in Diane Samuels’ Kindertransport.

In addition to Chris, survivors include another son, Paul, and her grandchildren, Erica, Alison, Lauren and Lily.

“I’ve just been so privileged,” she said in a 2006 interview. “I hope that I have infused these things with as much honesty as I could bring. I’ve always worked toward that goal.”

Actress

Richard Dean Anderson, Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, and Amanda Tapping in Stargate SG-1 (1997)

Stargate SG-1

8.4

TV Series

Dr. Catherine Langford

Catherine Langford

1997–1998

2 episodes

 

Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton in Dante's Peak (1997)

Dante's Peak

6.0

Ruth

1997

 

Sela Ward, Swoosie Kurtz, Patricia Kalember, and Sheila Kelley in Sisters (1991)

Sisters

7.5

TV Series

Beatrice 'Bea' Reed Ventnor

1991–1996

127 episodes

 

Superfights (1996)

Superfights

5.6

Runner #2 (as Betsy Hoffman)

1996

 

Kevin Bacon, David Strathairn, Meryl Streep, and Joseph Mazzello in The River Wild (1994)

The River Wild

6.5

Gail's Mother

1994

 

The Great Pretender (1991)

The Great Pretender

5.6

TV Movie

Rose Outland

1991

 

Thirtysomething (1987)

Thirtysomething

7.5

TV Series

Eleanor Krieger

1989–1991

5 episodes

 

Andy Griffith in Matlock (1986)

Matlock

7.1

TV Series

Judge Mary Russell

1989–1990

5 episodes

 

Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July (1989)

Born on the Fourth of July

7.2

Passerby #1

1989

 

Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, and Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Star Trek: The Next Generation

8.7

TV Series

Premier Bhavani

1989

1 episode

 

Samantha Scully in Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

3.5

Video

Granny

1989

 

War and Remembrance (1988)

War and Remembrance

8.3

TV Mini Series

Eleanor Roosevelt

1988–1989

3 episodes

 

L.A. Law (1986)

L.A. Law

7.1

TV Series

Jeanne Rubens

1989

2 episodes

 

Dale Midkiff and Susan Walters in Elvis and Me (1988)

Elvis and Me

6.9

TV Movie

Mother Superior

1988

 

Richard Dreyfuss and Barbra Streisand in Nuts (1987)

Nuts

6.6

Dr. Johnson

1987

 

Do You Remember Love (1985)

Do You Remember Love

7.3

TV Movie

Lila

1985

 

Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)

Hunter

6.9

TV Series

Mrs. Thelma Atkins

1985

1 episode

 

Dana Carvey, Dick Butkus, James Farentino, and Bubba Smith in Blue Thunder (1984)

Blue Thunder

6.1

TV Series

Mrs. Moynihan

1984

1 episode

 

Cutter to Houston (1983)

Cutter to Houston

4.9

TV Series

Thelma Frobisher

1983

2 episodes

 

George Peppard, Mr. T, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz in The A-Team (1983)

The A-Team

7.5

TV Series

Mother Superior

1983

1 episode

 

Robert Mitchum, Jan-Michael Vincent, John Houseman, David Dukes, and Ali MacGraw in The Winds of War (1983)

The Winds of War

8.1

TV Mini Series

Eleanor Roosevelt

1983

2 episodes

 

The Greatest American Hero (1981)

The Greatest American Hero

7.3

TV Series

Margaret Detwiller

1982

1 episode

 

Melissa Sue Anderson, Melissa Gilbert, Michael Landon, Karen Grassle, Richard Bull, Sidney Greenbush, Jonathan Gilbert, Rachel Lindsay Greenbush, and Katherine MacGregor in Little House on the Prairie (1974)

Little House on the Prairie

7.5

TV Series

Miss Mason

1980–1981

3 episodes

 

Fear No Evil (1981)

Fear No Evil

4.6

Mikhail

Margaret Buchanan

1981