Howard Weston "Ted" Bessell Jr. (March 20, 1935 – October 6, 1996) was an American television actor and director widely known for his role as Donald Hollinger, the boyfriend and eventual fiancé of Marlo Thomas's character in the TV series That Girl (1966–1971).

He directed and acted in stock where he appeared in a wide spectrum of theatre works ranging from Shakespeare to Jule Styne.

He co-produced (with his brother, writer-director Frank Bessell) Joe Orton's Crimes of Passion, directed by Michael Kahn.

Bessell appeared in such feature films as McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force (1965),[2] and Don't Drink the Water (1969).

Bessell's best-known TV role was as Donald Hollinger, Marlo Thomas's boyfriend and fiancé on the hit series That Girl, which ran for five seasons from 1966 to 1971.

[4] When That Girl ended its run, he tried his hand at another sitcom, Me and the Chimp, in which he played Mike Reynolds, a dentist who is persuaded by his children to take in a runaway chimpanzee.