Bess Lindstrom

Bess Valenti (nee Lindstrom) is a fictional character on the sitcom, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and the subsequent spin-off series, "Phyllis". In both shows, she was played by actress Lisa Gerritsen.

More the mother than daughter

Bess is the daughter and only child of Phyllis Lindstrom and her late husband, Lars. To some observers, she is more the mother to Phyllis than Phyllis is to Bess. She helped her mother decorate the new apartment that Mary Richards moved into. She bonded well with Rhoda Morgenstern, to her mother's horror, calling her "Aunt Rhoda". She also bonded with Mary, who was an old friend of her mother. On the other hand, she only refers to Phyllis by her proper name instead of any motherly endearment.

Although she grew up on the show, she was rarely seen on MTM. She was featured more on her mother's spin-off show. By this time, Bess had grown up and had become a High School student. She and her mother moved to San Francisco right after her dermatologist father died. They moved in with her paternal grandmother, Audrey Dexter; her second husband, Judge Jonathan Dexter; and "his" 87-year old mother, Sally, referred to as "Mother Dexter".

While Mother Dexter absolutely despised Phyllis and did everything possible to put her down and put her in her place, she seemed to get along great with Bess. Obviously, Mother Dexter thought that Bess should have been mothered, instead of Bess mothering Phyllis. Eventually, as the show ended, Bess married a young man named Mark Valenti, who was the son of Phyllis' boss at her second job. They eventually moved out of San Francisco and are presumably still happily married.