Bess Rous
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Bess Rous is an American actress, born and raised in Short Hills, New Jersey. From age 15 to 18 she trained as a competitive ice dancer at the Ice Skating Science Development Center in Newark, Delaware. She later earned a BFA in Acting from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University and holds a certificate from The London Academy of Theatre. Early in her stage career she originated roles opposite Mercedes Ruehl at The McCarter Theatre and opposite Ed Harris at The Geffen Playhouse.
In Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016), Rous portrayed Gertrude Aldridge, the ghost of a murdered resident whose spirit haunts the Aldridge Mansion Museum. To portray the levitating ghost, she wore an LED light suit and was suspended in a rig that moved her up and down. During one take she unexpectedly screamed, startling Kristen Wiig and others on set. Rous had a prior working relationship with director Paul Feig, having appeared in his short-lived comedy series Other Space (2015) alongside several other cast members who would later join the Ghostbusters production.
Her television credits include a series regular role in Murder in the First (TNT, 2014), a recurring role in Under the Dome (CBS, 2015), and guest appearances on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Castle, Grey's Anatomy, Chicago Med, and FBI. In film, she appeared in Renfield (2023).