Elizabeth Hess (born 17 July 1953 in Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian/American actor, playwright, director and arts educator. Her upcoming book, ACTING & BEING: Explorations in Embodied Performance, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan and presents a hybrid approach to performance techniques that is based on her original theatrical works and acting instruction, both in New York and internationally.
On TV, she is best known for playing the mother Janet Darling on the long-running American sitcom Clarissa Explains It All. She has also appeared on several episodes of Law & Order.