Elizabeth Hess (born 17 July 1953 in Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian actress best known for playing mother Janet Darling on the long-running American sitcom Clarissa Explains It All. She has also appeared on an episode of Law & Order. Currently, she is teaching acting at New York University's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts and at Fordham University at Lincoln Center.Her resume includes regional theater, as well as works on- and off- Broadway.