Bob Newhart's co-star, Suzanne Pleshette, dies at 70

[PZelda]

I can't believe it!! I adored Suzanne Pleshette a lot.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/entert...38398020080120

Suzanne Pleshette of "Newhart" fame dies at 70
Sun Jan 20, 2008 2:27pm EST

By Alexandria Sage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Suzanne Pleshette, best known as the feisty but level-headed wife of Bob Newhart on television's 1970's hit "The Bob Newhart Show," has died at age of 70, friends said on Sunday.

Pleshette died of respiratory failure at her Los Angeles home on Saturday, friends and associates told local media. She had received chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006 and had appeared at a "Bob Newhart" reunion in September in a wheelchair.

The raven-haired Pleshette, trained for the stage in New York, became a regular on television shows in the 1970s and 1980s and most recently appeared in a recurring role on NBC's "Will & Grace."

But she was best loved as the no-nonsense Emily Hartley, foil to the wry Bob Newhart, on "The Bob Newhart Show" from 1972 to 1978.

With her saucy wit, throaty voice and flair for comedy, Pleshette was the antithesis of the traditional staid American television wife and the on-screen dynamic between the two leads guaranteed the show legions of fans.

Born January 31, 1937, in New York City, Pleshette attended Manhattan's High School of the Performing Arts and Syracuse University and went on to train at the Neighborhood Playhouse under acting great Sanford Meisner.

Her film debut came in 1958 with the Jerry Lewis comedy "The Geisha Boy" and Pleshette went on to appear in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" and films like Western "A Distant Trumpet," romantic drama "Rome Adventure" and comedy "The Ugly Dachshund."

Pleshette appeared on Broadway in 1961, replacing Anne Bancroft as Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker."

The actress garnered two Emmy Award nominations for her work on "The Bob Newhart Show" as well as a nod for her leading performance in the 1991 television movie "Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean."

Pleshette was married three times, most recently to comic actor Tom Poston, who appeared in the original Newhart series and returned to play handyman George Utley on the 1980s revival sitcom "Newhart." Poston died in April 2007.

Pleshette's first marriage was to actor Troy Donahue. Her second was to businessman Tom Gallagher, who died in 2000 from lung cancer.

Reuters/Nielsen

[dawsongirl]

Drop those cigs, kids.

[JoPol_wannabe]

Originally Posted by dawsongirl

Drop those cigs, kids.

Ditto

[HuntingtonM15]

The last I heard she had been getting better, so it was a bit of a shock.

[friendsfan77]

Originally Posted by HuntingtonM15

The last I heard she had been getting better, so it was a bit of a shock.

Wow, I didn't know she was getting better. I'm even more sad about it now.

[Shine]

[catlover79]

I totally loved her - she and Bob were the perfect TV couple. God bless her!!

[Dean Winchester]

I so did not see her death coming

RIP, at least she is back with her husband Tom Poston

[Stuck In The '70's]

Man Saturdays in the 70's watching her and Bob and the rest of the CBS Saturday lineup...so many of the stars I grew up with are passing by.

[Shine]

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

Man Saturdays in the 70's watching her and Bob and the rest of the CBS Saturday lineup...so many of the stars I grew up with are passing by.

Was the Bob Newhart Show on the same night as All in the Family, Sonny? I know that AITF was on CBS on Saturday nights.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Crazy for Blair

Was the Bob Newhart Show on the same night as All in the Family, Sonny? I know that AITF was on CBS on Saturday nights.

All In the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H and Carol Burnett made up CBS' Saturday night lineup in the early-mid 1970s. Those are all terrific shows - and I'm glad that they are on DVD as well.

Do you like the Bob Newhart Show, Mike? I love it - it was a creative, funny show with a stellar cast and fantastic writers.

[Stuck In The '70's]

Originally Posted by Crazy for Blair

Was the Bob Newhart Show on the same night as All in the Family, Sonny? I know that AITF was on CBS on Saturday nights.

Yea AITF led off Saturday nights. The Bob Newhart Show came on for most of it's run at 9:30 after Mary Tyler Moore and before Carol Burnett. Those really were the days.

[catlover79]

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

Yea AITF led off Saturday nights. The Bob Newhart Show came on for most of it's run at 9:30 after Mary Tyler Moore and before Carol Burnett. Those really were the days.

"Those were the days, my friend..."

[Shine]

Originally Posted by catlover79

All In the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H and Carol Burnett made up CBS' Saturday night lineup in the early-mid 1970s. Those are all terrific shows - and I'm glad that they are on DVD as well.

Do you like the Bob Newhart Show, Mike? I love it - it was a creative, funny show with a stellar cast and fantastic writers.

How do you know it was on Saturday nights, Monika? You're even younger than me.

I actually don't like Bob Newhart. I don't like either the Bob Newhart Show from the 70's or Newhart from the 80's. My dad really likes Bob Newhart though. He has the Bob Newhart show on DVD.

[Stuck In The '70's]

Originally Posted by catlover79

All In the Family, Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart Show, M*A*S*H and Carol Burnett made up CBS' Saturday night lineup in the early-mid 1970s. Those are all terrific shows - and I'm glad that they are on DVD as well.

Do you like the Bob Newhart Show, Mike? I love it - it was a creative, funny show with a stellar cast and fantastic writers.

You can also put The Jeffersons in there too. It was really a great lineup. I even enjoyed the short lived sitcom Doc which starred Bernard Hughes and was on Saturdays too.