Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television.<ref name="Gates"/> She was nominated for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. For her role as Emily Hartley on the CBS sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978), she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.

Pleshette started her career in the theatre before gaining attention for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's horror-thriller The Birds (1963). Her other notable film roles include Rome Adventure (1962), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971), and Hot Stuff (1979). For her portrayal of Leona Helmsley in Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean (1990), she received nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie. She later voiced roles in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) and Spirited Away (2001).

Early life and educationEdit

Suzanne Pleshette was born on January 31, 1937, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, to Geraldine (née Kaplan)<ref name="Gates"/> and Eugene Pleshette. Her parents were Jewish, the children of emigrants from Russia and Austria-Hungary.<ref name="book1">Template:Cite book</ref> Her mother was a dancer and artist who performed under the stage name Geraldine Rivers. Her father was a stage manager of the Paramount Theater in Manhattan and of the Paramount Theater in Brooklyn,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="book2">Template:Cite book</ref> and later, a network executive.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and attended Syracuse University for one semester, then transferred to Finch College.<ref name="Gates"/> She later graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in Manhattan and was under the tutelage of acting teacher Sanford Meisner.<ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_3">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_4" >{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref><ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

CareerEdit

File:Suzanne Pleshette 1963.JPG
Publicity photo of Pleshette from the television program The Contenders Template:Circa

The Boston Globe described her appearance and demeanor as sardonic and her voice as sultry.<ref name=McLellanD-2008-01-21>Template:Cite news</ref> The five-foot, four-inch<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Pleshette began her career at age 20 as a stage actress. She made her Broadway debut in Meyer Levin's 1957 play Compulsion, adapted from his novel inspired by the Leopold and Loeb case. The following year, she performed in the debut of The Cold Wind and the Warm by S. N. Behrman at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, directed by Harold Clurman and produced by Robert Whitehead.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1959, she was featured in the comedy Golden Fleecing,<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> starring Constance Ford and Tom Poston.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> (Poston would eventually become her third husband.)<ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_2"/> That same year, she was one of two finalists for the role of Louise/Gypsy in the original production of Gypsy. During the run of The Cold Wind and the Warm, she spent mornings taking striptease lessons from Jerome Robbins for the role in Gypsy.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In his autobiography, Arthur Laurents, the play's author, stated, "It came down to between Suzanne Pleshette and Sandra Church. Suzanne was the better actress, but Sandra was the better singer. We went with Sandra." In February 1961, she succeeded Anne Bancroft as Anne Sullivan Macy opposite 14-year-old Patty Duke's Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.<ref name="Gates"/>

Her early screen credits include The Geisha Boy (1958), Rome Adventure (1962), Fate Is the Hunter (1964), and Youngblood Hawke (1964), but she was best known at that time for her role in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense film The Birds (1963). Immediately following The Birds, Pleshette was cast in 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), a comedy film co-starring Tony Curtis and Phil Silvers, which Curtis was producing through his own film production company, Curtis Enterprises.<ref name=citizen>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 40 Pounds of Trouble was the first motion picture ever filmed at Disneyland, and was distributed by Universal-International Pictures in late 1962.<ref name=citizen/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She worked with Steve McQueen in the 1966 western drama film Nevada Smith, was nominated for a Laurel Award for her starring performance in the comedy If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium opposite Ian McShane, and co-starred with James Garner in a pair of films, Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) and the drama Mister Buddwing (1966).

Pleshette's first television role was in the episode "Night Rescue" (December 5, 1957) of the CBS adventure/drama television series Harbormaster, starring Barry Sullivan and Paul Burke. Her other early television appearances include Playhouse 90, Decoy, Have Gun – Will Travel, One Step Beyond, Riverboat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Tab Hunter Show, Channing, Ben Casey, Naked City, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, the pilot episode of The Wild Wild West, and Dr. Kildare, for which she was nominated for her first Emmy Award. She guest-starred more than once as different characters in each of the following 1960s TV series: Route 66,Template:Citation needed The Fugitive, The Invaders,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The F.B.I., Columbo (Dead Weight) (1971), and The Name of the Game.Template:Citation needed

Her 1970 game show appearances include It Takes Two,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with her husband, and Name Droppers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On August 5, 1971,<ref>List of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes (1971)#May</ref> TV producers saw her on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and noticed a certain chemistry between Suzanne and fellow guest Bob Newhart.Template:Citation needed She was cast as the wife of Newhart's character on the popular CBS sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) for all six seasons,<ref name="Gates"/> as part of CBS television's Saturday-night lineup. During this time, she was nominated twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She reprised her role of Emily Hartley in the final episode of Newhart's subsequent comedy series, Newhart, in which viewers discovered that the entire later series had been her husband Bob's dream when he awakens next to her in the bedroom set from the earlier series.

During this time, she starred in films such as the Western comedy Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) starring James Garner. She also starred in a number of Walt Disney family films, most notably in The Shaggy D.A. (1976) acting opposite Dean Jones and Tim Conway. She was the lead actress in the comedies Hot Stuff (1979) opposite Dom DeLuise and Ossie Davis and Oh, God! Book II (1980) starring George Burns. Her 1984 situation comedy, Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs, was canceled after seven episodes.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> In 1989, she played the role of Christine Broderick in the NBC drama, Nightingales, which lasted one season. In 1990, Pleshette portrayed Manhattan hotelier Leona Helmsley in the television movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, which garnered her nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In addition, she starred opposite Hal Linden in the 1994 sitcom The Boys Are Back. She had a starring role in Good Morning, Miami, as Mark Feuerstein's grandmother Claire Arnold in season one and played the mother of Katey Sagal's character in the ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter following John Ritter's death. Pleshette provided the voices of Yubaba and Zeniba in the English dub of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki's Academy Award-winning film Spirited Away and the voice of Zira in Disney's direct-to-video film The Lion King II: Simba's Pride in 1998 (replacing Kathleen Turner)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and sang the song "My Lullaby". In her last role, she appeared as the estranged mother of Megan Mullally's character Karen Walker in three episodes of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace.

Personal lifeEdit

Pleshette's 1964 marriage to her Rome Adventure and A Distant Trumpet co-star Troy Donahue<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> ended in divorce after six months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She dated actors Dean Stockwell and David Janssen.<ref>Template:Cite youtube</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Her second husband was oilman Thomas "Tommy" Joseph Gallagher III<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (born January 28, 1934, in Galveston, Texas, to Thomas Joseph Gallagher Jr., and Toy Fay Template:Nee),<ref>

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|CitationClass=web }} </ref> to whom she was married from March 16, 1968, to his death on January 21, 2000. He survived lung cancer, and later died of E. coli and was buried<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, Los Angeles, California.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She suffered a miscarriage during her marriage to Gallagher, and they were childless. Asked about children in an October 2000 interview, Pleshette stated: "I certainly would have liked to have had Tommy’s children. But my nurturing instincts are fulfilled in other ways. I have a large extended family; I'm the mother on every set. So if this is my particular karma, that's fine."<ref name="Screen">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2001, Pleshette married fellow actor Tom Poston, who had been a recurring guest star on The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s and a Newhart cast member. Long before they worked together on television, though, Poston and Pleshette had been involved romantically in 1959, when they acted together in the Broadway comedy Golden Fleecing.<ref name="EMMYTVLEGENDS_2"/><ref name="auto"/> During the subsequent 40 years, they married others, but remained friends. After they were both widowed, the deaths of their spouses brought Poston and Pleshette together again, and they married in 2001. They remained married until his death from respiratory failure in Los Angeles on April 30, 2007.

Pleshette’s last public appearance was with the Bob Newhart Show cast at The Bob Newhart Show 35th Anniversary Reunion at PaleyLive LA, held on September 5, 2007 at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> She died January 19, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Gallagher, Pleshette, and Poston are all interred<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> close to each other in the Jewish Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Suzanne Pleshette was the cousin of the actor John Pleshette.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

InterestsEdit

From 1969 to 1980, Pleshette and Harriet Rosalind Dolin Stuart designed sheets for J.P. Stevens & Co.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She also wrote screenplays under a pen name.<ref>Television Academy Interview. February 9, 2006.</ref> She also wrote poems, with some recited on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.Template:Citation needed

Illness and deathEdit

On August 11, 2006, Pleshette's agent Joel Dean announced that she was being treated for lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Three days later, The Herald-Palladium reported that Dean said the cancer was the size of "a grain of sand" when it was found during a routine X-ray, that the cancer was "caught very much in time", that she was receiving chemotherapy as an outpatient and that Pleshette was "in good spirits".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She was later hospitalized for a pulmonary infection and developed pneumonia, which caused her to remain in the hospital for an extended period of time. She arrived at a Bob Newhart Show cast reunion in September 2007 in a wheelchair, which raised concern about her health, although she insisted that she was "cancer-free". (She was seated in a regular chair during the actual telecast.) During an interview in USA Today given at the time of the reunion, Pleshette stated that she had been released four days earlier from the hospital where, as part of her cancer treatment, part of one of her lungs had been removed.<ref name="usatodaycaner">Template:Cite news</ref>

Pleshette died on January 19, 2008, in her Los Angeles home, 12 days shy of her 71st birthday.<ref name="Gates">Template:Cite news</ref> She is buried close to her third husband, Tom Poston (who died the previous year), in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. She received a star<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television on January 31, 2008, the walk's 2,355th star, which was placed (at her request)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in front of Frederick's of Hollywood.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bob Newhart, Arte Johnson, and Marcia Wallace spoke at the star's unveiling, which had been planned before Pleshette's death. Tina Sinatra accepted the star on Pleshette's behalf.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

FilmographyEdit

FilmsEdit

Year Title Role Notes
1958 The Geisha Boy Sgt. Betty Pearson First feature film
1962 Rome Adventure Prudence Bell
40 Pounds of Trouble Chris Lockwood
1963 The Birds Annie Hayworth
Wall of Noise Laura Rubio
1964 A Distant Trumpet Kitty Mainwarring
Fate Is the Hunter Martha Webster
Youngblood Hawke Jeanne Greene
1965 A Rage to Live Grace Caldwell Tate
1966 The Ugly Dachshund Fran Garrison
Nevada Smith Pilar
Mister Buddwing Fiddle Corwin
1967 The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin Arabella Flagg
1968 Blackbeard's Ghost Jo-Anne Baker
The Power Professor Margery Lansing
1969 If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium Samantha Perkins
Target: Harry Diane Reed
1970 Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came? Ramona
1971 Support Your Local Gunfighter Patience
1976 The Shaggy D.A. Betty Daniels
1979 Hot Stuff Louise Webster
1980 Oh, God! Book II Paula Richards
Arch of Triumph Joan Madou Never completed. Also filmed in 1948 and 1984.
1998 The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Zira Voice
2001 Spirited Away Yubaba/Zeniba Voice, 2002 English dub

Final film role.

TelevisionEdit

Year Title Role Notes
1958 Decoy Wendy Jenkins Episode: " The Sound of Tears"
Have Gun-Will Travel Maria Episode: "Death of a Gun Fighter"
1959 Summer of Decision Susan Television movie
Adventures in Paradise Minette Episode: "The Lady from South Chicago"
One Step Beyond Martha Wizinski Episode: "Delusion"
1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Anne Underhill Episode 21: "Hitch Hike"
Riverboat Marie Tourette Episode: "The Two Faces of Grey Holden"
Naked City Nora Condon Episode: "The Pedigree Sheet"
The Islanders Iris Episode: "Forbidden Cargo"
Route 66 Various 2 episodes
1961 Hong Kong Diane Dooley Episode: "Lesson in Fear"
1961–64 Dr. Kildare Various 3 episodes
1962 Target: The Corruptors Hank 2 episodes
1962 Alcoa Premiere Carla Hammond Episode: "The Contenders"
1963 Wagon Train Myra Marshall Episode: "The Myra Marshall Story"
The Fugitive Ellie Burnett / Peggy Franklyn 2 episodes
1965 The Wild Wild West Lydia Monteran Episode: "Night of the Inferno"
1967 Wings of Fire Kitty Sanborn Television Movie
1967–68 The Invaders Vikki / Anne Gibbs 2 episodes
1968 It Takes a Thief Angela Episode: "A Sour Note"
Flesh and Blood Nona Television movie
1970 Gunsmoke Glory Bramley Episode: "Stark"
Marcus Welby, M.D. Ann Logan Episode: "Daisy in the Shadows"
The Courtship of Eddie's Father Valerie Bessinger Episode: "Hello, Miss Bessinger, Goodbye"
Along Came a Spider Anne Banning / Janet Furie Television movie
Hunters Are for Killing Barbara Soline
1971 River of Gold Anna
In Broad Daylight Kate Todd
Columbo Helen Stewart Episode: "Dead Weight"
Ironside Shelly Kingman Episode: "But When She Was Bad"
1972 Bonanza Performer Episode: "A Place to Hide"
1972–78 The Bob Newhart Show Emily Hartley Main; 142 episodes
1975 The Legend of Valentino June Mathis Television movie
1976 Law and Order Karen Day
Richie Brockelman: The Missing 24 Hours Elizabeth Morton
1978 Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid Kate Bliss
1979 Flesh & Blood Kate Fallon
1980 If Things Were Different Janet Langford
1981 The Star Maker Margot Murray
1982 Help Wanted: Male Laura Bingham
Fantasies Carla Webber
1983 Dixie: Changing Habits Dixie Cabot
One Cooks, the Other Doesn't Joanne Boone
1984 For Love or Money Joanna Piper
Maggie Briggs Maggie Briggs 6 episodes
1985 Kojak Dana Sutton Episode: "The Belarus File"
Bridges to Cross Tracy Bridges 6 episodes
The Belarus File Dana Sutton Television movie
1987 A Stranger Waits Kate Bennington
1988 Alone in the Neon Jungle Captain Janet Hamilton
1989 Nightingales Christine Broderick 13 episodes
1990 Newhart Emily Hartley Episode: "The Last Newhart"
Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley Television movie
1992 Battling for Baby Marie Peters
1993 A Twist of the Knife Dr. Rachel Walters
1994–95 The Boys Are Back Jackie Hansen 18 episodes
1996–97 The Single Guy Sarah Eliot 3 episodes
2002–03 Good Morning, Miami Claire Arnold 14 episodes
2002–04 Will and Grace Lois Whitley 3 episodes

Final role

2003 8 Simple Rules Laura 3 episodes

TheatreEdit

Year Title Role Venue
1957 Complusion Fourth Girl Ambassador Theatre, Broadway
1958 The Cold Wind And The Warm Leah Morosco Theatre, Broadway
Golden Fleecing Julie Henry Miller's Theatre, Broadway
1959 The Miracle Worker Annie Sullivan Playhouse Theatre, Broadway
1982 Special Occasions Amy Ruskin Music Box Theatre, Broadway

Awards and nominationsEdit

Year Association Category Project Result Ref.
1977 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series The Bob Newhart Show Template:Nom
1978 Template:Nom
1990 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean Template:Nom
1963 Golden Globe Award Best New Star of the Year – Actress The Birds Template:Nom
1990 Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean Template:Nom
1963 Laurel Award Top New Female Personality The Birds Template:Won
1969 Female Comedy Performance If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium Template:Nom
1998 Annie Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Template:Nom

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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Obituaries

Metadata

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