Suzanne Pleshette
{{Short description|American actress (1937–2008)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Suzanne Pleshette
| image = Suzanne Pleshette - 1969.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Pleshette in 1969
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1937|1|31}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2008|01|19|1937|1|31}}
| education = Finch College
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| known_for = {{hlist|The Bob Newhart Show|The Birds|Rome Adventure|Support Your Local Gunfighter|Hot Stuff}}
| resting_place = Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1957–2004
| relatives = John Pleshette (cousin)
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Troy Donahue|1964|1964|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Tommy Gallagher|1968|2000|end=died}}|{{marriage|Tom Poston|2001|2007|end=died}}}}
}}
Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television. 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 education
Suzanne Pleshette was born on January 31, 1937, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, to Geraldine (née Kaplan) and Eugene Pleshette. Her parents were Jewish, the children of emigrants from Russia and Austria-Hungary.{{cite book| last=Belanger| first=Camyl Sosa| title=Eva Gabor an Amazing Woman: Unscrupulous| publisher=iUniverse| date=January 24, 2005| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8fWKZQDflgC&q=pleshette| page=120| isbn=978-1-4697-7750-4}} 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,{{cite web| url=http://www.alanfreed.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/1506-Rock-N-Roll-Program-6.pdf| title=alan-freed-1956-Rock-N-Roll-Program| website=alanfreed.com| access-date=20 April 2018}}{{cite book |last=Katz |first=Ephraim |title=The Film Encyclopedia |publisher=HarperCollins |year=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/filmencyclopedia0katz/page/1085 1085] |isbn=978-0-0627-3089-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/filmencyclopedia0katz/page/1085 }} and later, a network executive.{{cite journal| url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1967/1967-09-18-BC.pdf| date=September 18, 1967| journal=Broadcasting| title=Fate & Fortunes| page=70F| quote=Eugene Pleshette, executive VP of MSG-ABC Productions Inc., New York, named executive VP of Don Reid Productions Inc., that city.| access-date=19 April 2023}}{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-18-mn-2244-story.html| title=Eugene Pleshette; Theater Executive| date=September 18, 1991| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| url-access=subscription}} She graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and attended Syracuse University for one semester, then transferred to Finch College. She later graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in Manhattan and was under the tutelage of acting teacher Sanford Meisner.{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWKmhC6R3tU| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/AWKmhC6R3tU| archive-date=2021-11-18| url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview Part 1 of 5| publisher=Television Academy Foundation |date=12 July 2012| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArXCBMjYhF4| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/ArXCBMjYhF4| archive-date=2021-11-18| url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview Part 2 of 5| publisher=Television Academy Foundation| date=12 July 2012| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXmijSUOBn0| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/MXmijSUOBn0| archive-date=2021-11-18| url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview Part 3 of 5| publisher=Television Academy Foundation| date=12 July 2012| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcvw8Qchlmk| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/vcvw8Qchlmk| archive-date=2021-11-18| url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview Part 4 of 5| publisher=Television Academy Foundation| date=12 July 2012| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSdX3m8suEs| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/HSdX3m8suEs| archive-date=2021-11-18| url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview Part 5 of 5| publisher=Television Academy Foundation| date=12 July 2012| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
Career
File:Suzanne Pleshette 1963.JPG
The Boston Globe described her appearance and demeanor as sardonic and her voice as sultry.{{cite news| author=McLellan, Dennis| date=January 21, 2008| title=Suzanne Pleshette, sultry-voiced comic partner of Newhart; at 70| newspaper=The Boston Globe| url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2008/01/21/suzanne_pleshette_sultry_voiced_comic_partner_of_newhart_at_70/| access-date=2008-03-04}} The five-foot, four-inch{{Cite web |title=Suzanne Pleshette - Contact Info, Agent, Manager {{!}} IMDbPro |url=https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0687189/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=pro.imdb.com}} 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.{{cite news| title=New Play Is Staged At Shubert| newspaper=Hartford Courant| date=November 15, 1958| page=4B}} In 1959, she was featured in the comedy Golden Fleecing,{{cite web| url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/golden-fleecing-2756| title=Golden Fleecing – Broadway Play – Original| website=Internet Broadway Database| access-date=20 April 2018}} starring Constance Ford and Tom Poston.{{Citation|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/10/11/archives/anita-loos-from-lorelei-lee-to-lea-lorelei-to-lea.html|title=Anita Loos: From Lorelei Lee to Lea; Lorelei to Lea|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 11, 1959}} (Poston would eventually become her third husband.) 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.{{citation| author=Lyons, Leonard| author-link=Leonard Lyons| date=February 11, 1959| title=Ike Chooses Welk And Leader Butchers Song About His State| newspaper=Lawrence Journal-World| series=The Lyons Den| page=4}} 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.
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.{{cite news| title=Disneyland Locale of Film| newspaper=Los Angeles Evening Citizen News| date=May 7, 1962| page=10| url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/684251925/| access-date=2023-04-19| via=Newspapers.com| language=en| url-access=subscription}}{{cite news| title=Mary Murphy in 'Trouble'| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=April 23, 1962| page=13| url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/380920302/| access-date=2023-04-19| via=Newspapers.com| language=en| url-access=subscription}} 40 Pounds of Trouble was the first motion picture ever filmed at Disneyland, and was distributed by Universal-International Pictures in late 1962.{{cite news| title=Movie Shoots at Disneyland| last=Johnson| first=Erskine| newspaper=Valley Times| location=North Hollywood, California| date=May 14, 1962| page=6| url=http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/580393232/| access-date=2023-04-19| via=Newspapers.com| language=en| url-access=subscription}} 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).
File:Newhart show cast 1977.JPG, Bob Newhart, Marcia Wallace, Pleshette, and Peter Bonerz in The Bob Newhart Show]]
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,{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}} The Fugitive, The Invaders,{{cite web |title=The Invaders & Roy Thinnes |website=andybrouwer.co.uk |url=http://andybrouwer.co.uk/invaders.html |access-date=2008-03-04}} The F.B.I., Columbo (Dead Weight) (1971), and The Name of the Game.{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}}
Her 1970 game show appearances include It Takes Two,{{Cite web |title=CTVA US Daytime Game Show - "It Takes Two" (Ralph Andrews/NBC Daytime)(1969-70) hosted by Vin Sully |url=http://ctva.biz/US/GameShow/ItTakesTwo.htm |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=ctva.biz}}{{Cite web |last=Hadley |first=Mitchell |title=What's on TV? Tuesday, March 31, 1970 |url=https://www.itsabouttv.com/2020/03/whats-on-tv-tuesday-march-31-1970.html |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=en}} with her husband, and Name Droppers.{{cite web | url=http://ctva.biz/US/GameShow/NameDroppers.htm | title=CTVA US Game Show - "Name Droppers" (NBC)(1969-70) hosted by al Lohman and Roger Barkley }}
On August 5, 1971,List of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson episodes (1971)#May TV producers saw her on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson{{cite web| url=https://vortago.com/people/suzanne-pleshette/| title=Suzanne Pleshette| website=Vortago| access-date=20 April 2018| archive-date=December 6, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206074610/https://vortago.com/people/suzanne-pleshette/| url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url=https://www.johnnycarson.com/products/the-vault-series-12-volume-dvd-collection-as-is-condition-clearance| title=The Vault Series – 12 Volume DVD Collection – As Is Condition (Clearance) – 1974-03-26: It's Streak Week on the Tonight Show. Streaking is all the rage in this trip back to 1974, and rumors abound. Join Johnny with his guests Suzanne Pleshette, James Garner, Robert Klein, Jack Haley Jr., Ed, Doc and More!| website=JohnnyCarson.com| access-date=20 April 2018| archive-date=December 6, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206140216/https://www.johnnycarson.com/products/the-vault-series-12-volume-dvd-collection-as-is-condition-clearance| url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url=https://www.johnnycarson.com/pages/clip-licensing| title=Clip Licensing| website=JohnnyCarson.com| access-date=20 April 2018| archive-date=July 9, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709231539/https://www.johnnycarson.com/pages/clip-licensing| url-status=dead}}{{cite web| url=https://www.johnnycarson.com/products/tonight-15-disc-dvd-set| title=Tonight – 15-Disc DVD Set – November 19, 1981 – Suzanne Pleshette, Luciano Pavarotti| website=JohnnyCarson.com| access-date=20 April 2018| archive-date=December 6, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206135936/https://www.johnnycarson.com/products/tonight-15-disc-dvd-set| url-status=dead}} and noticed a certain chemistry between Suzanne and fellow guest Bob Newhart.{{Citation needed |date=March 2021}} 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, 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.{{citation |author1=Brooks, Tim |author2=Earle Marsh |name-list-style=amp |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network Shows|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&q=Suzanne+Pleshette+Is+Maggie+Briggs |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |year=2007 |page=182 |isbn=978-0-3454-9773-4 }} 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.{{cite web |title=Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie Nominees / Winners 1991 |url=https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/1991/outstanding-lead-actress-in-a-miniseries-or-a-movie |website=Television Academy |access-date=19 August 2020 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean |url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/leona-helmsley-queen-mean |website=Golden Globes.com |access-date=19 August 2020 |language=en}}
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){{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-FkONusZY0 |title=Kathleen Turner Interview 2 - ROD Show, Season 2 Episode 116, 1998|website=YouTube|date=December 1, 2022|access-date=December 9, 2023}} 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 life
Pleshette's 1964 marriage to her Rome Adventure and A Distant Trumpet co-star Troy Donahue{{Cite web| title=Married couple | url=https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169916 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322044701/https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169916 | archive-date=2024-03-22}} ended in divorce after six months.{{cite news |title=Troy Donahues Are Divorced |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/09/archives/troy-donahues-are-divorced.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 9, 1964 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171346/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/09/09/archives/troy-donahues-are-divorced.html |archive-date=September 20, 2022 }} She dated actors Dean Stockwell and David Janssen.{{cite youtube|title=Suzanne Pleshette Interview|date=February 9, 2006|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWX7RZVSowY}}{{cite web|title=The Ups and Downs of David Janssen’s Love Life: Meet the Late ‘Fugitive’ Actor’s 2 Wives|url=https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/david-janssen-meet-the-late-fugitive-actors-2-wives|work=Closer|date=February 1, 2020}}
Her second husband was oilman Thomas "Tommy" Joseph Gallagher III{{Cite web |title=FamilySearch.org |url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KL1C-WXS/thomas-joseph-gallagher-iii-1934-2000 |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=ancestors.familysearch.org}} (born January 28, 1934, in Galveston, Texas, to Thomas Joseph Gallagher Jr., and Toy Fay {{nee|Rice}}),
- {{Cite web| title=Married couple | url=https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169908 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322051707/https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169908 | archive-date=2024-03-22}}
- {{Cite web| title=A woman and a man | url=https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169909 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322051710/https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169909 | archive-date=2024-03-22}}
- {{Cite web| title=A woman and a man | url=https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169907 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322061720/https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/attachment.php?attachmentid=169907 | archive-date=2024-03-22}}
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{{Cite web |title=FamilySearch.org |url=https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KL1C-WXS/thomas-joseph-gallagher-iii-1934-2000 |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=ancestors.familysearch.org}} in Hillside Memorial Park, Culver City, Los Angeles, California.{{cite web | url=https://www.geni.com/people/Tom-Gallagher/6000000121897554939 | title=Tom Gallagher | date=February 6, 2020 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2002/07/27/a-prime-time-for-pleshette/ | title=A Prime Time for Pleshette | date=July 27, 2002 }} 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."{{cite news| url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001006/inter.htm| title=Suzanne Pleshette—The Iron Lady| author=Edwards, Ian| date=6 October 2000| magazine=Screen India| access-date=2009-12-26| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722175756/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001006/inter.htm| archive-date=2009-07-22| url-status=dead}}
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. 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.{{cite web | url=https://blogs.dailynews.com/outinhollywood/2008/01/20/remembering-suzanne-pleshette/ | title=Remembering Suzanne Pleshette… | work=Out in Hollywood | date=January 20, 2008 }}{{Cite web |last= |date=2007-09-05 |title="Bob Newhart Show" reunion tonight |url=https://variety.com/2007/tv/news/bob-newhart-sho-22032/ |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Newhart |first=Bob |title=Hi Bob! |url=https://www.bobnewhartofficial.com/pages/hi-bob |access-date=2024-04-26 |website=Bob Newhart}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPORUwkeNnY |title=The Bob Newhart Show 35th Anniversary Reunion at PaleyLive LA 2007: Full Conversation |language=en |access-date=2024-04-26 |via=www.youtube.com}} She died January 19, 2008.{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Anita |date=2008-01-21 |title=Suzanne Pleshette, Actress, Dies at 70 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/21pleshette.html |access-date=2024-04-26 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Bergan |first=Ronald |date=2008-01-21 |title=Suzanne Pleshette |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/21/usa.film |access-date=2024-04-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |date=2008-01-22 |title=Suzanne Pleshette: Actress whose roles included being pecked to death |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/suzanne-pleshette-actress-whose-roles-included-being-pecked-to-death-in-hitchcock-s-the-birds-771732.html |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=The Independent |language=en}}
Gallagher, Pleshette, and Poston are all interred{{cite news| title=Remembering Suzanne Pleshette| author=Boedeker, Hal| date=January 1, 2008| newspaper=Chicago Tribune| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/01/23/remembering-suzanne-pleshette/| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817111605/https://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-01-23/features/0801210162_1_earthy-dame-emily-hartley-bob-newhart-show| access-date=2016-07-14| url-status=live| archive-date=August 17, 2016}}{{cite web| title=Wedding Bells-Suzanne Pleshette Wedding Album| url=http://www.meredy.com/suzannepleshette/wedding051101.htm| access-date=2008-03-04| archive-date=January 23, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123221912/http://www.meredy.com/suzannepleshette/wedding051101.htm| url-status=dead}} close to each other in the Jewish Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery.{{cite news| title=Tom Poston Farewell| url=https://variety.com/2007/voices/columns/tom_poston_fare-919/| date=May 2, 2007| last=Archerd| first=Army| newspaper=Variety| access-date=November 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202003739/http://variety.com/2007/voices/columns/tom_poston_fare-919/ |archive-date=February 2, 2016}}
Suzanne Pleshette was the cousin of the actor John Pleshette.{{cite web |title=John Pleshette |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/153266%7C0/John-Pleshette/ |website= tcmdb }}
= Interests =
From 1969 to 1980, Pleshette and Harriet Rosalind Dolin Stuart designed sheets for J.P. Stevens & Co.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/11/17/archives/home-beat-dinahs-sheet-music.html| title=Home Beat| first=Joan| last=Kron| date=November 17, 1977| newspaper=The New York Times| df=mdy-all}}{{Cite web |date=1974-07-17 |title=Poughkeepsie Journal from Poughkeepsie, New York |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/114590579/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=1973-02-16 |title=The Star Press from Muncie, Indiana |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/252071877/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en-US}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/02/13/archives/sheets-by-design-sheets-by-design.html| title=Sheets by Design| first=Rita| last=Reif| date=13 February 1977| newspaper=The New York Times| df=mdy-all}}{{cite web| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiFM_U76QcsC&q=Suzanne-Pleshette&pg=PA38| title=Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 37 —Relative to the J.P. Stevens & Co. Inc.| date=1 November 1978| via=Google Books| publisher=California Legislature| df=mdy-all}}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/23/garden/new-sheet-patterns-sail-into-summer.html|title=New Sheet Patterns Sail Into Summer| first=Suzanne| last=Slesin| date=23 May 1985| newspaper=The New York Times| df=mdy-all| url-access=subscription}} She also wrote screenplays under a pen name.[https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/interviews/suzanne-pleshette Television Academy Interview]. February 9, 2006. She also wrote poems, with some recited on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}
Illness and death
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".{{Cite news |date=2006-08-14 |title=Pleshette Being Treated for Cancer |page=A2 |newspaper=The Herald-Palladium |location=Benton Harbor, Michigan |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107805750/the-herald-palladium/ |agency=Associated Press |access-date=2023-04-20 |df=mdy-all}}
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.{{cite news| last=Keck| first=Will| title=Suzanne Pleshette has her edge back| newspaper=USA Today| date=2007-09-06| url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-09-06-suzanne-pleshette_N.htm| access-date=2008-01-20| df=mdy-all}}
Pleshette died on January 19, 2008, in her Los Angeles home, 12 days shy of her 71st birthday.{{cite news |first=Anita |last=Gates |title=Suzanne Pleshette, 70, Newhart Actress, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/arts/21cnd-pleshette.html |quote=Suzanne Pleshette, the husky-voiced actress who redefined the television sitcom wife in the 1970s, playing the smart, sardonic Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show, died Saturday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 70. Ms. Pleshette died of respiratory failure, her lawyer, Robert Finkelstein, told The Associated Press. Ms. Pleshette had undergone chemotherapy in 2006 for lung cancer.|newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 21, 2008 |access-date=2014-01-03 }} 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{{cite web| url=http://www.walkoffame.com/suzanne-pleshette| title=Suzanne Pleshette| website=Hollywood Walk of Fame| date=October 25, 2019}} on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television on January 31, 2008, the walk's 2,355th star, which was placed (at her request){{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2008-01-02 |title=What Are Friends For? |url=https://variety.com/2008/voices/columns/what-are-friend-565/ |access-date=2024-02-21 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} in front of Frederick's of Hollywood.{{Cite web |title=Suzanne Pleshette |url=https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/suzanne-pleshette/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en}}{{cite web| url=https://la.racked.com/2014/12/29/7563125/bummer-fredericks-of-hollywood| title=Bummer: Frederick's of Hollywood Flagship to Close in April| date=December 29, 2014| first=Natalie| last=Alcala| newspaper=Racked LA}} 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.{{cite journal |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/suzanne-pleshette-gets-hollywood-star-103791 |title=Suzanne Pleshette Gets Hollywood Star |journal=The Hollywood Reporter |date=January 31, 2008 |issn=0018-3660}}{{cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnNSm1VdZeo| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211118/TnNSm1VdZeo| archive-date=2021-11-18 | url-status=live| title=Suzanne Pleshette Honored with Hollywood Walk of Fame Star| date=21 May 2011| via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
Filmography
=Films=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | The Geisha Boy | Sgt. Betty Pearson | First feature film |
| rowspan="2" | 1962 | Rome Adventure | Prudence Bell | |
| 40 Pounds of Trouble | Chris Lockwood | ||
| rowspan="2"| 1963 | The Birds | Annie Hayworth | |
| Wall of Noise | Laura Rubio | ||
| rowspan="3"| 1964 | A Distant Trumpet | Kitty Mainwarring | |
| Fate Is the Hunter | Martha Webster | ||
| Youngblood Hawke | Jeanne Greene | ||
| 1965 | A Rage to Live | Grace Caldwell Tate | |
| rowspan="3" | 1966 | The Ugly Dachshund | Fran Garrison | |
| Nevada Smith | Pilar | ||
| Mister Buddwing | Fiddle Corwin | ||
| 1967 | The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin | Arabella Flagg | |
| rowspan="2"| 1968 | Blackbeard's Ghost | Jo-Anne Baker | |
| The Power | Professor Margery Lansing | ||
| rowspan="2" | 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 | |
| rowspan="2" | 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. |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=2|1958 | Decoy | Wendy Jenkins | Episode: " The Sound of Tears" |
| Have Gun-Will Travel | Maria | Episode: "Death of a Gun Fighter" | |
| rowspan=3|1959 | Summer of Decision | Susan | Television movie |
| Adventures in Paradise | Minette | Episode: "The Lady from South Chicago" | |
| One Step Beyond | Martha Wizinski | Episode: "Delusion" | |
| rowspan=5|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" |
| rowspan=2|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 |
| rowspan=2|1968 | It Takes a Thief | Angela | Episode: "A Sour Note" |
| Flesh and Blood | Nona | Television movie | |
| rowspan=5|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 | rowspan="4" | Television movie | |
| Hunters Are for Killing | Barbara Soline | ||
| rowspan="4" | 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 | rowspan="12" | Television movie |
| rowspan="2"| 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 | |
| rowspan="2" | 1982 | Help Wanted: Male | Laura Bingham | |
| Fantasies | Carla Webber | ||
| rowspan="2" | 1983 | Dixie: Changing Habits | Dixie Cabot | |
| One Cooks, the Other Doesn't | Joanne Boone | ||
| rowspan=2|1984 | For Love or Money | Joanna Piper | |
| Maggie Briggs | Maggie Briggs | 6 episodes | |
| rowspan=3|1985 | Kojak | Dana Sutton | Episode: "The Belarus File" |
| Bridges to Cross | Tracy Bridges | 6 episodes | |
| The Belarus File | Dana Sutton | rowspan="3" | Television movie | |
| 1987 | A Stranger Waits | Kate Bennington | |
| 1988 | Alone in the Neon Jungle | Captain Janet Hamilton | |
| 1989 | Nightingales | Christine Broderick | 13 episodes |
| rowspan=2|1990 | Newhart | Emily Hartley | Episode: "The Last Newhart" |
| Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean | Leona Helmsley | rowspan="3" | 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 |
= Theatre =
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Venue | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Complusion | Fourth Girl | Ambassador Theatre, Broadway |
| rowspan="2" |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 nominations
| class="wikitable" | |||||
| Year
! Association ! Category ! Project ! Result ! Ref. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | rowspan=3|Primetime Emmy Award | rowspan=2|Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | rowspan=2|The Bob Newhart Show | {{nom}} | |
| 1978 | {{nom}} | ||||
| 1990 | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie | Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean | {{nom}} | ||
| 1963 | rowspan=2|Golden Globe Award | Best New Star of the Year – Actress | rowspan=1|The Birds | {{nom}} | |
| 1990 | Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Movie | Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean | {{nom}} | ||
| 1963 | rowspan=2|Laurel Award | Top New Female Personality | The Birds | {{won}} | |
| 1969 | Female Comedy Performance | If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium | {{nom}} | ||
| 1998 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting | The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | {{nom}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography|Theatre|Film|Television}}
Obituaries
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100524041245/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3230805.ece Suzanne Pleshette Obituary ], 22 January 2008 in timesonline.co.uk
- [http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=24468 Article: Suzanne Pleshette Dies at 70] at BroadwayWorld
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Cite web | title=Suzanne Pleshette (Actor): Credits, Bio, News & More {{!}} Broadway World | url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Suzanne-Pleshette/ | access-date=2025-03-29 | website=www.broadwayworld.com}}
- {{Emmys person|suzanne-pleshette}}
- {{EmmyTVLegends name}}
- {{TCMDb name}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes person}}
- {{Cite web | title=Suzanne Pleshette - FilmAffinity | url=https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/name.php?name-id=130413876 | access-date=2025-03-29 | website=www.filmaffinity.com}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
- {{Cite web | title=Suzanne Pleshette | url=https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/8743/suzanne-pleshette/photographs | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240322061154/https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/8743/suzanne-pleshette/photographs | access-date=2025-03-29 | archive-date=2024-03-22}}
- {{Cite web | title=Suzanne Pleshette - About - Entertainment.ie | url=https://entertainment.ie/person/suzanne-pleshette/ | access-date=2025-03-29 | website=entertainment.ie}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|New York City|Los Angeles|Theatre|Film|Television|Judaism}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pleshette, Suzanne}}
Category:Actresses from Brooklyn
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American voice actresses
Category:Jewish American actresses
Category:Jewish American film people
Category:Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California
Category:Deaths from respiratory failure
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni
Category:People from Brooklyn Heights