Suzanne Pleshette

This New Yorker actress came to be recognized as the wife of the character played by Bob Newhart. Her husky voice also became one of her most recognizable features. Suzanne Pleshette was born on Jauary. 31, 1937, in New York City, she began her career as a stage actress after attending the city's High School of the Performing Arts and studying at its Neighborhood Playhouse. She was often chosen for roles because of her beauty and her throaty voice. Suzanne worked with her husband to be Tom Poston in Broadway, but the marriage would only occur 20 years later. Among other Broadway roles she played was one was replacing Anne Bancroft in "The Miracle Worker", the 1959 drama about Helen Keller. In the meantime, she had launched her film career with Jerry Lewis in "The Geisha Boy" (1958). She went on to appear in numerous television shows, including Have Gun, Will Travel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Playhouse 90 and Naked City. Youthful roles in such films as "Rome Adventure", "Fate Is the Hunter", "Youngblood Hawke" and "A Distant Trumpet" attracted a lot of fans for her in the 60's. In 1964 Suzanne married fellow actor Troy Donahue, but the union was short-lived. Later in 1968 she married oil tycoon Tim Gallagher in a marriage that lasted until his death in 2000. Suzanne's film career matured with directors like Hitchcock ("The Birds"). She promptly devoted her attention to television and made hers the role of Emily, Bob Newhart's wife in "The Bob Newhart Show", a character that made her an icon in sitcom history. Her latest appearances were in sitcoms like "Will & Grace" and "8 Simple Rules". Suzanne Pleshette died on Saturday, January 20, at age 70 after a long battle with lung cancer.