Movie Musings: Disney and More

Suzanne Pleshette: More Than Newhart’s Wife

Suzanne Pleshette is known for her iconic role as Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978). The role earned her two Emmy Nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and she is the only regular cast member, other than Bob Newhart himself, to have appeared in all 142 episodes of the show. In reality, Suzanne Pleshette had a career in show business that spanned nearly 50 years, in which she appeared on stage, television, and film. Did you also know that she also has some fascinating connections to the Walt Disney Studios as well?

Suzanne Pleshette was born on January 31st, 1937 in Brooklyn Heights, New York to Eugene and Geraldine Pleshette. Her mother was a dancer and artist while her father was a stage manager who managed the Paramount Theater in New York City. She would claim in her later years that New York City’s High School for the Performing Arts was where she “found” herself. She graduated that High School and later attended Syracuse University for one semester before she transferred to Finch College for additional semester, and she transferred a third time to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre where she studied acting under Sanford Meisner and graduated.

In 1957, at the age of 20, Pleshette made her Broadway debut in Meyer Levin’s Compulsion which was a play about the famous Leopold and Loeb Case. Film and Television came calling around this time and she made the film The Geisha Boy (1958) and she also starred in an episode of the Crime Drama Series Decoy (1957-1958). In 1959, she returned to the stage, starring in the comedy Golden Fleecing opposite Constance Ford and future “Bob Newhart,” co-star, Tom Poston. She opened the ‘60s, starring in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1965) as well as another television series called Hong Kong (1961) in which she played the love interest of Rod Taylor. She would later work with both Hitchcock and Taylor again when she landed the role of Annie Hayworth in The Birds (1963). Hitchcock himself was fond of her and enjoyed working with her and as a result, asked her to play Sean Connery’s sister-in-law in Marnie (1964), but she declined, intent on pursuing more “leading lady” roles. She did, however, reunite with Rod Taylor for a third time when they made the film Fate is the Hunter (1964). She also married Troy Donahue, with whom she appeared in the films Roman Adventure (1962) and A Distant Trumpet (1964) but the marriage sadly lasted only eight months.

Suzanne Pleshette made her Disney debut when she was cast opposite Dean Jones in The Ugly Dachsund (1966). “Ugly Dachsund,” was one of the last films produced before Walt Disney’s unfortunate and untimely death in December of that same year. The very next year, she worked for Disney again starring in The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) starring Roddy McDowall and Karl Malden. She later reunited with Dean Jones a second time in Blackbeard’s Ghost (1968) and a third time in The Shaggy D.A. (1976), Disney’s sequel to The Shaggy Dog (1959). The year that she made “Blackbeard’s Ghost,” she married businessman Thomas J. Gallagher III and the marriage lasted until his death in 2000. 

Not long after marrying Gallagher, she landed her signature role as Emily Hartley on “Bob Newhart.” (Tom Poston was also cast as Bob’s college buddy, Cliff Murdoch, a role that lasted five episodes.) She was cast when she appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992). The producers thought she and Bob clicked together and asked them to read together. Throughout the series the phrase “Hi, Bob,” was spoken 256 times, 17 of which were spoken by Emily Hartley. 

In 1982, Pleshette attempted to return to her stage roots by starring in a Broadway play called Special Occasions. The show closed unfortunately after only one performance, so she stayed with film and television for the rest of her life. She reprised her role as Emily Hartley on an episode of Bob Newhart’s other sit-com Newhart (1982-1990), which Tom Poston was also a regular on. She was later invited back to Disney to voice Zira in Disney’s direct-to-video sequel to The Lion King (1994), The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998). Jason Marsden provided the voice of Zira’s son, Kovu in the film, and he Pleshette later voiced mother and son again in the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (2002), which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. Her last acting role was playing Lois Whitley, mother of Karen Walker (played by Megan Mullally) on Will & Grace (2002-2004). In 2001, Pleshette married Tom Poston and they remained married until Poston’s death due to respiratory failure on April 30th, 2007. Pleshette, herself, later passed away also due to respiratory failure on January 19th, 2008, just 12 days shy of her 71st birthday.

Suzanne Pleshette was a very talented and versatile actress. Throughout her career she played some roles that made us laugh, and even some that might have also scared us just a bit. She will forever be remembered for playing Mrs. Bob Hartley on “Bob Newhart,” and for her roles in Disney films, but her acting skills and her husky voice made every role that she played more and more interesting.