Actress Suzanne Pleshette Passes Away At 70

Los Angeles, CA (AHN) - Seventy-year-old actress Suzanne Pleshette died of respiratory failure on Saturday evening at her residence in Los Angeles.

Her demise was a big loss to the entertainment industry where she had made a name for herself with her unforgettable roles. Her star shone for about six decades and she was nominated several times for the prestigious Emmy Awards.

Pleshette was best known as a sardonic wife on the long running "The Bob Newhart Show" and for her Broadway stint, replacing Anne Bancroft in Helen Keller's drama, "The Miracle Worker."

She was introduced in a film career with Jerry Lewis in "The Geisha Boy" in 1958. The successful launching was followed by numerous offers for her to appear in television shows such as "Have Gun, Will Travel", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "PlayHouse 90" and "Naked City".

The 60s saw her portraying more challenging roles in youth oriented films such as "Rome Adventure," "Fate Is The Hunter", "Youngblood Hawke" and "A Distant Trumpet". She gained prominence given mature roles in Hitchcock's "The Birds" and the Disney comedies "The Ugly Dachshund," "Blackbeard's Ghost" and "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin."

She also played title role in 1990's "Leona Helmsley, the Queen of Mean. Her most recent appearances were in several episodes of the TV sitcoms "Will & Grace" and "8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter."

Born in New York City on Jan. 31, 1937, Pleshette married Troy Donahue, her co-star in "Rome Adventure," in 1964 but the union did not last. In 1968, she married Tim Gallagher who unfortunately died in 2000 with lung cancer.

In 2001, she married former co-star Tom Poston, who died last year due to an illness. Though she was married thrice, Pleshette had no children.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2006 and she was receiving chemotherapy. She was later hospitalized for a pulmonary infection and developed leukemia.

In her last TV appearance during the Bob Newhart Show reunion in September 2007, Pleshette came in wheelchair but proudly declared she was "cancer free."

She will be best remembered by many for her very own "husky voice" and "happy disposition."