Suzanne Pleshette 1937-2008

Emily Hartley was one of my first TV loves. Even as a young boy, Emily, the wife of the sardonic Bob on The Bob Newhart Show, offered everything I wanted in a wife. Intelligent, patient, opinionated, and sexy. (Luckily as an adult, I achieved that one particular dream.)

Of course, it wasn't Emily but rather the woman who brilliantly portrayed her, Suzanne Pleshette. Pleshette's most dynamic and memorable feature was her distinctive raspy voice. Oddly, her only voice over work was in the completely forgettable Lion King II: Simba's Pride.

The Bob Newhart Show was far from her only acting. For my essay on steampunk in pop culture for the forthcoming anthology Steampunk, I re-watched the several hours of that greatest of all steampunk television shows, The Wild Wild West. Much to my pleasant surprise, Pleshette played the female guest star on the seminal show's first episode. This certainly wasn't her first acting experience. Pleshette was in The Birds and dozens of other TV shows including Have Gun Will Travel, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Dr. Kildare. But for most, she will always be remembered as Emily Hartley.

Suzanne Pleshette, 70, died of respiratory failure Saturday evening.