Bad Week For Hollywood
On top of the news that 25-year-old Brad Renfro had died last week, and the shocking news about Heath Ledger, was the news that two wonderful actresses from TV and film have lost their battle with lung cancer.
Suzanne Pleshette, 70, and Lois Nettleton, 80, were not major stars, although Pleshette was better known thanks to her early film career, and later, her run on The Bob Newhart Show. To those of us who grew up in the ’60s, Pleshette and Nettleton were familiar faces from numerous TV appearances.
Pleshette began her career as a film ingénue who never really filled that niche because of her throaty, deep voice. She appeared in Hitchcock’s thriller The Birds, as well as Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Other TV shows she appeared in include Have Gun Will Travel, Playhouse 90, Naked City, Route 66, Ben Casey, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Ironside and The Fugitive. Her film roles included Rome Adventure, Nevada Smith (opposite Steve McQueen), and Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971). It was her wonderful laugh that echoes in my head as I write this. Visit here for her complete IMDb credits.
Lois Nettleton came from the stage. That training fueled her desire to be a character actress, even in her younger days. If you happened to catch A Face In The Crowd (1957) last week on TCM, you saw Nettleton in her first screen role, a cameo as a nurse. Before she became an actress, the native of Oak Park, Ill., participated in the Miss America Pageant of 1948, as Miss Chicago. She was a semi-finalist in Atlantic City. She studied acting at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and then at the Actors' Studio in New York City.
Like Pleshette, her list of credits is a who’s who of television history: Studio One, The U.S. Steel Hour, The Twilight Zone, Naked City, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Route 66, Dr. Kildare, Mr. Novak, Twelve O’clock High, The Fugitive, Bonanza, Night Gallery and Kung Fu. She was also a regular celebrity guest on the $10,000 Pyramid. Go here for her complete IMDb credits.