On what would have been her 71st birthday, Suzanne Pleshette received the 2,355th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In keeping with Suzanne's wishes, the star was unveiled and is located in front of the lingerie store, Fredricks Of Hollywood. Of the many in attendance were much of the cast of The Bob Newhart Show, Arte Johnson, Nancy & Tina Sinatra, Dick Van Dyke and Peter Marshall.
Despite constant interruptions from fire engines and traffic partly related to the Democratic Presidential debates taking place just down the street, Bob Newhart, Marcia Wallace, Arte Johnson (Laugh In) and Tina Sinatra all paid tribute to the strong and funny woman that was their friend and colleague. Marcia Wallace spoke first, at one point stating "Many people walk through your life and very few people leave footprints on your heart. She left footprints on my heart, and now we can all leave our footprints on her star. She'd love it."
Arte Johnson spoke next, remembering a time where she slept on his couch after her separation from Troy Donahue and how he eventually got her a key to his apartment. But like many, he admitted that she was happiest in her marriage with her last husband Tom Poston, who passed away last year. Arte concluded, "Suzanne Pleshette deserves not just one star, she deserves a whole bunch of stars. She was a terrific, wonderful girl."
Bob spoke next, about life on the set of The Bob Newhart Show, the advantage of fights with a TV wife since they only last 26 minutes, and not really minding her voice was deeper than his. ""The only thing that exceeds her talent and her beauty was her bravery, because she was one of the greatest women". Bob was interrupted continually by busses and emergency vehicles, eventually attributing the constant interruptions to a conspiracy masterminded by Don Rickles. 'Okay, Rickles, you set this up on purpose, didn't you', causing many to look around for Don Rickles, who was not in attendance.
Tina Sinatra, a close friend of Suzanne's who, along with "Hollywood's Mayor" Johnny Grant (who passed away January 9th) was the driving force to get Suzanne her star on the Walk of Fame. She shared many heartfelt memories which brought many to tears and accepted the certificate and star on behalf of Suzanne's existing family. Although Walk of Fame regulations require a deceased celebrity not receive a star until 5 years after their death, the planning for Suzanne's was in progress months before her passing and many of her friends kept her condition secret, hoping she would be able to attend. But her closest friends knew that even if she had survived until the ceremony, she would not have been able to endure getting through the ceremony, due to her condition.
Many thanks to Donna, webmaster of The Jeannie Sisters website, for much of the reporting for this article and the images in our gallery of the event.
