Meredy's Blog - meredy.com

2008-05-10T23:45:00.000-04:00

2008-04-10T23:38:00.000-04:00

2008-04-06T14:48:00.004-04:00

Film legend Charlton Heston dead at 84

LOS ANGELES - Charlton Heston, the Oscar winner who portrayed Moses and other heroic figures on film in the '50s and '60s and later championed conservative values as head of the National Rifle Association, has died. He was 84.

The actor died Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills with his wife Lydia at his side, family spokesman Bill Powers said. He declined to comment on the cause of death or provide further details.

"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played," Heston's family said in a statement.

Heston revealed in 2002 that he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.

With his large, muscular build, well-boned face and sonorous voice, Heston proved the ideal star during the period when Hollywood was filling movie screens with panoramas depicting the religious and historical past.

"I have a face that belongs in another century," he often remarked.

The actor assumed the role of leader offscreen as well. He served as president of the Screen Actors Guild and chairman of the American Film Institute and marched in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.

With age, he grew more conservative and campaigned for conservative candidates. In June 1998, Heston was elected president of the NRA, for which he had posed for ads holding a rifle.

Heston famously used to say that the only way his gun would be taken away is "from my cold, dead hands."

Former first lady Nancy Reagan said Sunday in a prepared statement that she was heartbroken to hear of Heston's death.

"I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles he played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support Ronnie in whatever he was doing," she said.

The National Rifle Association of America's Wayne LaPierre said, "America has lost a great patriot."

Heston — who once delivered a jab at then-President Clinton, saying, "America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns." — stepped down as NRA president in April 2003.

Later that year, President Bush awarded Heston with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civil honor. "He was a man of character and integrity, with a big heart," Bush said in a statement on Sunday.

Heston also engaged in a lengthy feud with liberal Ed Asner during the latter's tenure as president of the Screen Actors Guild. His latter-day activism almost overshadowed his achievements as an actor, which were considerable.

Heston lent his strong presence to some of the most acclaimed and successful films of the midcentury.

"Ben-Hur" won 11 Academy Awards, tying it for the record with the more recent "Titanic" (1997) and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). He won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing "Ben-Hur."

Heston's other hits include: "The Ten Commandments," "El Cid," "55 Days at Peking" and "Planet of the Apes."

He liked to cite the number of historical figures he had portrayed, including Moses ("The Ten Commandments"), John the Baptist ("The Greatest Story Ever Told") and Michelangelo ("The Agony and the Ecstasy").

Heston made his movie debut in the 1940s in two independent films by a college classmate, David Bradley, who later became a noted film archivist. He had the title role in "Peer Gynt" in 1942 and was Marc Antony in Bradley's 1949 version of "Julius Caesar," for which Heston was paid $50 a week.

Film producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca") spotted Heston in a 1950 television production of "Wuthering Heights" and offered him a contract. When his wife reminded him that they had decided to pursue theater and television, he replied, "Well, maybe just for one film to see what it's like."

Heston earned star billing from his first Hollywood movie, "Dark City," a 1950 film noir. Cecil B. DeMille next cast him as the circus manager in the all-star "The Greatest Show On Earth," named by the Motion Picture Academy as the best picture of 1952. More movies followed.

Most were forgettable low-budget films, and Heston seemed destined to remain an undistinguished action star. His old boss DeMille rescued him.

The director had long planned a new version of "The Ten Commandments," which he had made as a silent in 1923 with a radically different approach that combined biblical and modern stories. He was struck by Heston's facial resemblance to Michelangelo's sculpture of Moses, especially the similar broken nose, and put the actor through a long series of tests before giving him the role.

The Hestons' newborn, Fraser Clarke Heston, played the role of the infant Moses in the film.

More films followed: the eccentric thriller "Touch of Evil," directed by Orson Welles; William Wyler's "The Big Country," costarring with Gregory Peck; a sea saga, "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" with Gary Cooper.

Then his greatest role: "Ben-Hur."

Heston wasn't the first to be considered for the remake of 1925 biblical epic. Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and Rock Hudson had declined the film. Heston plunged into the role, rehearsing two months for the furious chariot race.

He railed at suggestions the race had been shot with a double: "I couldn't drive it well, but that wasn't necessary. All I had to do was stay on board so they could shoot me there. I didn't have to worry; MGM guaranteed I would win the race."

The huge success of "Ben-Hur" and Heston's Oscar made him one of the highest-paid stars in Hollywood. He combined big-screen epics like "El Cid" and "55 Days at Peking" with lesser ones such as "Diamond Head," "Will Penny" and "Airport 1975." In his later years he played cameos in such films as "Wayne's World 2" and "Tombstone."

He often returned to the theater, appearing in such plays as "A Long Day's Journey into Night" and "A Man for All Seasons." He starred as a tycoon in the prime-time soap opera, "The Colbys," a two-season spinoff of "Dynasty."

Publicist Michael Levine, who represented Heston for about 20 years, said the actor's passing represented the end of an iconic era for cinema. "If Hollywood had a Mount Rushmore, Heston's face would be on it," Levine said.

At his birth in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923, his name was Charles Carter. His parents moved to St. Helen, Mich., where his father, Russell Carter, operated a lumber mill. Growing up in the Michigan woods with almost no playmates, young Charles read books of adventure and devised his own games while wandering the countryside with his rifle.

Charles's parents divorced, and she married Chester Heston, a factory plant superintendent in Wilmette, Ill., an upscale north Chicago suburb. Shy and feeling displaced in the big city, the boy had trouble adjusting to the new high school. He took refuge in the drama department.

"What acting offered me was the chance to be many other people," he said in a 1986 interview. "In those days I wasn't satisfied with being me."

Calling himself Charlton Heston from his mother's maiden name and his stepfather's last name, he won an acting scholarship to Northwestern University in 1941. He excelled in campus plays and appeared on Chicago radio. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served as a radio-gunner in the Aleutians.

In 1944 he married another Northwestern drama student, Lydia Clarke, and after his army discharge in 1947, they moved to New York to seek acting jobs. Finding none, they hired on as codirectors and principal actors at a summer theater in Asheville, N.C.

Back in New York, both Hestons began finding work. With his strong 6-feet-2 build and craggily handsome face, Heston won roles in TV soap operas, plays ("Antony and Cleopatra" with Katherine Cornell) and live TV dramas such as "Julius Caesar," "Macbeth," "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Of Human Bondage."

Heston wrote several books: "The Actor's Life: Journals 1956-1976," published in 1978; "Beijing Diary: 1990," concerning his direction of the play "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" in Chinese; "In the Arena: An Autobiography," 1995; and "Charlton Heston's Hollywood: 50 Years of American Filmmaking," 1998.

Besides Fraser, the Hestons had a daughter, Holly Ann, born Aug. 2, 1961. The couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1994 at a party with Hollywood and political friends. They had been married 64 years when he died.

In late years, Heston drew as much publicity for his crusades as for his performances. In addition to his NRA work, he campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.

He resigned from Actors Equity, claiming the union's refusal to allow a white actor to play a Eurasian role in "Miss Saigon" was "obscenely racist." He attacked CNN's telecasts from Baghdad as "sowing doubts" about the allied effort in the 1990-91 Gulf War.

At a Time Warner stockholders meeting, he castigated the company for releasing an Ice-T album that purportedly encouraged cop killing.

Heston wrote in "In the Arena" that he was proud of what he did "though now I'll surely never be offered another film by Warners, nor get a good review in Time. On the other hand, I doubt I'll get a traffic ticket very soon."

2008-03-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

‘Night Music’’s Polly Bergen is Back in Baltimore

Sitting down last week with the legendary Polly Bergen ranks right up there with some of the best theatre experiences of my life. I'll admit I was very nervous, and even managed to spill a bottle of water all over the place! She didn't miss a beat, sopping up the water and continuing her story while I bumbled around like a fool. But that incident just speaks to the graciousness of a terrific lady – professional, but very human. The truth is, we hadn't been talking more than a minute and she immediately put me at ease. Spilled water notwithstanding, the interview flew by.

James Howard: Well, here we are the day after opening night! I appreciate your taking the time for this interview.

Polly Bergen: No problem. (She smiles.) It has been pretty exhausting. Twelve hour days leading up to last night! But it was so exciting, wasn't it? I had the best time!

James: It certainly was exciting. So, tell me how did you find your way to your CENTERSTAGE debut and Baltimore?

Polly: (Director) Mark Lamos and I live about 20 minutes apart up in Connecticut, and we met up at a dinner party being given by A.R. Gurney – there's a really small social circle in Connecticut. Anyway, we got closer, seeing each other at various parties and things, and this past Christmas he said, 'Polly, I'm doing A Little Night Music in Baltimore. I think we'd have a lot of fun – it's really just 1 song and a few great scenes!' Well, I am basically retired, from the stage at least, but as a favor… so I said, 'Sure. When it gets closer, if I'm not booked with something, I'll do it.' Next thing I know, he calls, saying my manager says I'm free, and we start soon! (Laughing) I really love Mark, so here I am!

James: So what do you think of Baltimore?

Polly: Baltimore is one of the most beautiful towns, really. And trust me, I don't say that about every place… There is just something so quaint, old and beautiful about this place. I'm so glad to be back. When I was here shooting Cry Baby, I spent three months here. But the hours were 5 PM to 5 AM, so I only saw it at night, but even that was wonderful. I just love it here! Now that we've opened, and things are settling in, I can't wait to get out and see everything in daylight!

James: Tell me about Madame Armfeldt. How does she fit into the story of A Little Night Music? What does she represent?

Polly: Hmm. Her purpose is to explain the reason for the story and why it is happening, all from her wisdom and knowledge. She was a famous courtesan who never went to bed without getting something – a chateau, jewelry – you must get assets! (She smiles.) She is also trying to teach her daughter (Desiree) not to throw her life away and screw just for romance. She is also trying to teach her granddaughter not to be a replica of Desiree. I think she is also the epitome of Sweden – there is no night; she's dying, but won't sleep – no one knows when to during 24 hours of daylight! I think she is a funny, caustic and sad woman. From what I gathered during rehearsals (and from some friends who are real Sondheim fanatics) is that no one else has really played that before. I find that she chronicles her life with joy, but she fears that she threw out the one love of her life because he only gave her a wooden ring. It was foolish, really, because that ring was a valuable heirloom. Apparently no one else has really played her with a touch of sympathy. I think it makes her more interesting that she is unsure.

James: You were Tony nominated for Follies. Congratulations! Why do you think that production was so roughly reviewed.

Polly: Well, I always said, 'a blind dog with three legs could get a standing ovation for singing 'I'm Still Here'!' But honestly, I think that was the first production of that show that actors were cast for acting first, singing second. The director felt that that the acting was more important, so we really acted the songs. Singing was about a continuation of the scene. I thought they were great – none of us were really singers (at least not anymore) – Blythe (Danner), Judy (Ivey), Treat (Williams), none of us. And as you know Sondheim is TOUGH. We all struggled, and you know what? We got better and better and better! God did we work hard. And what a cast, right? You know that was Kelli O'Hara's first time originating a role on Broadway, too. Hmmm. I guess there are just certain expectations for certain shows, especially Sondheim.

James: I have to tell you, I saw the revival of Cabaret eight times, and you were my favorite Fraulein Schnieder. I thought it was so amazing that you got exit applause after your big act two scene.

Polly: You really saw me in it? You are one of like 15 people I know who saw me in that! I LOVED it so much. I wanted it so bad before it opened. I wanted to be seen and they simply would not even see me! Then I did Follies for them (Roundabout) and the next thing you know, they are asking me to do it! I absolutely loved it! I got to work with Raul Esparza, who I just adore. He is so talented, I love everything he does, don't you!? (She laughs.) And I also got to work with my dear friend, John Stamos. You know, I thought he was just the best. I mean really. A lot of theatre people dismiss TV actors, but I say give them a chance to prove themselves, you know? There are many of them who want to do their best work. Johnny was one of them. We had a ball. By that point in the run, we rehearsed with like the 4^th Assistant Director or something, so we gave each other notes, too. To start with, he was pretty nervous. [The Emcee] was a rough character, and he struggled. I told him, "Don't worry about whether the audience likes you! Should they like the Emcee?" And it clicked! Boy, was he good. (She laughs.) He told me one day, "Polly, could you bring down your German accent a little? I don't understand a word you are saying!" I did, but it was hard! I really worked at that accent!

James: I remember my entire family sitting in front of the TV glued to The Winds of War. What was that experience like? And how about working with Robert Mitchum?

Polly: Ahh… maybe my favorite role! You know that was 12 hours of television we shot for the first part? Herman Wouk HATED Rhoda (Ms. Bergen's Emmy-nominated role in both Winds of War and War and Remembrance). And I thought, 'No! She's really just a victim of her time. I mean, she follows her husband making a home from scratch everywhere they went. I brought a sympathy to the role, I think. But Mitchum and I – we go back to the original film Cape Fear. We've been friends for years, and his wife and I work for the same charity. Anyway, casting was 100% against my playing the role. I auditioned ten or more times. And they couldn't cast anyone. Everyone turned it down. Later, I was told Mitchum insisted I do it. So there I was at home, cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for thirty-four people! And I get the call. Three days before shooting was to begin on a $50 million dollar movie and I cast. That was a Thursday, we started filming on Monday! Boy, did I tease them when I got nominated for an Emmy for a part they didn't want me for! You know, come to think of it, I think I watched the first episode of the show from a hotel here in Baltimore! I'm pretty sure it was here. That day the East Coast had the worst snowstorm in a century and I couldn't get home to Connecticut. How funny!

James: And now you are Lynette's mother on Desperate Housewives! What is it like on that set? Are you going back now that the writer's strike is over?

Polly: I love to play with Felicity Huffman. She is such a powerhouse! I can honestly say I have never worked with a nicer group. I don't care what the tabloids say – I never saw anything but respect and care from anyone. What a great place to work! I had known Nicolette (Sheridan) for some time, and you know, she is just so warm and FUNNY! Eva (Longoria-Parker) is absolutely delicious! I had invited some friends – who told me the ENTIRE Desperate Housewives story before I got to the set – to the set, and she posed for pictures and was so truly gracious. And Marcia Cross is a simply heavenly woman. I regret that I didn't get to really work with Teri (Hatcher) because I respect her work so much. And of course, they just brought in Dana Delaney, another dear friend, to stir things up! But I worked mostly with Felicity, who is wonderful. She is fun and has a great time, but she (and all of them) are very serious about the work. Even working with the kids was great fun. One time, the littlest girl had to come in go to Felicity then get handed off to me. She would NOT come on! So Felicity noticed she loved the grapes on the food service table. So Felicity grabbed a handful and lured her into the scene. What a pro! And hey, I got to do scenes with Richard Chamberlain, who played my gay husband! You can't beat that. As far as going back, I can't see any reason why they would need to, they've got so much else going on. But it's a soap and they didn't kill me off, so who knows? Would I go back if they asked? In a heartbeat! (Laughing) Tell you readers to write the show – "BRING BACK POLLY!"

James: So what advice do you have for our readers who would love to have a career as long and successful as yours?

Polly: Well, this is such a cliché, but don't become a performer unless you want it more than anything else in your life. Other than that, you need to know that luck plus talent plus making your own luck plus being driven is what really gets you there. And if you are fortunate enough to have them listen to the great teachers and coaches. Wait! About preconceived notions… you need to show the people you are auditioning for that even though you don't fit their idea for a role, you might still work out. Look at what happened with me playing Rhoda! It's funny, but the things I really WANTED, I got, even thought it was so hard to get. It was always the stuff I was 50/50 on or didn't care either way that I never got. Now of course, the minute I "retired" I got more work than ever.

James: Ok. Last question –a two parter. What is your favorite role? And what role do you still want to play?

Polly: Generally, I say that the last role I played was my favorite. But really, it is always the parts that are furthest from me that people think I can't play – like Rhoda or my part in Cabaret. Hmmm I guess any part that Angela Lansbury or Marian Seldes would be up for would be parts I'd still like!

James: (Laughing) Maybe a one-woman Deuce?

Polly: Exactly! No, seriously, I've always wanted to play Big Mama. I've never done Tennessee Williams.

James: Thank you so much Ms. Bergen! Enjoy Baltimore.

2008-03-26T14:25:00.002-04:00

Actor Richard Widmark dies at 93

HARTFORD, Conn. - Richard Widmark, who made a sensational film debut as the giggling killer in "Kiss of Death" and became a Hollywood leading man in "Broken Lance," "Two Rode Together" and 40 other films, has died after a long illness. He was 93.

Widmark's wife, Susan Blanchard, says the actor died at his home in Roxbury on Monday. She would not provide details of his illness and said funeral arrangements are private.

"It was a big shock, but he was 93," Blanchard said.

After a career in radio drama and theater, Widmark moved to films as Tommy Udo, who delighted in pushing an old lady in a wheelchair to her death down a flight of stairs in the 1947 thriller "Kiss of Death." The performance won him an Academy Award nomination as supporting actor; it was his only mention for an Oscar.

"That damned laugh of mine!" he told a reporter in 1961. "For two years after that picture, you couldn't get me to smile. I played the part the way I did because the script struck me as funny and the part I played made me laugh. The guy was such a ridiculous beast."

A quiet, inordinately shy man, Widmark often portrayed killers, cops and Western gunslingers. But he said he hated guns.

"I know I've made kind of a half-assed career out of violence, but I abhor violence," he remarked in a 1976 Associated Press interview. "I am an ardent supporter of gun control. It seems incredible to me that we are the only civilized nation that does not put some effective control on guns."

Two years out of college, Widmark reached New York in 1938 during the heyday of radio. His mellow Midwest voice made him a favorite in soap operas, and he found himself racing from studio to studio.

Rejected by the Army because of a punctured eardrum, Widmark began appearing in theater productions in 1943. His first was a comedy hit on Broadway, "Kiss and Tell." He was appearing in the Chicago company of "Dream Girl" with June Havoc when 20th Century Fox signed him to a seven-year contract. He almost missed out on the "Kiss of Death" role.

"The director, Henry Hathaway, didn't want me," the actor recalled. "I have a high forehead; he thought I looked too intellectual." The director was overruled by studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck, and Hathaway "gave me kind of a bad time."

An immediate star, Widmark appeared in 20 Fox films from 1957 to 1964. Among them: "The Street With No Name," "Road House," "Yellow Sky," "Down to the Sea in Ships," "Slattery's Hurricane," "Panic in the Streets," "No Way Out," "The Halls of Montezuma," "The Frogmen," "Red Skies of Montana," "My Pal Gus" and the Samuel Fuller film noir "Pickup on South Street."

In 1952, he starred in "Don't Bother to Knock" with Marilyn Monroe. He told an interviewer in later years:

"She wanted to be this great star but acting just scared the hell out of her. That's why she was always late — couldn't get her on the set. She had trouble remembering lines. But none of it mattered. With a very few special people, something happens between the lens and the film that is pure magic. ... And she really had it."

After leaving Fox, Widmark's career continued to flourish. He starred (as Jim Bowie) with John Wayne in "The Alamo," with James Stewart in John Ford's "Two Rode Together," as the U.S. prosecutor in "Judgment at Nuremberg," and with Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas in "The Way West." He also played the Dauphin in "St. Joan," and had roles in "How the West Was Won," "Death of a Gunfighter," "Murder on the Orient Express," "Midas Run" and "Coma."

"Madigan," a 1968 film with Widmark as a loner detective, was converted to television and lasted one season in 1972-73. It was Widmark's only TV series.

He also was in some TV films, including "Cold Sassy Tree" and "Once Upon a Texas Train."

Richard Widmark was born Dec. 26, 1914, in Sunrise, Minn., where his father ran a general store, then became a traveling salesman. The family moved around before settling in Princeton, Ill.

"Like most small-town boys, I had the urge to get to the big city and make a name for myself," he recalled in a 1954 interview. "I was a movie nut from the age of 3, but I don't recall having any interest in acting," he said.

But at Lake Forest College, he became a protege of the drama teacher and met his future wife, drama student Ora Jean Hazlewood.

In later years, Widmark appeared sparingly in films and TV. He explained to Parade magazine in 1987: "I've discovered in my dotage that I now find the whole moviemaking process irritating. I don't have the patience anymore. I've got a few more years to live, and I don't want to spend them sitting around a movie set for 12 hours to do two minutes of film."

When he wasn't working, he and his wife lived on a horse ranch in Hidden Valley, Calif., or on a farm in Connecticut. Their daughter Ann became the wife of baseball immortal Sandy Koufax.

2008-03-22T22:26:00.001-04:00

West Virginia’s defense, rebounding overwhelm Duke 73-67

WASHINGTON — Back at his alma mater, back in the NCAAs, Bob Huggins looked and sounded just like the Bob Huggins everyone remembers.

He yelled. He groused. He drew an early technical foul. And he willed his No. 7-seeded West Virginia past second-seeded Duke.

Playing tough man-to-man defense, grabbing what seemed like every loose ball, West Virginia used Joe Alexander’s 22 points and 11 rebounds and all sorts of contributions from unlikely sources for a 73-67 victory over Duke on Saturday, getting to the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 in Huggins’ first season.

“His passion, his lack of fear, is something we try to put out on the court,” said Alex Ruoff, whose 17 points included a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer that tied the game at 37 in the second half. “When you see that passion on the sideline, the last thing you want to do is let that man down.”

While the Mountaineers (26-10) will face No. 3-seed Xavier in Phoenix on Thursday, the Blue Devils (28-6) must deal with a second consecutive early exit.

Every year from 1997 through 2006, Duke was a participant in the round of 16. Every single year. It’s a stretch that featured three trips to the Final Four and the 2001 national championship. But now Krzyzewski’s team is on a two-year drought, having bowed out in the first round in 2007.

“No matter how well or how hard you’re playing, you’ve got to put the ball in the basket,” said Krzyzewski, whose team was held to 38 percent shooting and missed 15 consecutive 3-pointers in one stretch. “We didn’t do that today.”

Gerald Henderson scored 18 points for Duke. But DeMarcus Nelson had only six points on 2-for-11 shooting, a game after scoring two when the Blue Devils eked out a one-point victory over No. 15-seed Belmont in the first round.

This time, there was no escaping. Instead, Huggins could appreciate a quick personal comeback. This is, after all, a guy who was out of work two years ago.

He got fired at Cincinnati—a school he led to the 1992 Final Four—after a drunken driving arrest, then sat out a season before surfacing at Kansas State in 2007. He took that team to the NIT, losing in the second round.

Now he’s back home in West Virginia, at the school he played for, and back among basketball’s elite.

“People think I sit around and think about that stuff. I don’t,” Huggins said in the hallway outside his team’s locker room, his voice nearly a whisper between bites of popcorn. “I don’t think about the past. I mean, I try to learn from the past. But I don’t dwell on the past.”

And that is precisely the attitude he sought from West Virginia (26-10) after a first half in which is was outscored 34-29, went 0-for-6 on 3-pointers and missed—by Huggins’ count—five layups.

The Mountaineers gathered at the break to hear about their failings.

And there was certainly some of that in Huggins’ speech, delivered after his players heard a loud bang emanate from the coach’s office. Some speculated it was the sound of a tossed chair, given that, as Ruoff put it, “He does that sometimes.”

But Huggins actually offered a positive twist: “His message,” Alexander said, “was that we couldn’t play any worse and we were down by five.”

If Huggins does anything, it’s make his players believe, and West Virginia managed to force Duke into 15 consecutive misses from 3-point range and figured out a way to hold a 47-27 rebounding edge.

Huggins apparently got the best out of everyone.

Reserve guard Joe Mazzulla, all 6-foot-2 of him, had 11 rebounds to go along with 13 points and eight assists.

“The MVP of the game,” Krzyzewski said.

When Alexander made a layup off the glass while getting fouled and then completed the three-point play with 14:38 left in the game, he put West Virginia ahead 40-38, its first lead since 4-3.

Mazzulla’s drive down the lane made it 47-40 with under 12 minutes left, capping an 18-3 run. Duke called timeout, and Mazzulla screamed and pounded his chest, first with one fist, then the other.

Cam Thoroughman, a 6-foot-7 freshman who had 16 rebounds all season and postponed knee surgery to stay with the team in the tournament, grabbed two consecutive boards to keep one possession alive, then eventually made a layup for a 62-51 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left.

“We’re so small,” Huggins said, “but we’ve learned to compete.”

He forged that, perhaps, with his infamous three-hour practices, about twice as long as his predecessor John Beilein.

Alexander didn’t know much about what he was getting into when Huggins arrived.

“The biggest thing that surprised me is how calm he is, most of the time,” Alexander said. “He’s notorious for being a yeller. Oh, he’s a yeller. Big time. But most of the time, he’s calm. And first, he’s a teacher.”

2008-03-16T00:00:00.002-04:00

Pittsburgh wins second Big East title with 74-65 victory over No. 9 Georgetown

NEW YORK — There were plenty of souvenirs for the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday night.

Levance Fields had a piece of the nets he and his teammates cut down after winning the Big East tournament championship game wrapped around his right ear like a BlueTooth phone.

DeJuan Blair was holding the championship trophy with a devilish grin that said nobody was taking it from him.

Ronald Ramon was wearing a smile that said a senior playing in his last Big East tournament game got what he wanted so badly: a chance to leave Madison Square Garden with a conference title.

The seventh-seeded Panthers won their fourth game in four days, a 74-65 victory over top-seeded and ninth-ranked Georgetown to win their second title in their eighth championship game appearance.

“We didn’t win this game two years in a row and we found a way to get over the hump,” Fields said. “We know what it’s like to be on the other end, to sit and listen to somebody else celebrate. Tonight, I got a piece of the net.”

Things looked a lot like the last several Big East tournament championship games for Pittsburgh. Except the result.

The Panthers (26-9) shed their runner-up tag with a performance just like those in all the other championship games: a blue-collar effort without a star player.

“We are one of those teams that does whatever it takes, we always have,” Fields said. “We take pride in our defense and none of the teams we played here got 70 points and this was the only team that shot over 40 percent. We outrebounded them by 12. But at the end of the day the biggest thing is we got the win.”

Roy Hibbert had 17 points for the Hoyas (27-5), who were trying to sweep the regular-season and tournament titles for a second straight season.

“They just played like they wanted to win,” Georgetown’s Jessie Sapp said of Pitt. “They made a lot of hustle plays and you wouldn’t have known they played four days. They just played hard.”

Pittsburgh joined Syracuse in 2006 as the only teams to win four games in this tournament.

The Panthers’ only title came in 2003 and that was under coach Ben Howland who left for UCLA after that season. Jamie Dixon was promoted to replace him and despite all those title-game appearances and a won-loss record among the best ever for his time as a head coach, the Panthers had never left Madison Square Garden under him with the trophy.

“National championship teams haven’t done what we’ve done over seven years as far as consistency and what we’ve done year after year,” Dixon said. “A national championship from 30 years ago, a Villanova national championship, that’s remembered forever. … That is our ultimate goal and we don’t have problems discussing that, but it doesn’t take away from what we’ve done.”

Ramon, who scored 17 points, and Sam Young, who had 16 points and was selected tournament MVP, led the Panthers’ balanced offense that thrived on its own missed shots, grabbing 19 offensive rebounds against the bigger Hoyas.

Blair had 10 points and 10 rebounds as Pittsburgh finished with a 41-29 rebound advantage a stat that allowed it to overcome 22-for-44 shooting from the free throw line.

“We had to outrebound them, we talked about it,” Dixon said. “For whatever reason I didn’t think we were playing as aggressively as we were maybe 10 games ago, but when we got all our guys back and were able to get back into it and do the things we do, we were more aggressive more physical, more the way we are, more like Pitt.”

A 3-pointer by Ramon with 3:45 to go and the shot clock running out made it 59-49.

Georgetown was able to get within 65-60 on a 3 by Jonathan Wallace with 1:20 to go, but Ramon went 5-for-6 from the line over the final 1:07 to clinch it.

“Levance did a great job of finding me for that 3 when they gambled,” Ramon said.

Pittsburgh, which has five players from the New York area, improved to 6-0 at Madison Square Garden this season and the Panthers are 23-8 in the building since the 2000-01 season. A lot of that success came in the Big East tournament.

In recent years Pittsburgh relied on Brandin Knight for solid play at the point, on this team it was Fields, who had 10 points, six assists and just one turnover in 36 minutes. Big men like Aaron Gray, Chevon Troutman and Chris Taft did all the grunt work up front in the past. On this team it was Young and Blair banging the boards even against the likes of the 7-foot-2 Hibbert.

It wasn’t anything pretty, but it never is for Pittsburgh. This season was off to a great start with an overtime against Duke at—where else?—Madison Square Garden. But senior forward Mike Cook went down with a season-ending knee injury late in that game. Fields broke his foot the next game and missed the next 12 games, including a 69-60 victory over Georgetown.

“There were some tears for Mike but even though he wasn’t on the court, he was with us,” Fields said. “We started 10-0 then Mike and I got hurt but we were resilient and the team stayed together without us.”

The Panthers used just seven players in the title game, handing the Hoyas their first loss in 15 games in this tournament as its No. 1 seed. Georgetown was looking to add to its record seven tournament titles, the last of which came last season in a blowout of Pittsburgh.

“They hurt us on the boards, it was evident right from the beginning,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “I thought our guys fought, scrapped, but rebounding was key.

“It just happens, one of those days. … You have to give them all the credit in the world. That’s a team that’s gone through a lot of adversity this year with the injuries they’ve had. Obviously Jamie is a terrific coach and has done a terrific job. You have to give them a lot of credit for what they accomplished today.”

Blair scored all but one of the points in a 9-2 run that gave the Panthers a 55-42 lead with 6:25 to go. The points came just as you would expect: he made one free throw after being fouled grabbing an offensive rebound, he scored on a move down low and he had a three-point play after getting another offensive rebound.

Hibbert started to assert himself down low, scoring five points in a 7-1 run that got the Hoyas within 56-59 but Ramon hit his big 3-pointer with the shot clock running down.

Georgetown, which tied a Big East tournament record with 17 3-pointers in the quarterfinal win over West Virginia, was 8-for-24 from behind the arc on Saturday and committed 14 turnovers.

Young was joined on the all-tournament team by Fields, Hibbert, Sapp, Joe Alexander of West Virginia and Jerel McNeal of Marquette.

2008-03-13T22:23:00.003-04:00

Young scores 21, sending Pittsburgh past No. 13 Louisville into semifinals

NEW YORK — Sam Young had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and hit a pair of free throws with less than a minute left in overtime to help Pittsburgh beat No. 13 Louisville 76-69 Thursday night and advance to the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

The seventh-seeded Panthers (24-9) outscored Louisville 12-2 to start the overtime, and their 74-64 lead with 30.9 seconds left was their biggest of the game.

Pittsburgh, which has knocked Louisville out of three straight conference tournaments, advanced to play either third-seeded Notre Dame or No. 6 seed Marquette on Friday night.

DeJuan Blair added 16 points and eight rebounds for Pittsburgh, which has been to the last two tournament finals and six of the past seven. The Panthers are now 4-0 at Madison Square Garden this year, and 21-8 dating to the 2001-02 season.

Earl Clark scored 19 for Louisville (24-8), and Derrick Caracter, Juan Palacios and David Padgett had 11 points each.

Young’s basket with 1:50 left in regulation gave Pittsburgh a 62-60 lead, and Clark’s putback with less than a minute to go knotted the game.

After a timeout, the Panthers held for the last shot—but may have held too long. Levance Fields made a move to the basket with just over 5 seconds left and got caught in the corner, where he heaved up a contested shot at the buzzer that clanked harmlessly off the rim.
Pittsburgh's Levance Fields reacts after being called for a foul in the first half against Louisville during a quarterfinal of the Big East Conference men's basketball tournament Thursday, March 13, 2008, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Pittsburgh's Levance Fields re…
AP - Mar 13, 8:06 pm EDT

Fields scored six of his 13 points in overtime, though, and Ronald Ramon also had 13 for Pittsburgh.

That the game came down to the final minutes should come as no surprise for these two teams. Pittsburgh beat Louisville by five in the first round of the 2006 tournament, and by six in last year’s semifinal, when the Cardinals were also a No. 2 seed.

Their only meeting earlier this season was a back-and-forth affair that ended after Padgett and Andre McGee each made a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to seal a 75-73 victory at Pittsburgh.

The two teams swapped the lead 10 times in the first half and were tied eight times, before a late burst gave Louisville a 33-30 at the break.

The Panthers used a 9-0 run midway through the second half to build a 51-43 lead, but Blair picked up his fourth foul a couple minutes later and Louisville closed in. Terrence Williams’ basket with 4:44 to go gave the Cardinals a 56-55 lead, and the two teams matched baskets through the end of regulation.

It was another maddening trip to the Garden for Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The Cardinals are just 1-3 in conference tournaments since joining the Big East, and Pitino fell to 3-8 in his career against the Panthers.

2008-03-13T18:10:00.003-04:00

West Virginia beats No. 15 Connecticut

NEW YORK - Joe Alexander continued his scoring streak with a career-high 34 points and West Virginia beat No. 15 Connecticut 78-72 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.

The fifth-seeded Mountaineers (25-7) will play top-seeded and ninth-ranked Georgetown in the semifinals Friday night. It will be West Virginia's second appearance in the tournament's final four as it lost in the 2005 championship game.

The coach of that team was John Beilein. Bob Huggins has gotten the Mountaineers that far in his first season at his alma mater.

Alexander is averaging 29.8 points over his last five games, a streak that started with a then-career high 32 points in a 79-71 loss to Connecticut on March 1. The 6-foot-8 junior forward had 22 points in the Mountaineers' opening-round win over Providence.

A.J. Price had 22 points for the Huskies (24-8), who have lost their last four games in the Big East tournament, a streak that started with in the semifinals in 2005.

Alexander was 12-for-22 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free throw line as West Virginia led throughout the entire second half. The Mountaineers' biggest lead was 13 points, the last time at 61-48 with 9:18 left, and they held off a run that had the Huskies as close as 70-65 on a driving layup by Price with 2:02 to play.

West Virginia had come up with four offensive rebounds in the three possessions before and the one after that basket to take the wind out of the Huskies' comeback.

Da'Sean Butler made two free throws with 1:27 left to give West Virginia a 72-65 lead and Darris Nichols made one of two 11 seconds later to make it a six-point game. Alexander's breakaway dunk with 1:01 left got the lead back to 10 points. He added another dunk with 14 seconds left that gave him his career high and sent the West Virginia fans at Madison Square Garden into a big celebration.

Butler had 17 points and nine rebounds to lead West Virginia's impressive showing on the boards. The Mountaineers finished with a 42-26 advantage, including 14-5 on the offensive end.

2008-02-27T18:24:00.000-05:00

Steelers announcer Myron Cope dies

PITTSBURGH - Myron Cope spoke in a language and with a voice never before heard in a broadcast booth, yet a loving Pittsburgh understood him perfectly during an unprecedented 35 years as a Steelers announcer.

The screechy-voiced Cope, a writer by trade and an announcer by accident whose colorful catch phrases and twirling Terrible Towel became nationally known symbols of the Steelers, died Wednesday at age 79.

Cope died at a nursing home in Mount Lebanon, a Pittsburgh suburb, Joe Gordon, a former Steelers executive and a longtime friend of Cope's, said. Cope had been treated for respiratory problems and heart failure in recent months.

Cope's tenure from 1970-2004 as the color analyst on the Steelers' radio network is the longest in NFL history for a broadcaster with a single team and led to his induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2005.

"His memorable voice and unique broadcasting style became synonymous with Steelers football," team president Art Rooney II said Wednesday. "They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and no Pittsburgh broadcaster was impersonated more than Myron."

One of Pittsburgh's most colorful and recognizable personalities, Cope was best known beyond the city's three rivers for the yellow cloth twirled by fans as a good luck charm at Steelers games since the mid-1970s.

The Terrible Towel is arguably the best-known fan symbol of any major pro sports team, has raised millions of dollars for charity and is displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Upon Cope's retirement in 2005, team chairman Dan Rooney said, "You were really part of it. You were part of the team. The Terrible Towel many times got us over the goal line."

Even after retiring, Cope — a sports talk show host for 23 years — continued to appear in numerous radio, TV and print ads, emblematic of a local popularity that sometimes surpassed that of the stars he covered.

Team officials marveled how Cope received more attention than the players or coaches when the Steelers checked into hotels, accompanied by crowds of fans so large that security guards were needed in every city.

"It is a very sad day, but Myron lived every day to make people happy, to use his great sense of humor to dissect the various issues of the sporting world. ... He's a legend," former Steelers Pro Bowl linebacker Andy Russell said.

Cope didn't become a football announcer until age 40, spending the first half of his professional career as a sports writer. He was hired by the Steelers in 1970, several years after he began doing TV sports commentary on the whim of WTAE-TV program director Don Shafer, mostly to help increase attention and attendance as the Steelers moved into Three Rivers Stadium.

Coincidentally, a pair of rookies — Cope and a quarterback named Terry Bradshaw — made their Steelers debuts during the team's first regular season game at Three Rivers on Sept. 20, 1970.

Neither Steelers owner Art Rooney nor Cope had any idea how much impact he would have on the franchise. Within two years of his hiring, Pittsburgh would begin a string of home sellouts that continues to this day, a stretch that includes five Super Bowl titles.

Cope became so popular that the Steelers didn't try to replace his unique perspective and top-of-the-lungs vocal histrionics when he retired, instead downsizing from a three-man announcing team to a two-man booth.

Just as Pirates fans once did with longtime broadcaster Bob Prince, Steelers fans began tuning in to hear what wacky stunt or colorful phrase Cope would come up with next. With a voice beyond imitation — a falsetto so shrill it could pierce even the din of a touchdown celebration — Cope was a man of many words, some not in any dictionary.

To Cope, an exceptional play rated a "Yoi!" A coach's doublespeak was "garganzola." The despised rival to the north was always the Cleve Brownies, never the Cleveland Browns.

Cope gave four-time Super Bowl champion coach Chuck Noll the only nickname that ever stuck, the Emperor Chaz. For years, Cope laughed off the downriver and often downtrodden Cincinnati Bengals as the Bungles, though never with a malice or nastiness that would create longstanding anger.

Among those longtime listeners was a Pittsburgh high school star turned NFL player turned Steelers coach — Bill Cowher.

"My dad would listen to his talk show and I would think, `Why would you listen to that?'" Cowher said. "Then I found myself listening to that. I (did) my show with him, and he makes ME feel young."

Cope, who was born Myron Kopelman, was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred, in 1994. He is survived by a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son, Daniel, who is autistic and lives at Allegheny Valley School, which received all rights to the Terrible Towel in 1996. Another daughter, Martha Ann, died shortly after birth.

2008-02-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

(7) Rutgers 73, (1) Connecticut 71

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Epiphanny Prince scored 27 of her career-high 33 points in the second half and No. 7 Rutgers handed top-ranked Connecticut its first loss of the season, 73-71 on Tuesday night.

Kia Vaughn added 14 points and Matee Ajavon had 13 for Rutgers (19-3, 9-1 Big East), which snapped Connecticut's 34-game regular season winning streak.

Renee Montgomery scored 24 points and Tina Charles added 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead Connecticut (21-1, 8-1). The Huskies, who were the last unbeaten team in Division I basketball, last lost in the regular season to North Carolina on Jan. 15, 2007.

With the game tied at 61 with 4:17 left, Essence Carson hit two free throws and Ajavon hit a 3-pointer to give Rutgers a 66-61 lead with 2:50 left. After Montgomery scored a layup to cut the deficit to three, Prince answered with a jumper.

Montgomery missed a 3-pointer on the other end and Connecticut was forced to foul Prince, who hit both free throws to give Rutgers a 70-63 lead with 1:42 left.

Connecticut refused to go away as Maya Moore hit consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 72-69 with 58 seconds left. After Rutgers turned the ball over on a shot clock violation, Connecticut had one last chance, but turned the ball over on the inbounds.

Carson hit one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to seal the win.

2008-02-03T22:46:00.000-05:00

Giants stun 'perfect' Pats in Super Bowl

Eli Manning was named Super Bowl XLII's MVP a year after his brother Peyton won the award.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - The Giants had the perfect answer for the suddenly imperfect Patriots: a big, bad defense and an improbable comeback led by their own Mr. Cool quarterback, Eli Manning.

In one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, New York shattered New England's unbeaten season 17-14 Sunday night as Manning hit Plaxico Burress on a 13-yard fade with 35 seconds left. It was the Giants' 11th straight victory on the road and the first time the Patriots tasted defeat in more than a year.

It was the most bitter of losses, too, because New England (18-1) was one play from winning and getting the ultimate revenge for being penalized for illegally taping opponents' defensive signals in the season-opener against the New York Jets.

But its defense couldn't stop a final, frantic 12-play, 83-yard drive that featured a spectacular leaping catch by David Tyree, who had scored New York's first touchdown on the opening drive of the fourth quarter.

"It's the greatest feeling in professional sports," Burress said before bursting into tears.

The Patriots were done in not so much by the pressure of the first unbeaten season in 35 years as by the pressure of a smothering Giants pass rush. Tom Brady, the league's Most Valuable Player and winner of his first three Super Bowl, was sacked five times, hurried a dozen more and at one point wound up on his knees, his hands on his hips following one of many poor throws.

Hardly a familiar position for the record-setting quarterback. And a totally strange outcome for a team that seemed destined for historic glory.

Oddly, it was a loss to the Patriots that sparked New York's stunning run to its third Super Bowl and sixth NFL title. New England won 38-35 in Week 17 as the Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go spotless through the regular season. But by playing hard in a meaningless game for them, the Giants (14-6) gained something of a swagger and Manning cast off older brother Peyton's shadow and found his footing.

Their growing confidence carried them through playoff victories at Tampa, Dallas and Green Bay, and then past the mightiest opponent of all.

Not that the Patriots were very mighty this day. They even conceded with 1 second on the clock as coach Bill Belichick ran across the field to shake the hand of jubilant Giants coach Tom Coughlin, then headed to the locker room, ignoring the final kneeldown.

That it was Manning taking that knee was stunning. Peyton's kid brother not only matched his sibling's achievement of last year with the Indianapolis Colts, but he showed the brilliant precision late in the game usually associated with, well, Brady.

Peyton Manning was seen in a luxury box jumping up and pumping both fists when Burress, who didn't practice all week because of injuries, caught the winning score.

The upset also could be viewed as a source of revenge not only for the Giants, but for the other NFL teams over Spygate back in September. That cheating scandal made headlines again late in Super Bowl week, and could have placed an infinite cloud over New England's perfection.

The Giants became the first NFC wild card team to win a Super Bowl; four AFC teams have done it. They also are the second team in three years to play nothing but away games and come away with the big prize; Pittsburgh did after the 2005 season.

2008-01-31T18:53:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Pleshette Gets Hollywood Star Posthumously

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. ― Suzanne Pleshette posthumously received the 2,355th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday, which would have been her 71st birthday.

Bob Newhart and Marcia Wallace were among those who spoke at the late-morning ceremony in front of Frederick's of Hollywood, a site Pleshette requested. Tina Sinatra accepted the star on behalf of Pleshette, who died Jan. 19 of respiratory failure. She had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

"The thought of her with Johnny Grant really makes me feel better," Sinatra said, referring to the late honorary mayor of Hollywood who died last year. "And it was Johnny who said to me not three and a half months ago, 'Suzie doesn't have a star. We ought to do something about that.' And we were shot out of a cannon and thanks to Johnny, who was always doing something good for somebody, and I'm sure he still is, that we got this on the fast track."

Pleshette is best known for her portrayal of Newhart's wife on the 1972-78 CBS comedy "The Bob Newhart Show," a role for which she received two Emmy nominations.

"The only thing that exceeds her talent and her beauty was her bravery, because she was one of the greatest women," Newhart said.

Wallace, who also appeared in "The Bob Newhart Show," said Pleshette left a definite impression on her.

"Many people walk through your life and very few people leave footprints on your heart," she said. "She left footprints on my heart, and now we can all leave our footprints on her star. She'd love it." Comedian Arte Johnson also attended the ceremony, noting, "Suzanne Pleshette deserves
not just one star, she deserves a whole bunch of stars. She was a terrific wonderful girl."

Born Jan. 31, 1937, in New York City, Pleshette began her career on the New York stage.

She made her movie debut in the 1958 Jerry Lewis comedy "The Geisha Boy" and appeared in such films as "The Birds," "Nevada Smith," "Youngblood Hawke," "A Rage to Live" and "Fate Is the Hunter."

Pleshette also appeared with Troy Donahue -- her first husband, to whom she was married for eight months in 1964 -- in the 1962 romantic drama "Rome Adventure" and the 1964 western "A Distant Trumpet."

On Broadway in 1961, Pleshette replaced Anne Bancroft in the role of Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker," opposite Patty Duke as Helen Keller.

Among her lighter screen credits are "40 Pounds of Trouble," "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium," "Support Your Local Gunfighter," "The Shaggy D.A.," "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin," "The Ugly Dachshund" and "Blackbeard's Ghost."

Pleshette also received Emmy nominations for a 1961 guest appearance on the NBC medical drama "Dr. Kildare" and her starring role in the 1991 made-for-television movie, "Leona Helmsley: Queen of Mean."

Pleshette had been the producers' original choice to play Catwoman on ABC's campy adaptation of "Batman" in 1966, but negotiations broke down and the role went to Julie Newmar.

After "The Bob Newhart Show" ended its run, Pleshette also starred in the short-lived sitcoms "Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs" (1984) and "The Boys Are Back" (1994-95) and the dramas "Bridges to Cross" (1986) and "Nightingales" (1989).

More recently, she had a role on "Good Morning, Miami" (2002-03).

2008-01-31T17:57:00.000-05:00

Stars on Hollywood Blvd.

I'd never seen anything like it before as I arrived at Hollywood Blvd. this morning.

All this for the dedication of Suzanne Pleshette's star on the Walk of Fame?!!

The media trucks were lined up for blocks. Traffic was down to one lane from La Brea to Highland and jammed to the east as well. As I passed the Kodak theater, the cause for the media madness and its traffic tie up became evident. The Democrats were readying to ply their wares in the afternoon. But there was indeed a crowd on hand for Suzanne. The friends were gathered a half block east in front of Frederick's of Hollywood where Suzanne had promised me, on Jan.2, "You'll find it easily, instead of flying a flag outside, they will hang a bra!"

The sad events which followed my conversations that day with both Suzanne and Johnny Grant were almost like a B-script as Johnny's death was soon followed by Suzanne's. Johnny had promised me if Suzanne was not strong enough, he'd pipe the star ceremony to her wherever she was on the 31st, also her birthday. The star ceremony was the same as the hundred which had proceeded -- but no star-- and no Johnny.

The Chamber of Commerce's president Leron Gubler subbed as m.c., but Ana Nicole Martinez -- VP of media relations and as Johnny called her, "The Queen of the Walk of Fame" -- twice introduced Gubler as "Johnny." After all they had dedicated hundreds of stars together over the decades.

It was almost hopeless trying to hear the speeches by celebs lauding Suzanne. The noise from the heavy equipment passing on the one lane closest to the sidewalk drowned out most of their speeches. Bob Newhart finally gave up trying to talk over the noise as an ambulance with shrieking siren stopped directly in front of the gathering.

No one knew immediately that the ambulance had come to the aid of Gary Owens, who had suffered a sugar deficiency. I spoke with him at the ceremony's finale as he sat on the curbside attended by paramedics. He assured me he'd be OK. (I left messages for him or wife Arlette to call -- I'll keep you informed. At 5:11 p.m., Gary called to say he is OK and thanks for all of your interests.)

Marcia Wallace who costarred with Suzanne and Newhart recalled when she'd suffered a nervous breakdown and all friends and coworkers sent sentimental messages and gifts, "Suzanne sent me a fruit cake!" (Marcia has recovered from her own cancer bout "years ago,") she reassured all.

Longtime (50 years) friend -- she slept on his couch -- Arte Johnson sadly said Suzanne died on his birthday. Others on hand included Peter Donerz, Dick Van Dyke, Nancy Sinatra, Rip Taylor. Teary Tina Sinatra, who organized the Star event for friend Suzanne, said as she pointed to Suzanne's star, "We almost made it." Also there Patricia Barry...

A lunch followed in the Roosevelt Hotel's Oscar Room where speeches, mostly salty, told of Suzanne's sexy involvement with all. Dick Van Dyke reminded she turned him and Tom Poston got a role. Neile McQueen told of Suzanne and Steve McQueen -- before he married Neile, George Schlatter revealed a story about Suzanne and the celebrity father of one of his celebrity friends Sandra Moss, Barbara Davis Nikki Haskell and Peter Marshall also peppered the tribute with salty reminiscences.

Also on hand Suzanne's cousins John Pleshette and Ira Kaoplan -- who met for the first time at Suzanne's star ceremony. We all left the tribute to Suzanne Pleshette -- and Johnny Grant -- and moved a half block west to the Kodak theater where the warmth for the Hollywood duo was about to be replaced by a cold version of showbiz -- the political debates.

2008-01-26T11:24:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Pleshette will get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

HOLLYWOOD - Despite her death, Suzanne Pleshette's star ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is going ahead as planned.

It's set for Thursday, which would have been her 71st birthday.

Pleshette died January 19th.

Her co-stars from "The Bob Newhart Show," Bob Newhart and Marcia Wallace, will speak at the ceremony.

Her friend, Tina Sinatra, will accept the star for Pleshette.

Most of the new stars are along the revitalized western stretch of Hollywood Boulevard near the Kodak Theatre. But, Pleshette requested that her star be in front of the lingerie store, Frederick's of Hollywood. That's farther east in a less desirable section of the famous street.

2008-01-24T11:45:00.000-05:00

A Tribute to Suzanne Pleshette

2008-01-23T23:14:00.000-05:00

Stars Reminisce at Suzanne Pleshette's Funeral

A funeral service for actress Suzanne Pleshette was held on Wednesday.

2008-01-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Pleshette Tribute

2008-01-20T14:50:00.000-05:00

Newhart Remembers Chemistry with Pleshette

Bob Newhart remembers the chemistry he had with Suzanne Pleshette and the way she could make him blush.

In a 2006 interview with AP Radio, Newhart said he and Pleshette just clicked.

He said they had "mutual respect for each other and loved each other."

Newhart said Pleshette in real life was just like she was on TV "except for the swearing."

He joked that he saw "grown Marines faint" when she'd let loose with a string of dirty words.

Pleshette played Newhart's wife for six years on "The Bob Newhart Show" and was there when Newhart woke up from his dream in the surprise series finale of "Newhart."

She died before she could get her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The ceremony was scheduled on her birthday, Jan. 31.

2008-01-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Remembering the wonderfully bawdy Suzanne Pleshette -- she wasn't that character on "The Bob Newhart Show"

Suzanne Pleshette was a lot saltier than Emily Hartley. She'd be the person you'd want to sit next to a party because you were sure to hear some choice comments, delivered with sass.

Pleshette died Saturday at age 70 of respiratory failure. She had been treated for lung cancer two years ago.

She made movies ("The Birds," "Support Your Local Gunfighter"), TV movies ("Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean") and numerous guest-star shots ("Gunsmoke," "Columbo"). She played the mother of Karen (Megan Mullally) on "Will & Grace."

But Pleshette will always be most prized for Emily Hartley, the ingratiating wife on "The Bob Newhart Show." She reprised that role in the series finale of "Newhart." That show's conclusion, which aired in 1990, is still the most imaginative in TV history.

Pleshette met the press six years ago to promote another sitcom, "Good Morning, Miami." That NBC show was forgettable. Pleshette wasn't.

Time had given her this way-out-there vitality. With her deep voice, hearty laugh and intense stare, she could have taught the Golden Girls -- or female impersonators -- a thing or two. You might remember that ribald quality if you ever saw her chatting with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show."

She wasn't the glamorous young actress anymore; she was an earthy dame, an Auntie Mame who wasn't afraid to tell a dirty story.

In talking about the new show, Pleshette said, "I'm just here for the ride, whatever it is. I don't want to work too hard because I want to go home to daddy."

That was Tom Poston, who died in April. He was a familiar TV presence for "Newhart," "Mork & Mindy," "To Tell the Truth" and "The Steve Allen Show."

Poston and Pleshette (pictured) had been involved romantically more than 40 years before when they acted in a Broadway play. They married others but remained friends. They acted together on "The Bob Newhart Show" -- he was Bob's college roommate, and Emily despised him.

After they were both widowed, Poston and Pleshette reunited. They were married in 2001. That's what I'll remember about Pleshette: how happy she was to be with Poston at a party in 2002. They were a delightfully zany couple.

"My uncle delivered his oldest child," Pleshette said of Poston. "My cousin is his jeweler. We've been friends all these years."

The deaths of their spouses brought them together. She lost her husband, Tom Gallagher, in 2000.

"He was sick for six years," Pleshette said. "He had cancer, which he survived. He died of the E. coli bacteria from a hamburger. He was so brave. And Kay, Tom's wife, had Lou Gehrig's disease. Both catastrophic illnesses. Two vital, wonderful people. So we're so grateful for every moment."

Poston said he called when her husband died to commiserate. "We started seeing each other and ended up married and happy as I've ever been in my life," he said.

Pleshette said he hoped to work with Poston on "Good Morning, Miami."

"I'm hoping I wake up in bed with him instead of Bob Newhart," Pleshette said, referring to the famous ending of "Newhart." "We have to rehearse a lot first."

Pleshette feigned concern over playing a grandmother, then explained her practical approach to taking roles.

"I work for wardrobe," she said. "Whenever I need clothes, I take a job. If I get maybe like six changes, then I'll be a grandmother, I don't care."

In marrying Poston, she became the stepmother of three children. Poston said, "She has a son who's a lawyer and a daughter who's a doctor."

"And a daughter who's a waitress-singer," Pleshette said, finishing his thought. "He's got the best kids."

"The children knew her all these years, love her and are so happy she's their stepmom," Poston said.

Pleshette blithely told a story about taking that 33-year-old stepson to the tailor, a bawdy story that couldn't be repeated in a family newspaper. But then she was an unconventional speaker.

Consider what she did when she spoke at a tribute to the late Lew Wasserman, the Hollywood titan and her longtime friend. She was the lone woman giving a speech in a group that included former President Clinton, director Steven Spielberg and mogul Barry Diller.

"Darling, you know how shy I am," she said. "It's so hard for me to speak. I did mention bikini waxes. Maybe that wasn't the appropriate place for it, but it got a laugh. Not for Lew -- I mean, he didn't get a bikini wax."

What do fans remember her for? "Leona Helmsley, 'The Birds' and probably Newhart," Pleshette said. "And then those porno films that Tom and I have been doing. You asked if he was working, didn't you?"

Poston: "I had to give that up. I got makeup poisoning."

Pleshette: "It doesn't show, though, darling. OK, we're going home. We have to feed the dog."

And so they left a Hollywood party. She was the life of the party -- and so different from Emily Hartley.

2008-01-20T14:35:00.000-05:00

Actress Suzanne Pleshette Dies

Her face had ready-made drama: jet-black hair framing kabuki-white skin. Her gray-blue eyes could smolder on cue or, more readily, crease into a smile. The sultry voice and famously knowing laugh suggested a woman who had been places, had fun there and come back intact. Suzanne Pleshette was a perfect fit for the movies' golden age, in sophisticated romantic comedy (think of a brunette Carole Lombard, a springier Rosalind Russell) or the kind of elevated soap opera where she could lure a man to hell or sacrifice all in a tearful close-up. I see her swapping love banter with Cary Grant, taming Gary Cooper.

Unfortunately for her, Hollywood had stopped making the kinds of films that would have made Pleshette a star two decades before she got there. So she played Bob Newhart's wife Emily on his-six-year sitcom in the 1970s. That's how Pleshette is being remembered, on her death Saturday from respiratory failure. In 2006 she had undergone chemotherapy for lung cancer. But I prefer to think of her as one of those stars who got away — away from stardom, when the old dream factory forgot how to manufacture domestic glamour. She had all the goods, but at the wrong time.

She was born in New York City, the daughter of the manager of the Paramount Theatre in its movie-and-big-band heyday. She was on TV and on Broadway by her 20th birthday. She replaced Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker, as Helen Keller's teacher Annie Sullivan, and played opposite the young Tom Poston in The Golden Fleecing. Warner Bros. signed her to help fill its burgeoning TV production slate, which included such effluvia as 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye. But Warners was in the young-blond business, promoting girls (Diane McBain, Connie Stevens) and boys (Edd Byrnes, Troy Donahue) who embodied California's Aryan ethos. The very New York Pleshette had just arrived, and already she didn't fit.

More often than not, she was cast as the nice, bright girl whose charisma can't match the snazzy blondes the hero has fallen for. As a frumpy spinster in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963), she loses Rod Taylor to up-market Tippi Hedren, then loses her life to the avian horde. She seems to have secured Donahue's love in the 1962 Rome Adventure until she catches him being kissed by mantrap Angie Dickinson. (Pleshette was married to Donahue for eight months in 1964.) Somehow her intelligence, which should have registered as high voltage — "intense" — was perceived by the studio as low-wattage: "sensible. " Being considered comfortable instead of dangerous had its compensations. It meant she would be a welcome presence in America's homes.

Annie Sullivan had a deaf-mute for her student; The Bob Newhart Show's Emily Hartley, also a teacher, had a class full of difficult charges. Husband Bob, a Chicago psychologist, was a ditherer whose tone mixed resignation with exasperation. The personalities of his patients and neighbors mostly verged on the clinical. The show's mild joke was that they were all dependent on Bob, who was dependent on Emily — the one grownup on the show. In a famous episode, Bob frets when he learns that her IQ is 22 points higher than his. To her it's no big deal; she has the grace not to consider herself superior. That's how a 70s TV wife subtly stooped to a level of equality with her insecure mate.

As combination wife, den mother and sounding board — the norm by which all the kooks on the show were measured and found wanting (though funny) — Pleshette made sardonic seem cozy. Essentially the straight woman, she could assert herself in a scene just by being there; she was the footnote you want to read before getting to the main text. Her voice could coax, critique and forgive in one sentence; she was champion of the verbal raised eyebrow, but never in contempt, always in amusement. Though Emily and Bob were more or less post-sexual, they often ended an episode in bed, rehashing the day's events, he still complaining, she offering the vocal equivalent of warm pats and cold compresses.

Newhart obviously thought Pleshette was a crucial anchor to his comic dinghy. In his subsequent sitcom Newhart, he had a different wife (Mary Frann) and a new set of kooks (including Poston). But in the last scene of the final episode he wakes, startled, to find Emily-Suzanne in their old bed, as if the eight years in New England had been a dream.

Other sitcoms, from Will & Grace to 8 Simple Rules, borrowed Pleshette's line-reading skills and Mensa warmth. She did voice work for Disney, lending her dusky chops to Zira in The Lion King II, Zeniba in the English-language version of Spirited Away. She also got a chance to play an old-Hollywood meanie: Leona Helmsley in a TV bio-pic, The Queen of Mean. And in a nice rounding off of her life, Pleshette married fellow Newhart alum Poston in 2001, 42 years after appearing with him on Broadway. He died last April.

"I don't sit around and wait for great parts," she once said. "I'm an actress, and I love being one, and I'll probably be doing it till I�m 72... " Not quite. She died 12 days before her 71st birthday. But on late shows and in reruns, Suzanne Pleshette will still be the soul of comic common sense, still sending out beams of a very reasonable radiance.

2008-01-20T13:47:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Pleshette, sexy star of 'Bob Newhart Show,' dies at 70

Suzanne Pleshette, the dark-haired, smoky-voiced actress who played Bob Newhart's confident and sexy wife, Emily Hartley, for six years on the popular 1970s sitcom "The Bob Newhart Show," has died. She was 70.

The widow of comic actor Tom Poston, Pleshette died of respiratory failure Saturday evening at her Los Angeles home, Robert Finkelstein, an entertainment lawyer and family friend, told the Associated Press. Pleshette underwent chemotherapy in 2006 for lung cancer.

A stage-trained New York actress who made her movie debut in the 1958 Jerry Lewis comedy "The Geisha Boy," Pleshette appeared in such films as "The Birds," "Nevada Smith," "Youngblood Hawke," "A Rage to Live" and "Fate Is the Hunter."

She also appeared with Troy Donahue, to whom she was married for eight months in 1964, in the 1962 romantic drama "Rome Adventure" and the 1964 western "A Distant Trumpet."

On Broadway in 1961, Pleshette replaced Anne Bancroft in the role of Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker," opposite Patty Duke as Helen Keller.

And on television in 1991, she earned an Emmy Award nomination for the title role in the TV movie "Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean."

But she had a flair for comedy.

Among her screen credits are "40 Pounds of Trouble," "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium," "Support Your Local Gunfighter," "The Shaggy D.A.," "The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin," "The Ugly Dachshund" and "Blackbeard's Ghost."

Pleshette, however, is best remembered for playing what New York Times critic Frank Rich once described as "the sensible yet woolly wife" on "The Bob Newhart Show," which ran from 1972 to 1978. Her role as Emily earned her two Emmy nominations.

Pleshette retired from acting after marrying her second husband, wealthy businessman Tom Gallagher, in 1968. She told TV Guide in 1972 that after she'd been hanging around the house for six months, "my loving husband said, 'You're getting to be awfully boring. Go back to work.' "

After trying to figure out how she could return to work without having to get up at 5 a.m. or go out of town for weeks on movie locations, she recalled, "I said to myself, 'What can you do best?' 'Talk,' I said. 'So what better than the talk shows on TV?' I said. I picked up the phone and asked my agent to try to book me with Johnny Carson."

She made a couple of dozen appearances on the Carson show over the next few years, including one with fellow guest Newhart -- a show seen by writers David Davis and Lorenzo Music, the creatorsof the upcoming Newhart show.

"Suzanne started talking, and I looked at Lorenzo and Lorenzo looked at me," Davis told TV Guide. "There she was, just what we were looking for.

"She was revealing her own frailties, talking freely about being over 30. She was bubble-headed but smart, loving toward her husband but relentless about his imperfections. We were trying to get away from the standard TV wife, and we knew that whoever we picked would have to be offbeat enough and strong enough to carry the show along with Newhart. We didn't dream Suzanne would accept the part."

Pleshette told the magazine that "Bob is just like my husband, Tommy, letting me go bumbling and stumbling through life. And the way it's written, the part is me. There's the stream of non sequiturs by which I live. There are fights. I'm allowed to be demonstrative. But the core of the marriage is good."

Off-camera, Pleshette was known for being what an Orlando Sentinel reporter once described as "an earthy dame, an Auntie Mame who isn't afraid to tell a dirty story." Or, as TV Guide put it in 1972: "Her conversations -- mostly meandering monologues -- are sprinkled with aphorisms, anecdotes, salty opinions and X-rated expletives."

She enjoyed talking so much that during the making of "The Geisha Boy," Lewis took to calling her "Big Mouth."

Newhart, according to the TV Guide article, "was finding himself outtalked by Suzanne on the set about 12 to 1 but professed to be unperturbed by the phenomenon."

"I don't tangle," Newhart said, "with any lady who didn't give Johnny a chance to exercise his mouth -- even to sneer -- for 10 whole minutes."

Although Newhart got a new TV wife, played by Mary Frann, for his 1982-90 situation comedy "Newhart," Pleshette had the last laugh -- making a memorable surprise guest appearance as Newhart's previous TV wife, Emily, at the end of the series' final episode.

In it, Dick Loudon, the Vermont innkeeper Newhart played on "Newhart," is knocked out by a stray golf ball. Then the show cuts to a darkened bedroom as he wakes up and turns on the light to reveal Chicago psychologist Bob Hartley's bedroom from "The Bob Newhart Show." The Vermont-set "Newhart" and its colorful characters, it turns out, had only been a dream, and Pleshette's Emily tells Bob he should watch what he eats before going to bed.

In a 1990 interview with "CBS This Morning," Pleshette recalled that when the "Newhart" studio audience first saw the familiar bedroom set from the old series, she heard gasps.

"And then they heard this mumble under the covers, and nobody does my octave, you know," she recalled. "And I think they suspected it might be me, but when that dark hair came up from under the covers, they stood and screamed."

For her and Newhart "to be together again with the old rhythms, looking into each other's eyes, was just wonderful," she said. And, she said, it was "very touching and so dear" that the studio audience "remembered us with such affection."

Pleshette was born Jan. 31, 1937, in New York City. Her mother had been a dancer, and her father was the manager of the New York and Brooklyn Paramount theaters during their big-band days.

After attending the New York High School of the Performing Arts -- "I found myself there," Pleshette later said -- she spent a semester at Syracuse University and a semester at Finch College before moving on to the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and acting teacher Sanford Meisner.

Pleshette also starred in the short-lived sitcoms "Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs" (1984) and "The Boys Are Back" (1994-95) and the dramatic series "Bridges to Cross" (1986) and "Nightingales" (1989).

More recently, she played the lusty grandmother in the sitcom "Good Morning, Miami" (2002-03).

Pleshette was married to Gallagher from 1968 until his death in 2000.

She first met -- and dated -- Poston when they appeared together in the 1959 Broadway comedy "Golden Fleecing." They were both dealing with the deaths of their spouses in 2000 when they got back together. They were married the next year.

"They are a romantic duo," actor Tim Conway, a friend of Poston's, told People magazine in 2001. "It's almost embarrassing. You have to put cold water on them."

Poston died in April at age 85 after a brief illness.

Details on survivors were not immediately available.

2008-01-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

Suzanne Pleshette, 70, ‘Newhart’ Actress, Dies

Suzanne Pleshette, the husky-voiced actress who redefined the television sitcom wife in the 1970s, playing the smart, sardonic Emily Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show,” died Saturday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 70.

Ms. Pleshette died of respiratory failure, her lawyer, Robert Finkelstein, told The Associated Press. Ms. Pleshette had undergone chemotherapy in 2006 for lung cancer.

A native New Yorker, Ms. Pleshette already had a full career on stage and screen in 1971 when producers saw her on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” and noticed a chemistry between her and another guest, Mr. Newhart. She was soon cast as the wife of Mr. Newhart’s character, a mild-mannered Chicago psychologist, and the series ran six seasons, from 1972 to 1978, as part of CBS’s ratings-winning Saturday night lineup.

Emily Hartley’s work life (as a schoolteacher) did not receive much attention, but the character was confident, sexy and anything but submissive to her husband.

Moviegoers knew Ms. Pleshette from a string of Hollywood features, and her low-key performances often transcended thankless roles in bad movies. She made her film debut in a 1958 Jerry Lewis comedy, “The Geisha Boy,” in a supporting role as a romantic WAC sergeant. She came to teenage audiences’ attention in her second movie, “Rome Adventure” (1962), a good-girl, bad-girl romance opposite Troy Donahue, the beautiful blond heartthrob of the moment. (Ms. Pleshette played the virgin.) After making another film together in 1964, she and Mr. Donahue married, but the marriage lasted only eight months.

Alfred Hitchcock fans knew Ms. Pleshette best as the pretty small-town teacher who not only loses the guy (Rod Taylor) to the blonde (Tippi Hedren), but is also pecked to death by an angry flock in “The Birds” (1963). Because she was a method actress, “Hitch didn’t know what to do with me,” Ms. Pleshette said in a 1999 Film Quarterly interview with other Hitchcock heroines. “He regretted the day that he hired me.” Many disagreed with that conclusion.

Suzanne Pleshette was born Jan. 31, 1937, in Brooklyn Heights, to Eugene Pleshette, who managed the Paramount and Brooklyn Paramount theaters, and Gloria Kaplan Pleshette, a former dancer.

An only child, Ms. Pleshette attended the New York High School of the Performing Arts, then Syracuse University and transferred to Finch College, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. She also studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York and with its teaching star Sanford Meisner.

Her professional career began in 1957 with her television debut, a single episode in a short-lived adventure series, “Harbourmaster,” and her Broadway debut in “Compulsion,” a drama about the Leopold and Loeb murder case, in which she played Fourth Girl but soon moved up to a supporting role. In 1959, she appeared in “Golden Fleecing,” a comedy set in Venice, opposite Tom Poston, whom she would marry four decades later.

Her real Broadway triumph came in February 1961 when she replaced Anne Bancroft (who had just won a Tony Award) as Annie Sullivan in “The Miracle Worker,” opposite 14-year-old Patty Duke. Her reviews were admiring.

Ms. Pleshette returned to Broadway once more, some two decades later. “Special Occasions” (1982), a play about a divorced couple, was so ravaged by theater critics that it closed after a series of previews and one regular performance. Frank Rich, writing in The New York Times, excoriated the play but praised Ms. Pleshette’s performance: “The throaty voice, wide-open smiles and quick intelligence are as alluring as ever,” he wrote.

Ms. Pleshette had an active film career in the 1960s and the first half of the ’70s. She starred in several Disney movies, including “The Shaggy D.A.” (1976). Early on, she dealt with heavier subjects, playing a flight attendant who survives an airline crash in “Fate Is the Hunter” (1964), a sexually compulsive heiress in “A Rage to Live” (1965) and a book editor trying to save a successful young author from himself in “Youngblood Hawke” (1964). Eventually, though, she seemed to settle into comedies, like “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969), about a busload of unhappy American tourists.

But it was in television that she received the greatest recognition. She was nominated for an Emmy Award four times, first in 1962 for a guest performance in “Dr. Kildare,” twice for “The Bob Newhart Show” (1977 and 1978) and in 1991 for playing the title role in the television movie “Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean.”

She was never in a hit series again (although there were efforts), but she continued to appear in television movies and as a guest in popular series into the 21st century. Her last role was as Megan Mullally’s estranged mother in several episodes of NBC’s “Will & Grace” from 2002 to 2004.

After her divorce from Mr. Donahue, Ms. Pleshette married twice. In 1968, she wed Tom Gallagher, a businessman, a marriage that lasted until his death in 2000. In 2001 she wed Tom Poston, her long-ago Broadway co-star, who had also been a guest star on “The Bob Newhart Show” and a regular in Mr. Newhart’s second sitcom, “Newhart,” in the 1980s. He died last year.

Arguably Ms. Pleshette’s most memorable television moment was not in “The Bob Newhart Show” but in the final episode of “Newhart.” On May 21, 1990, Mr. Newhart’s character, Dick Loudon, was hit in the head by a golf ball and woke up to find himself in Dr. Robert Hartley’s bed, with his beautiful, unfailingly sane wife, Emily, at his side. The whole second sitcom had been a nightmare.

The episode was considered one of the most successful series finales in television history, partly because it managed to remain a secret until it was broadcast. As time passed, some found the scene a useful metaphor for hopes that a difficult situation might turn out to be just a bad dream. In 1999, a headline in the humor publication The Onion read, “Universe Ends as God Wakes Up Next to Suzanne Pleshette.”