Suzanne Pleshette, best known for her role as Dr. Bob Hartley's intelligent, independent wife Emily of television's long-running The Bob Newhart Show, has died, just days before a ceremony honoring her with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The beautiful, husky-voiced TV, film and theater star was set to attend the January 31 ceremony on her 71st birthday.

Ms. Pleshette, who underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006, died of respiratory failure on Saturday evening, January 19, 2008, at her Los Angeles home, said attorney and family friend Robert Finkelstein.

Born in 1937 in New York City, Pleshette began her career as a stage actress after attending the city's High School of the Performing Arts and studying at its Neighborhood Playhouse. She was often picked for roles because of her beauty and her throaty voice.

Ms. Pleshette had launched her film career with Jerry Lewis in 1958 in The Geisha Boy. She continued her film career in such films as Hitchcock's The Birds and the Disney comedies The Ugly Dachshund, Blackbeard's Ghost and The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin.

Ms. Pleshette also played supporting roles in many classic series such as Route 66, The Fugitive, Dr. Kildare (in a role that got her an Emmy nomination) and Bonanza. Pleshette was often cast as the bad girl or bad-girl-turned-good.

Her break away role came when the producers of The Bob Newhart Show began looking for a sharp, outspoken, mature yet sexy woman to give The Bob Newhart Show a healthy adult TV marriage. Spotting Pleshette on The Tonight Show, they realized how perfect she was for the role. The show went on to break new ground by setting many key scenes in the Hartleys' king-size bed.

Ms. Pleshette was married three times. Her first marriage in 1964 to Troy Donahue lasted less than a year. She was married to her second husband, Texas oilman Tim Gallagher, from 1968 until his death in 2000. She met her third husband, Tom Poston, when they appeared together in the 1959 Broadway comedy The Golden Fleecing, but didn't marry until more than 40 years later in 2001.

"He was such a wonderful man. He had fun every day of his life," Pleshette said after Poston died in April 2007.

About Ms. Pleshette, Bob Newhart said, "She was a pro's pro. Although we knew she was quite sick, she was one of those people that you thought would go on forever."

TV Land bids farewell to Ms. Pleshette. She will be sorely missed!