Medford mail tribune., August 11, 1963, Image 40

Suzanne Pleshette-
Suzanne pleshette, who in some
seven years has won starring roles
in television, on Broadway, and in Hol
lywood, reflects on her driving motiva
tion and says:
"When I was born, they thought I was dead.
The doctors shot some adrenalin into me to get
my heart pumping. So I've always figured I must
have been brought back for a purpose." .
Once you've heard Suzanne's dramatic account
of her basic debut, you will wait a long time be
fore hearing anything else that isn't salty humor
or acid cynicism. Inevitably, for example, some
body will mention her friendship with Troy Don
ahue and ask: "What about it?"
Long lashes will veil green eyes and Suzanne's
husky voice will drop to conspiratorial tone. "You
want the truth, unvarnished? Well, we . . ." Then
she will launch into a totally implausible account
of the "romance," recited in the breathless fash
ion of Hollywood fan magazines. Her report will
run down only when the last of her audience
catches on to the practical joke.
Suzanne has two top films coming up, Warner
Bros. "Wall of Noise" and "Youngblood Hawke";
her most notable past performances have been as
Anne Bancroft's replacement in "The Miracle
Worker" on Broadway and in Hitchcock's recent
shocker, "The Birds." She is a volatile personal
Only Maybelline transforms ordinary eyes
ity who counteracts the boredom of answering
questions by making up new answers and enliv
ens dull proceedings by introducing strangers
and then setting up an antagonism.
For instance, while I was interviewing Suzanne
for family WEEKLY, one of her girl friends
joined us and began pillorying the "dirty jour
nalism" of a sex-and-scandal publication. "Before
you go on," Suzanne said seriously, "I want you
to know that Mr. Ryan is editor of that maga
zine." Then, as the girl writhed in embarrass
ment, the joke was given a few more deft squeezes
before the victim was let oft the hook.
As for the Troy-Suzanne link, she will admit
only that they became friends while making a
film in Rome: "It was one of my first pictures,
and Troy helped me over some bad spots. We went
sight-seeing and got some real kicks being to
gether, and still do, and that's about it."
About one subject, marriage, Suzanne is not
l flippant "My parents had a good marriage,
the kind I want I guess that's why I haven't
rushed things. I used to live with roommates when
" I first went to Hollywood, but now I have my own
apartment One reason is that when I get married,
I want to know how to run my own house."
At 26, Suzanne gives the appearance of a
worldly-wise woman, completely in control of her
self and her environment. With her background,
that's not surprising. Her father Eugene Plesh-
1
Beauty
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with a Bite
ette, now a broadcasting-company executive, for
' merly managed the biggest theater in Brooklyn.
"Vaudeville performers were always turning up
at our house Jack E. Leonard, Milton Berle, the
Andrews Sisters," she says. "Show business and
repartee were just part of everyday life.
"I remember when I first arrived in Hollywood,
and Danny Kaye spotted me. He picked me up
and squeezed me as he used to when I was a kid.
Suddenly he looked shocked and pushed me away.
'Good heavens,' he said, 'I can't do that any more
you're a woman!'"
Although her father ran a top-run movie pal
ace, Suzanne just caught glimpses of films since
she used the theater as a sort of playground. She
was about five when her mother took her to a
formal preview. "As soon as the titles came on, I
burst into tears until then I never realized how
beautiful movies were."
THE acting BUG had bitten, but her parents
and Suzanne played it down during child
hood and adolescence. "I kept thinking, how many
happy actresses do you know? And the answer .
was none. So I went off to school (Syracuse
University) for a while. I got a crush on a soci
ology professor and decided to be a social worker.
When the crush ended, so did my interest in soci
ology. I figured, what the devil, I'd rather be an
unhappy actress than just plain unhappy."
She now lives in a richly furnished apartment
7
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5
Suzanne admit "friendship" with Troy Donahue.
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MOVIES
By JACK RYAN
in Los Angeles where Bhe frequently entertains
"beaus" with her cooking. She is inordinately
proud of her "natural knack" with foods, although
during this interview she ordered a "basted
egg," and when waiters in a renowned restaurant
said they didn't know how an egg was basted,
Suzanne confessed she didn't either.
Suzanne picked her apartment because of its
commanding view of the entrance. She explains:
"In the house I used to share with some other
girls, we couldn't watch the entrance. One day I
was having a hard time learning a scene in which
I had to give out a blood-curdling scream. I'm a
happy person who never has had much reason to
scream. All I could do was yipe. Well, suddenly
I heard a noise behind me and somebody said:
'Stick 'em up!'"
She turned to see a young man holding a gun
on her. For a moment everybody was immobil
ized. Then Suzanne let loose a prolonged, piercing
scream. A look of terror crossed the gunman's
face. He wheeled, fled the house, and was still
running when last seen. "I repeated the scream
for my director the next day, and he blanched,"
Suzanne concludes.
"After that I figured that it would be com
pletely safe for me to live alone."
But few people ever doubted Suzanne Pleshette
couldn't handle anything that came along a ca
reer, a moment of tedium, or a male, whether it
is nice Troy Donahue or a menacing gunman.
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