Suzanne Pleshette calls out Patty Duke as a little bitch (!)

Good gossip. "Don't provoke me, I have a temper."

Love Suzanne's voice.

The shocking thing to me is Anne Bancroft inserting herself into it all. She wanted to leave the show! There was no reason to be cunty to her replacement.

Jeepers...ACTORS!

R2 I don't think she wanted to actually leave the show. Sounded more to me like she thought they couldn't do without her and so her saying she wanted "time off," before they filmed was a cash grab... they called her bluff and she was shocked and pissed. Further pissed that Suzanne got great reviews.

Bancroft might have felt Suzanne was a little too hot on her heels after replacing her in TWO FOR THE SEESSW, as well. (Though i don’t know if that was on Broadway, or just at the Williamstown Theater Festival...which wouldn’t really make it a “replacement,” unless Bancroft originally agreed to do that production, too.)

Thanks OP. What a great interview. She really tells it like she sees it. But she also shows respect for Duke and her acting while acknowledging that they are not friends and she (Pleshette) was treated horribly.

Jeez, Patty Duke was just a child at the time. She matured into a wonderful woman.

I still miss Patty.

So STFU, Suzanne.

[quote] Jeez, Patty Duke was just a child at the time. She matured into a wonderful woman.—Well, after she took care of that pesky insanity thing she had

I think in her autobiography Duke says she was freaked out when Bancroft left the cast. Her own home life was horrible (she was being molested by her creepy manager) and the stability of doing the play was her life. Her relationship with Bancroft was very close, and I think the company had been together for two years or something. So when Duke’s best friend/adult figure (and acting partner) left the show, I guess she didn’t ...handle it well.

But she should have been pissed at Bancroft, not Pleshette. Would Duke have rather the play closed?

R7 I still miss Patty. So STFU, Suzanne.

Your precious Patty...losing it on TV for all the world to see.

R9, she was mentally ill and undiagnosed then. What the fuck is wrong with you?

r10, if you want to call it that...

I did read in her book that before the awards she wrapped a bunch of yarn around her waist for a belt.

Not a good sign!

Suzanne was the victim here!

We mustn’t lose sight of that!

Patty was the star!

R8 I remember her writing that in her bio. She also admitted she treated Pleshette poorly and felt badly about it years later.

bad* not badly

[quote][R10], if you want to call it that...

So what would you call it?

[quote]R15 She also admitted she treated Pleshette poorly and felt badly about it years later.

Too little, too late!

Go to 07:31 for my favorite part.

So hilarious!

To be fair, meeting steely black widow Joan Crawford at such a young age would have traumatized anyone.

Pleshette was a lovely person. I already knew this from a few encounters with her in LA, but this interview makes clear that she was intelligent and seemed to have an inherent sense about how to handle Hollywood.

Thanks OP. That was an interesting interview. Have always loved Suzanne. Saw a movie she did when I was very young and she played a nymphomaniac. Early in the film she says to some stud muffin she has just had her way with... something along the lines of he wasn't required to have a personality because he was so good looking. She delivered it in a dry, very Pleshette way and I have been a huge fan ever since.

She was a terrific actress and just always seemed like she'd be a great person.

The way she talks about the fact that Duke was a shit but also gives credit to her immense talent tells you all you need to know about what a terrific person she must be.

What a wonderful interview. I ended up watching the entire section and I’ll finish the others tonight. Thanks OP

I had read in Patti’s book that she admitted to treating Suzanne poorly. Patti also said she further fanned the flames by dating Troy Donahue when he and Pleshette were in the process of divorcing.

As for Bancroft, I’ve seen that behavior before in the ‘civilian’ world. Like Bancroft the guy thought he was so indispensable his threats of quitting would be met with offers of a promotion or a raise. And of course it’s fairly normal for the cast not to make much effort to welcome a replacement. The longer a show goes the more the cast just treats it as a job they have to endure and nobody cares to do the emotional work required to be welcoming to a replacement. I did a bit of acting in my 20s and guest starring on long running shows was the loneliest thing.

For what it’s worth Bancroft comes out looking the worst here.

[quote]What a wonderful interview.

Agree, she seemed like a great broad to sit around and have coffee with.

According to Frank Langella, Anne Bancroft was a real PIECE OF WORK, and beyond volatile.....It's not surprising that she would make a complicated, unhappy situation even worse.

She's hilarious..."you're basically talking to a woman who is shallow".

Nancy Sinatra Jr was her BFF and one of her all female pall bearers at her funeral.

That’s very cool. I’ve never seen all female pall bearers before. Is that Tina Sinatra in the back? The woman in the front is that long time little social climber Nikki Haskell who’s now a big Trump supporter (give her a slap from the great beyond Suzanne please!)

Bancroft was a shit stirrer. She loved getting involved in the Oscar mess between Joan and Bette.

Suzanne is revising the roll of Helen Lawson in Valley of the Dolls. .....

Mad Neely o'hara's star is sooo bright

BANCROFT WAS A GODDESS.

Patty sounds like she fucked with Pleshette... but she also sounds like she had a lot of her own serious problems.

Sad the way she breaks down about her father.

Patty Duke was very public about her issues.

I loved Anne Bancroft and have a hard time imagining her being some kind of unbearable bitch from hell, but whatever. I’m with you, R31.

I love all three of them. I can't pick a side!

When did Suzanne say this? She's not familiar with Duke's story?

The best answer Pleshette ever gave in an interview in my opinion was when she was asked about exercising. Her response - "the most exercise I want to get is getting out of my Rolls Royce to go into my favorite restaurant".

Those TV Academy interviews are so good. Suzanne was a real gem, very honest and unflinching (and that came across in her work too).

I loved her character in The Birds, too, and I wish she and ‘Tippi’ had gotten more time to gab on screen as pals. I love their scene at Annie’s house before the gull flies into her front door.

This was posted in the TV movie thread. Some of her best work I think. She was so wasted on Newhart.

She reminds me of a lot of women I know from my grandmother's era, tough, ballsy, but always in full makeup. Loved her as Leona Helmsley in 'The Queen of Mean'

This interview is fan-fucking-tastic! Just watched the entire 5-part thing... she is one fierce bitch. What a life!

I finished all 5 parts of this too. I was going to say interview but the interviewer doesn’t get too many words in. Many parts are delightful rambling monologues.

I really enjoyed the segments about Hitchcock, Bob Newhart, Peter Falk, David Janssen, meeting Tom Poston and her general attitude towards life and work/life balance. Her childhood sounds fascinating but it’s only mentioned it passing.

Her ego is off the chain but doesn’t grate. She seemed like a very genuine person.

One thing I did find very naive was when she said if David Janssen had married her he’d still be alive. As the child of alcoholics that is almost certainly pure fantasy and he would not have shaped up for any woman.

R23 I don't know where you get such nonsense about Patty Duke dating Troy Donahue. When Suzanne Pleshette was divorcing Troy Donahue Patty Duke was only 14 / 15 years old. Troy Donahue did appear on The Patty Duke Show but she never dated him and that was after The Miracle Worker by the way.

Patty herself mentions it here

And here she says she went out to dinner a few times with Troy which rubbed Suzanne the wrong way.

Team Suzette, she was beautiful unlike potato nosed Patty.

Considering the personal shit Patty had to deal with during Miracle Worker she gets a pass.

Articulate & confident. Love it.

Over on the Debbie Reynolds thread someone posted that Suzanne had affairs with Angie Dickinson and Tina Sinatra. Can any Pleshette fans confirm or deny?

I loved her appearances on Johnny Carson.

R45 R46 Mea Culpa I apologize I absolutely forgot that she wrote that.

R47 shut up Barbara Please 😳

R44, Suzane alludes to it in the interview segment linked at the OP when she says they had a "personal thing," and therefore Patty was essentially dead to her and she never had anything to do with her ever again... unlike Bancfroft with whom she developed a relationship with.

[quote]She was so wasted on Newhart.

Really? She was only on the last episode.

R54 is the pedantic nuisance who ruins conversations at parties, until he is no longe invited . . .

Reading some of the interviews with Patty she seems to have spent her adult years really bothered at the way she treated Suzanne or the way that Suzanne felt about it.

Patty seems to have genuinely felt bad about a lot of the things she did when she was younger, and I sympathize, but I also think that once she got better, she should have realized people weren't going to easily forgive what she did. She needed to develop some acceptance for that.

Not that I'm judging her, it's just that I don't blame Suzanne Pleshette for not having anything to do with her ever again.

I think we often forgive ourselves for things we do when we're young and stupid and put it out of our minds. Or forget the weight of how bad a thing it was to do. Perhaps because we don't want to think about ourselves in that light, and when enough time / distance has passed you can kind of 'unattach' those feelings of responsibility. Even as Patty hasn't forgotten that it happened, I can see why she doesn't feel burdened about it. It's unlikely her and Suzanne would have remained besties later in life anyway, or were even generational enough to be cordial like she was with Anne Bancroft..

[quote]she should have realized people weren't going to easily forgive what she did. She needed to develop some acceptance for that.

By all accounts though she did. In several of the interviews I read she said she understood why Suzanne harbored the resentment towards her and wished she could have apologized before she died - but now that Suzanne was dead she'd have to carry the guilt with her.

There was nothing stopping her from apologizing, though.

Love Suzanne and her verve, ballsiness and candor, but the reviews for her Miracle Worker weren't THAT good.

The NYTimes said she basically Xeroxed Anne Bancroft, move for move.

As she got older, Patty became very "actressy" in her replies to questions on talk shows. To me, she looked like she rehearsed in front of a mirror, facial expressions included and was ready to awe the audiences with her wise, philosophy tinged answers. I found her to be disingenuous at best and I lost a bit of respect for her, but never her talent.

Don't make me choose between Suzanne and Anne, I'll have to cut somebody!

[quote]R43 I finished all 5 parts of this too. I was going to say interview but the interviewer doesn’t get too many words in. Many parts are delightful rambling monologues.

Yes. I’ve noticed the interviewers being mostly silent in quite a few people’s interviews. I think it might be a specific approach the staff is encouraged to take ... as they’re really there to record everything the SUBJECT truly has to say, without their being led or prompted too much. Or even encouraged by shared laughter.

It’s a little stilted, but it’s not designed to be a conversation or dialogue, exactly. It’s almost more like an interrogation, where the subject just spills their guts and tells their side of the story.

I just watched some of her interview.

Carole slept with Jerry AND Howard?!!!L. I didn't know she slept with either. Wow! After all these years - thanks, Suzanne. LOL!

I actually remember the episode where Carole gets a tattoo removed from her butt. She’s very vague about the “little procedure” she’s having but both Howard and Jerry immediately say “oh you’re having your butterfly removed”!

Given the way their respective careers went after working together, it's not surprising that Suzanne and Patty never reconnected. Suzanne was basically at the peak of her fame, such as it was, in the early '70s, pretty much when Patty was at the nadir of her mental health and I'm sure Suzanne, like the rest of Hollywood, tried to stay as far away from Patty as possible. By the time Patty got her head together in the early '80s, Pleshette was already an 'old Hollywood broad' and in a different social circle, whereas Patty was in her 40s and pretty much relegated to made-for-tv work. There would be no need for Suzanne to have to connect with Patty and the damage was already done. Reconciliation in Hollywood, as in most places, is very much contingent on practical necessity.

Patty Duke... Academy Award, 2 Golden Globes and 3 Emmys including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special The Miracle Worker TV movie, Suzanne's role.

Suzanne Pleshette... ZILCH.

Just sayin'.

Award-buying was happening then too, R67. As old as hollywood itself.

Have you seen Patty's appearances on basic shows like Match Game? Good thing we had Richard Dawson next to her to restore laughs.

As a panelist, she was worse than "blank."

I forgive Patty since she gave birth to my future husband MacKenzie.

Langella is a fine one to talk about someone else's being high maintenance.

The Pleshette interview is wonderful, and she's obviously got an ego but is smart and charming enough to own it.

Pleshette was Emmy worthy in Leona Helmsley The Queen of Mean and Flesh and Blood. She says in the interview that she wrote a lot using a pen name. It’s a shame her pen name was never made public. It would be interesting to see her writing style.

Brava!

What justice that it should be the divine Suzanne Pleshette who finally steps forward to tell the truth about Patty Duke, whom I’ve always considered one of Hollywood’s most detestable frauds. Given my working class Italian-Catholic roots, I’ve never understood the attention laden upon Duke, who, even at the height of her powers, had the lumpen face of a stepped-on tomato and all the charisma of an old shoe! (I’ll make an exception for her portrayal as “identical cousin” Cathy Lane, who Duke— however improbably—was able to imbue with an effervescence and sophistication rarely seen from an actress of any age.)

Contrast the insipid Duke with Suzanne Pleshette, who brought both an earthy sexuality and Athenian wit to every role she took on, culminating in her tour de force performance as Emily Hart on The Bob Newhart show, with which she cemented herself as one of the most formidable talents of her generation. It’s far past time that we retire the notion of Patty Duke of anything more than a repulsive, misshapen arriviste of little talent. How exquisitely fitting that Suzanne Pleshette should be the one to do it!

Oh fuck off, R73.

Love this interview!! Thanks for posting OP.

Does Suzanne go into any more details about her marriage to Troy?

Did she consider it a mistake from the get-go? They always seemed like such an odd pairing.

Suzanne should understand that Patty was, what? 14 at the time. And had it rough.

Though, if Suzanne felt Patty dated Troy Donahue to get at her, I understand it.

I watched both the Patty and Suzanne interviews and liked them both, but Patty really had it rough growing up in poverty with an alcoholic father then given to a manager couple who were abusive towards her emotionally. She was really fucked up. Suzanne was a spoiled little only child who had Milton Berle and other celebrities come to her parents apartment to hang out because they were in the biz.

In the Rona Barrett thread someone alluded to the fact that Donahue beat Pleshette, which explains why their marriage lasted less than a year.

I have to say that I was surprised to discover that Pleshette passed away at only 70, I thought she was older, heck I thought she was in her 70s when she did The Queen of Mean. Not that she didn't look good, just that she always read as older, though I suppose that's because she read of another Hollywood era. She was, in fact, the same age as Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, but she seemed a decade older than them.

Considering what Patty went through as a child, I think she gets a pass. I’ve read Call Me Anna and it’s no less than amazing she came out the other side of the childhood abuse and mental problems. It must have ran deep with Suzanne to never want to see her again. Duke was lifelong friends with Annie and their chemistry was so combustible and perfect in the Miracle Worker. It could never be replicated with Suzanne. Quite a few co stars despite each other, but Suzanne actually talked about her issues with Patty, yet most get swept under the rug not for public consumption.

Well, Troy Donahue and Anne Bancroft didn't seem to understand that Patty was 14 at the time, and they treated her much worse, by taking advantage of her sexually in Troy's case or using her as a pawn to get back at Suzanne Pleshette, in Anne's case.

Of the three, I think Suzanne inappropriate, because all she's done is talk honestly about the problems they had. The other two are the ones who caused the problems.

Queen of Mean (big stretch) beating up on a 14 year old girl.

Suzanne was greatly loved in Hollywood. Just about everybody loved her. Angie D is another one.

The Queen of Mean

I just realized that Patty Duke and Anne Bancroft's real first names are almost the same: Anna Marie Duke and Anna Maria Italiano.

That site has hundreds of great interviews but Pleshette's is certainly one of the best. The interviewer doesn't get in the way and just allows her to talk. She is so honest and funny and insightful.

I just watched Janis Paige's interview. What a sweet, smart and sincere woman. Not really like Pleshette at all but also a great broad.

Suzie gave off major dyke vibes in The Birds. She looked like she was lusting after Tippi.

R73 Barbara Parkins give it a rest already 😠

I'm r81 and I meant "the LEAST inappropriate."

Ugh, forgetting one word really screws that up.

[quote]Suzie gave off major dyke vibes in The Birds. She looked like she was lusting after Tippi.

I think that was a conscious choice, the subtext for her whole performance.

She had a very masculine energy anyway so it’s not hard for her to give dyke vibes. She had a lot of qualities we associate with men like directness, confidence, charm, assertiveness, passion. Add in a bawdy sense of humor, sailors vocabulary and ability to out smoke and drink the best of them and it’s likely she femmed herself up a bit on screen.

With all their talk about The Birds it's a shame the interviewer didn't ask Suzanne about the possible lesbian subtext of her character. I'm frankly surprised she didn't bring it up herself. Surely, she was aware of that over the years even if it wasn't intentional.

It sounds like her character was written very differently, basically a masculine schlump, but when Hitch met Suzanne he was so taken with her, he was eager to somewhat reconceive and soften the character. Al to the benefit of the story-telling.

I don't think Suzanne got the benefit of an Edith Head wardrobe there.

I thought she loved Mitch and was jealous?

I don’t get any lesbian subtext from the role of Annie Hayworth or in how Pleshette plays her.

She’s sad and bitter she’s been thrown over by Mitch (who she moved to Bodega Bay to be close to) but too proud and realistic to get all emotional about it with a stranger like Melanie.

I wonder what Suzanne thought of Rod Taylor? I don't think she mentions him in her interview.

Also Annie sees Melanie's arrival as the end of any hope of her ever being with Mitch again. The image at R94 says it all. It’s a wonderful performance.

She worked with Rod 3 times. In his TV show Hong Kong, The Birds and Fate Is The Hunter. I don’t recall either one ever mentioning the other after but they must have enjoyed a good working relationship.

Rod Taylor is overdue for his own DL Appreciation Thread.

Don't laugh, but when I was a kid I thought Rizzo from Grease and Annie from The Birds were played by the same actress.

Oh Sweetie, we're not laughing.

Hey let's bring this back to Patty Duke 😀

I would have done unspeakably nasty things to Rod Taylor.

Great post, OP, I’ve been a big fan of that TV Legends Interviews site for a long time, and Suzanne Pleshette’s interview is truly one of my favorites. Really admire how she respects Duke’s incredible performance while calling her out on her dubious behavior.

She also tells some interesting stories on her appearance on the “Newhart” finale, and a fun tale of her guesting on a “Columbo” with a misbehaving Peter Falk — and fellow guest Eddie Albert’s response to Falk. Great stuff!

So what WAS Eddie Albert's response to Falk? Don't leave us hanging.

I still miss Patty. So STFU, Suzanne.

Suzanne is dead too, she died in Jan of 2008 of lung cancer.

[quote]I still miss Patty. So STFU, Suzanne.

Suzanne is dead too, she died in Jan of 2008 of lung cancer.

Very interesting and valid points about Suzanne Pleshette seeming older than Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, R79, even though she was the same or very close tot their age.

Although it isn’t mentioned in the rundown of her guest shots in that terrific TV Legends interview, Pleshette played the girlfriend of Donald Sutherland in a very good episode of “The Name of the Game” entitled “The Suntan Mob” about a year before Sutherland’s “MASH” breakthrough. Even though Sutherland is actually a couple of years older than Pleshette, he seemed more youthful on the show. She just seemed to represent the older Hollywood Guard. She also did a funny turn on “It Takes a Thief” around then as a tempestuous opera diva (!) aiding Robert Wagner on a case.

Okay, “Columbo”: Eddie Albert played the killer, Pleshette played a vulnerable witness that Albert romanced in an attempt to undermine her story. The last scenes scheduled to be shot were the finale when Columbo busts the killer in front of the witness. And Peter Falk didn’t show up. He claimed illness, but Universal thought it was a contract ploy. Lawyers got involved and tried to get Pleshette to give a deposition. Meanwhile, she was getting nervous because she had no end date in her “Columbo” contract and had another gig lined up right afterward. The director shot around Falk as much as he could, using a body double for long shots and the back of Columbo’s head. Falk turned up on the last day of shooting as if nothing had happened, and the director said he wasn’t needed. According to Pleshette, Albert told Falk, “You know, I always wanted to meet you, always wanted to work with you — but you’re a real asshole!” Pleshette said she didn’t speak to Falk for about two years afterward. I’ve always meant to revisit that episode to see what the last scenes look like.

Also, the one part of her story that seemed unrealistic to me was her mentioning that she would sneak on to his laptop, download whatever, and make sure to drain the battery down to the exact same level.

That detail seemed like one of those unnecessary details that someone making up a story adds in order to make their story sound more realistic, but in reality, makes it sound fake.

Wrong thread, sorry!

I always get Suzanne P and Brenda Vaccaro confused.

She's hilarious. Asked about Peter Bonerz, she talks about how she loves him, but on the set of The Bob Newhart Show he used to fart a lot, and she spoke to him about it once he was able to afford nice pants.

She says it completely naturally, like it was the kind of advice she was used to doling out to friends.

Love Suzanne Pleshette!

[QUOTE]Patti also said she further fanned the flames by dating Troy Donahue when he and Pleshette were in the process of divorcing.

Honey, my flames remained unfanned by either of them.

Pleshette and Vaccaro costarred in the campfest “Starmaker” with Rock Hudson. It’s on YT.

I had no idea Suzanne and Tom Poston had an affair in the 1950s when working together on the stage. I always just assumed they met on Bob Newhart. Tom Poston had major BDF.

Also had no idea Suzanne was Jewish. Was she open about that in her younger years I wonder? When I was a kid she was on Johnny Carson’s show frequently, a few times a year. I recall she mentioned her Irish husband a lot but don’t ever recall her mentioning that she was Jewish or that it was a mixed marriage.

And “Its my real name and my real nose”? Lol. But is the lady protesting too much. What a strange thing to bring up out of nowhere.

Troy was a major pussy hound and knocked up a few women. He acknowledged at least 2 illegitimate children. His sister received a settlement from a drug manufacturer after his death and the daughter he acknowledged (conceived shortly before he married Ms Pleshette) sued the sister for her share of the money. My ex worked for the firm that handled the case.

Thinking of wrinkly old Tom Poston as having BDF is disturbing.

VERY interesting info, R115! Suzanne actually says nice things about Troy Donahue in the TV Legends interview.

Okay, I rewatched the (excellent) Columbo episode, “Dead Weight”, and I can totally see what Suzanne Pleshette was referring to in that TV Legends interview. In the final scene, Peter Falk and Pleshette meet in a military museum. It’s a two shot, where they’re both shown together. But then “Columbo” leads Pleshette’s character to a display and is only shown from the back — and from that point on to the end of the episode, it’s close-ups of Peter Falk, Suzanne Pleshette and Eddie Albert (when he enters the museum.). Falk is never featured in shots with Pleshette and Albert. And at the very end, after the police have come in and taken Albert away, “Columbo” and Pleshette walk out of the museum with their backs to the camera. Pleshette is shown looking at “Columbo” as she talks to him, so you see her face in profile, but “Columbo” never looks at her and you never see his face.

R107, I saw that episode last year on a Columbo rewatch, and I did notice the final scene is really choppy and weird. Everything was just off -- that story seems to explain it.