Suzanne Pleshette, 70, best known for her role as Bob Newhart's sardonic wife on television's "The Bob Newhart Show," died of respiratory failure Saturday evening at her Los Angeles home, her attorney said.
Pleshette underwent chemotherapy for lung cancer in 2006, said Robert Finkelstein, her attorney and a family friend.
"The Bob Newhart Show," a hit throughout its six-year run, starred comedian Newhart as a Chicago psychiatrist surrounded by eccentric patients. Pleshette provided the voice of reason. She revisited her role in the finale of a later Newhart show, "Newhart."
The husky-voiced Pleshette also starred in films and Broadway. Her roles included Anne Bancroft in "The Miracle Worker" and a teacher in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." Her husband, actor Tom Poston, died in April.
Allan Melvin, 84, a popular character actor who played Cpl. Henshaw on the 1950s sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" and later played butcher Sam Franklin -- Alice the housekeeper's boyfriend -- on "The Brady Bunch," died of cancer Thursday at his suburban Los Angeles home.
During his five-decade career, Melvin made guest appearances on numerous TV shows, including playing different roles on at least eight episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show." He also played Archie Bunker's neighbor and friend Barney on "All in the Family" and "Archie Bunker's Place."
Nikola Kljusev, 80, who served as Macedonia's first prime minister after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, died Wednesday. No details were available. Kljusev served as prime minister for 19 months and is credited with leading the tiny country's peaceful transition to independence -- introducing the denar as the new national currency and heading tough negotiations for the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army.
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