Suzanne Pleshette January 31 1937 January 19 2008 was an American actress on stage screen and television After beginning her career in theatre she began appearing in films in the early 1960s such as Rome Adventure 1962 and Alfred Hitchcocks The Birds 1963 She later appeared in various television productions often in guest roles and played the role of Emily Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show from 1972 until 1978 receiving Emmy Award nominations for her work She continued acting until 2004 and died from respiratory failure as a result of lung cancer in 2008 Description above from the Wikipedia article Suzanne Pleshette licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia