The Steve Allen Plymouth Show

Background:

American actor Tom Poston (born in 1921, died in 2007) became popular in the 1950s as a member of “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show,” from which he won an Emmy Award in 1959. He gained further recognition with his Emmy nominated portrayal of George Utley on the television sitcom “Newhart” (CBS, 1982-1990), which starred Bob Newhart. Polson also had recurring roles on Bob Newhart's shows “The Bob Newhart Show” (5 episodes, 1975-1977) and “Bob” (4 episodes, 1992-1993) and on other television shows, including “Coach” (4 episodes, 1990-1995), from which he was nominated for an Emmy Award, “Family Matters” (3 episodes, 1994-1995), “Murphy Brown” (2 episodes, 1994-1996), “Cosby” (2 episodes, 1999), “Malcolm & Eddie” (2 episodes, 1999-2000), “ER” (2 episodes, 2001) and “That '70s Show” (3 episodes, 2002-2003). He also played regular roles on “On the Rocks” (1975-1976), “We've Got Each Other” (1977-1978), “Mork & Mindy” (1979-1982), “Good Grief” (1990-1991), “Grace Under Fire” (1995-1998) and “Committed” (2005). In addition, Poston appeared on the game show “To Tell the Truth” (1959-1968). His film credits include “The City That Never Sleeps” (1953), “Zotz” (1962), “The Old Dark House” (1963), “Cold Turkey” (1971), “Rabbit Test” (1978), “The Story of Us” (1999), “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004) and “Christmas with the Kranks” (2004). As a Broadway performer, Poston performed in many productions, including the comedies “The Grand Prize” and “Golden Fleecing” and the musicals “Shinbone Alley” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” to name a few.

Poston was married four times. He had one daughter, actress Francesca Poston, with first wife Jean Sullivan (together from 1955 to 1968) and two children, Hudson and Jason, with second wife Kay Hudson (married from 1968 to 1975, and again from 1980 until her death in 1998). He was married to actress Suzanne Pleshette from 2001 until his death in 2007.

Acrobat

Childhood and Family:

Thomas Gordon Poston, who would later be famous as Tom Poston, was born on October 17, 1921, in Columbus, Ohio, to George and Margaret Poston. His father was a liquor salesman and dairy chemist. Tom grew up in Ohio, Maryland and Washington, D.C., and joined the Flying Zepleys as an acrobat when he was nine years old. During his teen years, he made money through boxing. After high school, Toni studied chemistry at Bethany College in West Virginia but quit in 1941 to serve in the U.S. Air Force. As a pilot, he flew over Europe and North Africa and left the service in 1945 as a decorated veteran. After leaving the Air Force, Toni began his training at the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York, where he studied under acting coach Sanford Meisner, among others.

In 1955, Tom married actress and dancer Jean Sullivan, but they divorced in 1968. The marriage produced one child, actress Francesca Poston. Tom then married Kay Hudson on June 8, 1968. They had two children, daughter Hudson Poston and son Jason Poston, before divorcing in 1975. The couple remarried on December 30, 1980, and remained together until Hudson's death on July 10, 1998. Tom married actress Suzanne Pleshette on May 11, 2001, whom he first met while appearing together in the 1959 Broadway comedy “Golden Fleecing.”

On April 30, 2007, following a brief illness, Tom died of respiratory failure at his home in Los Angeles. His surviving wife, Suzanne Pleshette, passed away nine months later on January 19, 2008, a few days shy of her 71st birthday.

Newhart

Career:

Making his stage debut as a tumbler with the acrobatic troupe Flying Zebleys when he was a child, Tom Poston did not consider acting as a career until he completed his service with the U.S. Air Force during WW II. While still a student at the prestigious AADA in N.Y., he made his Broadway debut in Jose Ferrer's “Cyrano de Bergerac” in 1947. He remained active on Broadway throughout the 1950s with roles on the drama “Stockade” (1954), the comedy “The Grand Prize” (1955), the musical “Shinbone Alley” (1957) and the comedy “Golden Fleecing” (1959), where he appeared with his future wife Suzanne Pleshette.

Poston first appeared on television in the early 1950s with guest spots on “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet,” “Lights Out” and “Studio One in Hollywood.” He subsequently appeared on feature films with a small role in “Skirts Ahoy,” a 1952 film directed by Sidney Lanfield. He followed it up with a bigger role in John H. Auer's “The City That Never Sleeps” (1953), starring Gig Young, Mala Powers and William Talman. Also in 1953, he was cast as Toby Winfield on the television series “Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel.”

In 1955, Poston was hired as a host on the local New York TV variety series “Entertainment.” It was while working on the show that he attracted the attention of Steve Allen and was recruited as a regular on the variety show “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show,” a gig he kept from 1956 to 1960. Along with his colleagues Louie Nye, Dayton Allen and Don Knotts, Poston gained fame for their humorous characters in Allen's celebrated sketch episodes. In 1959, Poston was handed a 1959 Emmy in the category of Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series for his work on the series.

Poston also appeared in other television projects during his stint on “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show,” such as “Robert Montgomery Presents,” “The Phil Silvers Show” and “The United States Steel Hour.” He was also cast as Trinculo in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of “The Tempest,” which was aired by NBC on February 3, 1960. In 1959, Poston landed a hosting gig on the game show “Split Personality,” which premiered on NBC on September 28, 1959. This experience led to work on a number of quiz shows, including “To Tell the Truth” (1959-1968), as a panelist, “The Hollywood Squares” (1979-1980), “Password Plus” (1981-1982), “Battlestars” (1982), “Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour” (1983-1984), “Trivia Trap” (1984), “Body Language” (1984-1985), “Super Password” (1984-1989), “All Star Blitz” (1985), “The (New) $25,000 Pyramid” (1986), “The New Hollywood Squares” (1986-1988) and “Blackout” (1988) .

Poston returned to the big screen in 1962 starring in the William Castle comedy “Zotz.” The film, however, was not successful. He then starred as Tom Penderel in another of Castle's films, “The Old Dark House” (1963), before playing a supporting role in Ralph Nelson's “Soldier in the Rain” (1964), his last film appearance for seven years. He resurfaced in 1971 with the Dick Van Dyke comedy “Cold Turkey.”

In 1972, Poston returned to Broadway as a replacement in a musical revival of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.” Three years later, he began his recurring role of Cliff Murdock on the CBS sitcom “The Bob Newhart Show,” a role he had until 1977. The same year, he also portrayed Mr. Sullivan on the comedy series “On the Rocks” and had a supporting role in the comedy “The Happy Hooker,” which starred Lynn Redgrave, Jean-Pierre Aumont and Lovelady Powell. Poston returned to series television in the short lived series “We've Got Each Other,” which ran from October 1977 to January 1978. He then worked with Michael Burns, Dick Blasucci and Jane Connell on the NBC television movie “The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa” (1977), played Marty Gibson in the ABC film “A Guide for the Married Woman” (1978), starring Cybill Shepherd, Charles Frank and John Hillerman, and appeared in “Rabbit Test” (1978), a comedy directed by Joan Rivers that starred Billy Crystal, Alex Rocco and George Gobel.

Poston next joined the cast of the Robin Williams sitcom show “Mork & Mindy” in 1979. He made his last appearance in May 1981. After leaving the series, Poston was reunited with Bob Newhart on the sitcom “Newhart” (CBS, 1982-1990). He received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in 1984, 1986 and 1987.

In 1990, Poston was cast in the short lived “Good Grief,” opposite Howie Mandel, Joel Brooks and Wendy Schaal. The same year, he began his recurring role of Dr. Art Hibke on the ABC series “Coach,” for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1991. Poston was next reunited with Bob Newhart on the short lived CBS sitcom “Bob” (1992-1993), where he played Jerry Fleisher on several episodes. He next portrayed Russell's estranged father, Floyd Norton, on the ABC sitcom “Grace Under Fire” in 1995 and 1998. The actor also appeared in episodes of “Dream On” (1993), “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” (1993), “Family Matters” (1994-1995), “Murphy Brown” (1994-1996), “George & Leo” (1997), “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” (1997), “Home Improvement” (1996-1997), “Just Shoot Me” (1998), “Touched by an Angel” (1998), “Suddenly Susan” (1998), “Maggie Winters” (1998), “Cosby” (1999), “Diagnosis Murder” (1999), “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show” (1999) and “Malcolm & Eddie.” He resumed his film career in the late 1990s with roles in Todd Holland's “Krippendorf's Tribe” (1998), starring Richard Dreyfuss, Jenna Elfman and Natasha Lyonne, and Rob Reiner's “The Story of Us” (1999), starring Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer.

In the new millennium, Poston could be seen making guest appearances in the television series “Dharma & Greg” (2000), “Normal, Ohio” (2000), “The Drew Carey Show” (2001), “King of the Hill” (2001, as the voice of Mr. Popper), “ER” (2 episodes, 2001), “The Lone Gunmen” (2001), “The Ellen Show” (2001), “Becker” (2002), “Will & Grace” (2002), “Good Morning, Miami” (2003), “That '70s Show” (3 episodes, 2002-2003) and “8 Simple Rules” (2003). His voice could also be heard in several episodes of “Liberty's Kids: Est. 1776” (2002). Poston then portrayed John Giles/Selig on the direct to video film “Beethoven's 5th” (2003), starring Dave Thomas, Faith Ford and Daveigh Chase, played the supporting role of Lord Palimore on the sequel “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004), starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, and was cast as Father Zabriskie in Joe Roth's comedy “Christmas with the Kranks” (2004), starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis.

In 2005, Poston portrayed a character in the series “Committed,” opposite Josh Cooke, Jennifer Finnigan, Darius McCrary and Tammy Lynn Michaels. The show ran for 13 episodes from January 4 to March 15, 2005. Before his death, Poston appeared as Merle in an episode of “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” called “Ah, Wilderness,” which aired on November 10, 2006.

Awards:

• Emmy: Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series, “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show,” 1959