Susan Tolsky obit

 

Susan Tolsky, ‘Here Come the Brides’ and ‘Madame’s Place’ Actress, Dies at 79

Her résumé also included the Rock Hudson starrer 'Pretty Maids All in a Row,' a stint on a Bill Cosby-hosted variety show and lots of voice work. 

She was not on the list.

Susan Tolsky, the comic character actress who sparkled as the winsome Biddie Cloom on Here Come the Brides and as the shy secretary Bernadette Van Gilder on Madame’s Place, has died. She was 79.

Tolsky died Oct. 9 of natural causes at her Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, her sister, Noel Foreman, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Tolsky also portrayed the secretary of a high school football coach (Rock Hudson) bedding students in Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) and was a regular performer on The New Bill Cosby Show, a 1972-73 CBS variety program produced by Laugh-In legend George Schlatter.

Onscreen, she often wore big, round eyeglasses and used a voice she described in a 1969 TV Guide interview as “a chicken with a hernia.”

“I realized a long time ago that men don’t look at me and pant and go crazy,” the Texas native said. “But at least I’m not worried about turning 40.”

Tolsky drew lots of laughs as the gawky Biddie on ABC’s Here Come the Brides, which ran for two seasons (1968-70) and was loosely based on the Mercer Girls, who were brought to the boom town of Seattle in the 1860s to work as teachers.

She also stood out as Van Gilder on the 1982-83 first-run syndicated sitcom Madame’s Place, which revolved around a ribald puppet (voiced and controlled by Wayland Flowers) who chats up celebrities on the late-night talk show she hosts from her Hollywood mansion.

Since the late ’80s, Tolsky worked primarily as a voice actor on shows including Foofur, Bobby’s World, Darkwing Duck, Pepper Ann and The Buzz on Maggie.

The younger of two daughters, Tolsky was born in Houston on April 6, 1943. Her parents, Abe and Sarah, ran a dress shop.

She attended Bellaire High School and then University of Texas at Austin to pursue a career in nursing — she had worked in hospitals since she was 15 — but then switched to majoring in theater and English, graduating in 1967.

She auditioned for Screen Gems casting director Eddie Foy III, then came to Hollywood and landed on 1968 episodes of ABC’s The Second Hundred Years and Bewitched before being hired for Here Come the Brides.

After beginning on the series, which starred more established actors Robert Brown, Bobby Sherman, David Soul and Joan Blondell, Tolsky held out for a contract at Screen Gems and eventually received one, much to the delight of fans of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers-inspired show.

In 1972, Tolsky portrayed a wacky neighbor of Lucie Arnaz’s Kim Carter on an episode of CBS’ Here’s Lucy. She was all set to co-star as Sue Ann Ditbenner in a spinoff starring Arnaz, but the show was not picked up.

Her résumé also included the movies Charley and the Angel (1973), Love at First Bite (1979), How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980) and The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) and guest spots on Love, American Style, Quincy, M.E., Fantasy Island, Alice, Barney Miller and Webster.

Tolsky loved to knit and was a voracious reader, her sister said. She never married.

A funeral service was held Oct. 31 at the Angeleno Valley Mortuary in North Hollywood

Filmography

 

Film

Year     Title            Role

1971    Pretty Maids All in a Row     Miss Harriet Craymire

1973    Charley and the Angel            Miss Partridge

1977    Record City      Goldie

1979    Love at First Bite            Model Agent

1980    How to Beat the High Cost of Living            Patty

1981    The Devil and Max Devlin   Nerve's Mom

1986    The Longshot            Dee

 

 

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1968    The Second Hundred Years            WAC Sergeant            Episode: "For Whom the Drums Beat"

Bewitched            Secretary            Episode: "The No-Harm Charm"

1968–70            Here Come the Brides  Biddie Cloom  Main role

1972    Here's Lucy     Sue Ann Ditbenner / Miss Quigley            2 episodes

1972–73            Love, American Style            Vanessa / Caroline            2 episodes

The New Bill Cosby Show            Various            Main role

1973    The Dating Game            Herself            1 episode

1975            Showoffs          Herself            5 episodes

1977    Front Page Feeney            Babs Lovelace            Television pilot

Quincy, M.E.            Toxicology Chemist            Episode: "No Deadly Secret"

1978    Fantasy Island   Penny            Episode: "Voodoo/Family Reunion"

Li'l Abner in Dogpatch Today            Mammy Yokum            Television film

1979    The Three Wives of David Wheeler            —            Television pilot

1980    Once Upon a Family            Gail Unger            Television film

1980–83            Alice            Miss Gafney / Female Customer #1 / Nurse / Penny            4 episodes

1981–82            Barney Miller   Wendy / Hofflein            2 episodes

1982–83            Madame's Place            Bernadette Van Gilder            Main role

1982    Matt Houston            Bernice            Episode: "The Good Doctor"

1986–88            Foofur            Annabell (voice)            Main role

1987    The Smurfs            Additional voices            Episode: "Smurf on the Wild Side"

1988            Webster           Kitty            Episode: "The Cuckoo's Nest"

1989            Fantastic Max            Additional voices            Episode: "Boo Who?"

1990–98            Bobby's World            Aunt Ruth (voice)            Recurring role

1990    Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures            Additional voices            Recurring role

1991            TaleSpin          Mrs. Morrissey (voice)            Episode: "Sheepskin Deep"

1991–92            Darkwing Duck            Binkie Muddlefoot (voice)            Recurring role

1992    Goof Troop   Miss Pennypacker (voice)            Episode: "Date with Destiny"

1994    Aladdin            Scara (voice)  2 episodes

1996    The Spooktacular New Adventures of Casper            Librarian (voice)            Episode: "Paws/The Alphabet Song/Is So Too"

Cave Kids            Piecemaker (voice)            Episode: "China Challenge"

Jungle Cubs            Clarisse (voice)            Episode: "Benny & Clyde/Feather Brains"

The Story of Santa Claus            Additional voices            Television film

1997    101 Dalmatians: The Series   Peeps' mother (voice)            Episode: "Rolly's Egg-Celent Adventure/Wild Chick Chase"

1997–2000            Pepper Ann      Aunt Janie (voice)            Recurring role

1998            Hercules            Teacher (voice)            Episode: "Hercules and the Kids"

1999    Cow and Chicken            Pea Hen / Betsy Ross (voice)            Episode: "Cloud Nine/Revolutionary Weasel/Send in the Clowns"

2001            Teacher's Pet   Animal shelter employee (voice)            Episode: "A Few Good Boys"

2005–06            The Buzz on Maggie Mrs. Pesky (voice)            Main role