Suzanne Pleshette died on Saturday. She would have turned 71 on January 31, and would have received her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame that day. It would have been nice, but Suzanne didn’t need a star. She was one.

    As a kid, I loved her in everything from "The Birds" to "The Ugly Dachshund"; as Emily Hartley - with her impeccable comic timing and no-nonsense practicality - she was the most perfect foil Bob Newhart could possibly have had.

    So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out that I would be working with her – on the Aaron Spelling show "Nightingales". Anyone who ever worked with her will tell you she was not only talented but also a consummate professional. She was always on time; she knew her own lines and everybody else’s from the first day; she was friendly, cooperative and approachable. I never had to go "looking" for Suzanne - unlike a lot of other actors I have had to hunt down. If she wasn’t in hair and make-up or in her dressing room, she was in her chair near the set, going over her lines.

    She was also kind, and I have a story I would like to share about that quality of hers.

    I love all things Dutch – their chocolate, their windmills, their flowers and most of all their Delft. I liked to go up from Los Angeles to visit Solvang, which, although primarily Danish, sells quite a few Dutch souvenirs as well. I had bought a little Delft bracelet there – it was just a small porcelain oval attached to a silver wire, but I really liked it. One day, I lost it somewhere on the "Nightingales" set. Suzanne overheard me asking a couple of people to please look around for it and said, "That’s not the way to do it!" Then, in her husky, beautiful, commanding voice, she got everyone’s attention by saying, "Listen up! We have to look for a bracelet!" and described it. Everyone was kind enough to look, but it was gone for good.

    One morning about a week later, when I walked in to say good morning to Suzanne in the make-up room, she handed me a small package. Inside was my BRACELET! I was stunned, and asked her where on earth she had found it. She twinkled at me and replied, "At a store in Solvang, just like you did!"

    She went on to explain she had a friend in Santa Barbara who had driven up to Solvang to find a replacement and send it to her.

    I still have that bracelet, and think of her whenever I wear it.

    She was funny, smart, talented, beautiful, and kind. Make no mistake – Suzanne Pleshette was a class act, and she will be missed.