Susan Tolsky

Susan Gaye Tolsky[1] was born on April 6, 1943,[2] in Houston, Texas, to shop owners Sarah (née Hartstein) and Abe Tolsky.[3][4][5] She is of Russian descent.[6] She has one sister, Noel Foreman.[4] Tolsky attended Bellaire High School, where she grew fond of acting.[4] At age 15, she started working in hospitals.[7] When her father advised her not to pursue a career in acting, she enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin to major in nursing.[8] During this time, she worked as a nurse's aide at the Houston Medical Center after school and on weekends.[7] Initially planning to acquire a degree in medicine, she switched to drama two years later.[4] At university, she regularly appeared in school plays.[8] In her senior year, talent scout Eddie Foy III visited on behalf of Screen Gems, and Tolsky auditioned in a scene from Barefoot in the Park.[4] Foy advised her to try acting in Hollywood, where she later moved after graduating with a degree in the fine arts in 1967.[8][9] She shared an apartment in Hollywood, California, with actress Susan Howard.[4]

When in Hollywood, Foy was unable to grant Tolsky a contract with Screen Gems, and instead introduced her to people who worked in casting and helped her get an agent.[8] In 1968, Tolsky made her television debut on an episode of The Second Hundred Years, where she had one line, followed by a small role on an episode of Bewitched, both on ABC.[8] During this time, she worked with the Columbia Pictures Workshop and the Los Angeles Repertory Company.[8] Howard, a contract actress at Screen Gems, brought home a script for the pilot episode of the comedy Western series Here Come the Brides.[8][10] Howard believed Tolsky was "perfect" for the role of Biddie Cloom, but Foy was less enthused of her chances of securing the part, believing she could not play a character from Massachusetts due to her Southern accent.[8] Tolsky ultimately read the part, and recalled that the audition was "awful", stating that she was a "nervous wreck".[8] Two weeks later, she landed the role.[8] Originally written as a minor character, the crew were so impressed with Tolsky's performance as Biddie that she was made a series regular.[11] The series aired for two seasons from September 1968 to April 1970 on ABC.[10]

In the 1970s, Tolsky made her film debut in Roger Vadim's comedy-mystery film Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) as Miss Craymire, the secretary of Rock Hudson's character.[12][13] Her next film credit was Charley and the Angel (1973), a Disney comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety, in which she portrayed the character Miss Partridge.[14] In the later part of the decade, she acted in the comedy film Record City (1977) and Stan Dragoti's comedy horror film Love at First Bite (1979).[15][16] Also in the 1970s, she had guest roles on the television series Here's Lucy (1972), Love, American Style (1972–73), and Quincy, M.E. (1977).[17][18][19] She was also a regular on the variety series The New Bill Cosby Show (1972–73) on CBS.[20] In 1978, she portrayed Mammy Yokum in a Li'l Abner television special, the musical film Li'l Abner in the Dogpatch Today.[21]

In the 1980s, Tolsky earned her third main role on television, this time on Madame's Place (1982–83), a comedy series about a puppet, controlled by Wayland Flowers, named Madame who hosts a late-night talk show from her mansion. Tolsky portrayed Bernadette Van Gilder, Madame's shy secretary.[22] Madame's Place had a very rushed shooting schedule and aired five days a week in syndication.[22][23] According to Tolsky, 75 episodes were shot in fifteen weeks, and she considers it one of her "most enjoyable" experiences after Here Come the Brides.. She said, "We had a fabulous crew on that ... We did a show a day, so we did have a close crew."[24] Tolsky appeared on four episodes of the CBS sitcom Alice, portraying different one-time characters, from 1980 to 1983.[25] She also guest starred on two episodes of the ABC sitcom Barney Miller in 1981 and 1982.[26] She appeared in the films How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980), directed by Robert Scheerer, and The Devil and Max Devlin (1981), directed by Steven Hilliard Stern.[27][28]

Tolsky's final film credit is the 1986 comedy crime film The Longshot, where she played the character Dee,[29] and her last on-screen appearance is on an episode of the television series Webster in 1988.[30] Tolsky first started working as a voice actress on the NBC animated children's television series Foofur (1986–88), where she voiced Annabell.[31] Throughout the 1990s, she lent her voice to several animated television series; she had recurring roles as Binkie Muddlefoot on Darkwing Duck (1991–92), Scara on Aladdin (1994), and Aunt Janie, the aunt of the titular character on Pepper Ann (1997–2000).[32][33][34] Tolsky's most recent credit is the Disney Channel series The Buzz on Maggie (2005–06), where she provided the voice of Mrs. Pesky, the mother of the title character, throughout the series' one-season run.[34]

Tolsky dated actor Christopher Stone, whom she met on the set of Here Come the Brides in the late 1960s, for five years.[24]

• Susan Tolsky at IMDb