Boy, we hate doing this. A lovely man named Tom Poston is dead at the age of 85. You may have known him from his many appearances in Steve Allen's little stock company of great comedians. You may have known him from his many game show appearances, particularly on To Tell the Truth. (GSN has been running episodes of that in memory of his fellow panelist, Kitty Carlisle. They can keep it going for Tom.) You may have known him from his work on The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. Or you may have known him from the many other things he did in front of a camera or on-stage. He had a helluva career.
Obits like this one will tell you all you need to know about that career. I can only add two things. One is to mention that every time I was around Tom Poston, I found him to be a charming and very funny man, exactly as you'd expect him to be from his TV appearances. He was one of those comedians — too few in number — who seemed genuinely unthreatened by others so when his friends said something funny, he'd laugh…out loud, even. He just gave off an easy-going air of being nice.
And the other thing I'll mention is what I'm sure Tom would have wanted me and everyone to mention. It's that he and his wife Suzanne Pleshette really loved each other…and were not shy about making sure everyone knew it.
I have to run out now but if I think of any good Tom Poston anecdotes, I'll post them here later.