You could have knocked me over with a feather-duster on September 23, 1998 when my sister called me to inform me of the latest celebrity passing. The fact that she was only age 55 didn’t even enter my mind but I just couldn’t fathom that fact that Mary Frann, the lady who had played Joanna Louden, wife of Bob Newhart’s character Dick Louden, on one of my all-time favorite sitcoms Newhart was now gone. It had only been less than one year since I had sent her an autograph request on September 28, 1997.
I didn’t record exactly when she responded, but I don’t remember in being inordinately long. But the fact that she sent along not one, but two very nice 8 x 10 photos solidified her status in my mind as not only the actress who played one of the nicest TV characters, but one of the nicest actresses around.
She either really liked me and my letter to her or she really liked her new photos – not sure which
She will go down in television history for her warm and likable role on Newhart, one in which she had the unenviable task of being a ‘straight man’ to Bob Newhart’s ‘dead-straight man.’ She succeeded admirably and the world will continue to enjoy her work, and I’ll continue to enjoy her autographs!
Autographs of 1997 will continue…
Leave a Reply