Susan Tolsky, the actress who played Biddie Cloom on Here Come the Brides and secretary Bernadette Van Gilder on Madame’s Place, has passed away at the age of 79 years old. Tolsky passed away on October 9th, of natural causes at her Toluca Lake home in Los Angeles, according to her sister, Noel Foreman. Tolsky also played the secretary of a high school football coach in Roger Vadim’s Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) and was also a regular performer on The New Bill Cosby Show, a 1972-1973 CBS veriety program that was produced by George Schlatter.
Tolsky stood out as Van Gilder on the 1982-83 syndicated sitcom Madame’s Place, which revolved around a puppet who talks with celebrities on the late night talk show that she hosted from her Hollywood mansion. Since the 80’s Tolsky primarily worked as a voice actor on shows such as, Foofur, Bobby’s World, Darkwing Duck, Pepper Ann and The Buzz on Maggie.
Tolsky was the younger of two daughters, born in Houston on April 6th, 1943 to her parents, Abe and Sarah, wo ran a dress shop. She attended Bellaire High School and then University of Texas at Austin to pursue nursing. She auditioned for Screen Gems casting director Eddie Foy III, before coming to Hollywood and landing in 1968 episodes of ABC’s The Second Hundred Years and Bewitched before she was hired for Here Come the Brides. She also loved to knit and read, she was never married. A funeral service was held on October 31st, at the Angeleno Valley mortuary in North Hollywood.
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