In the 1950s, Poston gained recognition as a comedic "Man in the Street" (along with his colleagues Louie Nye, Dayton Allen and Don Knotts) on the Steve Allen Show. For these performances, Poston won the 1959 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series. Following that, he appeared frequently on Broadway and as a television game show panelist, including regular appearances on To Tell the Truth and What's My Line?. While Poston's film career was limited to quirky comedies (such as William Castle's "Zotz!" and "The Old Dark House" in the 1960s), his television career was expansive, covering the better part of five decades, and saw him contributing his comedic talents in virtually every corner of the medium, from made-for-TV movies to variety shows to situation comedies to talk shows and even to voice-overs for cartoons.

Poston was a recurring guest star on The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s. He later played the role of Franklin Delano Bickley on Mork & Mindy. A longtime friend of Bob Newhart, Poston played George Utley, bumbling country handyman of the Stratford Inn, on Newhart and appeared with Newhart in Cold Turkey (1971) as the town drunk, Edgar Stopworth. He was nominated for an Emmy Award three times for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on Newhart: in 1984, 1986, and 1987. He had a third role with Newhart in the short-lived Bob.

Poston also had regular roles on many other television series: Family Matters, Murphy Brown, Home Improvement, Cosby, Malcolm & Eddie, ER, Grace Under Fire, That '70s Show, Will & Grace, and guest starred in an episode of The Simpsons as the Capital City Goofball. He also played Art Hibke on ABC's Coach, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1991.

In 2001, Poston married for the third time, to actress Suzanne Pleshette, who played the wife of Newhart's character Bob Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show. Poston continued to appear in supporting roles in films, including 2003's Beethoven's 5th and two released in 2004, Christmas with the Kranks and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and on several television programs. In 2005, he played the character "Clown" on the brief-lived NBC series Committed. They Might Be Giants mentions Poston as a writer for the New York Times in their song "Critic Intro". In 2006 Poston guest-starred on an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody in the episode "Ah! Wilderness" as Merle, which became his final acting role.

After a brief illness, Poston died on April 30, 2007 in Los Angeles, California^[2]

[

See also

• Sigma Nu LEADership learning program

[

References

[

External links

• Tom Poston at Find A Grave
• Tom Poston at the Internet Broadway Database
• Tom Poston at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Comedy Series Art Carney (1954) · Art Carney (1955) · Art Carney (1956) · Carl Reiner (1957) · Carl Reiner (1958) · Tom Poston (1959) · Don Knotts (1961) · Don Knotts (1962) · Don Knotts (1963) · Don Knotts (1966) · Don Knotts (1967) · Werner Klemperer (1968) · Werner Klemperer (1969) · Michael Constantine (1970) · Edward Asner (1971) · Edward Asner (1972) · Ted Knight (1973) · Rob Reiner (1974) · Edward Asner (1975) Complete list: (1954-1975) · (1976-2000) · (2001-present)

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