LEONA HELMSLEY:
THE QUEEN OF MEANPleshette as Helmsley
(with mouthpiece):
"I shaved off half my eyebrows. I changed my body, my walk."
She was nominated for
Best Actress for both an
Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Suzanne Pleshette
Lloyd Bridges
Joe Regalbuto
Raymond Singer, Bruce Weitz, Marcia Diamond, Patricia Collins, Gale Garnett, Lori Hallier, Ken James
Name: Leona Helmsley
Director: Richard Michaels
Network: CBS
Date: 9/23/90
"The film benefits from a SCREEN-CRUNCHING PERFORMANCE by Suzanne Pleshette." —CHICAGO TRIBUNE (9/90)
"Suzanne Pleshette plays Helmsley as an impeccably coiffed fireball, a mixture of intelligence, ambition, and rudeness. . . . If Helmsley were just a monster, she wouldn't be interesting, and she wouldn't have been such a business success. Pleshette never reduces her portrayal to campiness, and she makes it clear that Leona can be a charmer—ribaldly FUNNY and even SEXY." —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, Ken Tucker (9/21/90)
". . . LEONA HELMSLEY: THE QUEEN OF MEAN stars HARD-BUT-CLASSY specialist Suzanne Pleshette, who provides an imaginative recreation of the life of a woman who renounces morality for money, able to kill—or seduce—with a single glance." —HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, Laurence Vittes (9/21/90)
"I was cackling with delight over Suzanne Pleshette's KNOCKOUT PERFORMANCE." —L.A. WEEKLY (9/91)
"The real Leona Helmsley is so indelibly etched in TV viewers' minds after her trial for tax evasion that it takes a STRONG AND CAPABLE actress like Pleshette to be convincing in this TV biography. The main lure is Pleshette's FULL-BLOWN PERFORMANCE as Leona. . . ." —MOVIES ON TV AND VIDEOCASSETTE, 1992-1993, Steven Scheuer
"A belated Bravo to Suzanne Pleshette for her INCREDIBLE performance as Leona Helmsley. Pleshette had all of Leona's well publicized toughness down pat, yet still managed to convey considerable vulnerability. She was RIVETING from the first scene to the last. I think an Emmy nomination will be a cinch next year. . . . Suzanne Pleshette has again done some of the best acting of her career." —NEW YORK DAILY NEWS (9/90)
"TOUR DE FORCE by Suzanne Pleshette, who had Leona eerily in focus, from the cherry lipstick to the husky voice to the contemptuous smile creasing the corners of her perfect mouth." —NEW YORK OBSERVER (9/90)
"Even with prosthetic cosmetics, Ms. Pleshette is considerably more attractive than Mrs. Helmsley, but her performance CAPTURES WHAT COULD VERY WELL BE THE ESSENCE OF THE WOMAN." —THE NEW YORK TIMES, John J. O'Connor (9/21/90)
"Suzanne Pleshette turns in a MESMERIZING performance as Leona. Her portrayal in manner, looks and voice is so dead-on it feels like a downright possession." —ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (9/91)
"Pleshette is a MARVEL." —PEOPLE (9/91)
". . . [A]cted with such PERFECTION by Suzanne Pleshette in the title role that you can't fail to have a good time . . . CONSUMMATE ARTISTRY." —SEATTLE TIMES (9/91)
"Suzanne Pleshette [gives] a GLORIOUS performance." —TOTAL TELEVISION (9/91)
"Suzanne Pleshette DEFINES CHUTZPAH in the title role of this TV-movie. . . ." —TV GUIDE (9/23/90)
"Did you think Bernadette Peters was a hoot as Tammy Faye on NBC last season? Get a load of Suzanne Pleshette chewing on Leona's tough hide. Those lips! They could suck crown molding off a Palace suite. Those eyes! Could blister the buttons off a doorman's tunic. That bassoon croak she calls a voice! James Earl Jones is a tenor by comparison. . . . Lloyd Bridges is a game goof as Harry, but PLESHETTE IS THE SHOW, especially as she terrorizes her staff, waving a lettuce leaf like Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford wielded a hanger. 'The Palace does not serve wet lettuce!' All because her mom never gave her affection." —USA TODAY, Matt Roush (9/21/90)
"[A] SURPRISINGLY GOOD performance by Suzanne Pleshette. . . . Pleshette has those lips, those eyes . . . that helmet hairdo, and even the throaty voice and blunt misdemeanor that were displayed so often on the evening news. . . ." —VARIETY (9/24/90)
