Mary Frann Remembered

Mary Frann, who played Bob Newhart’s wife for eight seasons (1982-1990) on “Newhart,” died early Wednesday morning at the age of 55. Frann, a Missouri native, started her career in TV news as a weather reporter in St. Louis and as a morning-show host in Chicago. From 1974 to 1979 she starred on the NBC soap “Days of Our Lives” while making guest appearances on such shows as “The Rockford Files” and “WKRP in Cincinnati.” The cause of her death is unknown, and she had recently told an interviewer that she was in perfect health. Frann was in the process of developing a new sitcom with Barry Kemp, who had produced “Newhart.”