Comedy icon Bob Newhart, whose deadpan delivery made him a legend of television and the silver screen, died on Thursday, according to his longtime publicist Jerry Digney.
Known for his comedic timing, the “Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart” star was one of the funniest men of the 20th century. The Emmy winner gave us one of the most memorable series’ finales of all time with his beloved CBS comedy.
Though he was best known for his comedy albums and shows, Newhart made cameos on “Desperate Housewives,” “ER,” and, most notably, “The Big Bang Theory” in recent years. Disney fans may recognize his voice from “The Rescuers” and its sequel where he voiced the protagonist mouse, Bernard.
Newhart also starred opposite Will Farrell in the beloved Christmas comedy “Elf.”
Before he had audiences laughing, Newhart said he never knew what he wanted to do when he grew up. He told the Television Academy Foundation he hoped he’d be remembered as “someone who was on time, who knew his lines, didn’t bump into the furniture, and never let anybody catch him at acting.”
Breaking through into comedy in the ’50s
Born George Robert Newhart in Oak Park, Illinois, the comedian grew up in a middle-class family with a father who sold plumbing and heating supplies; his mother, who was a housewife; and three sisters.
Influenced by cartoonist and humorist James Thurber, writer Max Shulman, and radio greats Fred Allen and Jack Benny, Newhart credited learning how to tell stories from them and his father, who he said was a pretty good story teller.
“I never thought of comedy as career. I was much too practical for that. I had a degree in management, a minor in accounting,” Newhart told the Television Academy.
From 1952 to 1954, Newhart was drafted into the United States Army where he worked as a personnel manager during the Korean war. Newhart said he hated it. Afterwards, he worked as an accountant and copywriter for a short time. He found the accounting work dull, but was constantly told he was funny so Newhart decided to give comedy a try.
When he was bored, he and a coworker would do comedy routines over the phone at the office and they eventually started recording them. The tapes were sent out to radio stations and a few of them were interested in routines, which the two kept up for awhile until it wasn’t cost-effective to send out anymore. Newhart continued to try his luck solo.
“They thought I was out of my mind,” Newhart told the Television Academy of his family’s thoughts on his comedy dreams. “My mother and father couldn’t really understand what I was doing.”
He took part-time jobs in order to sustain his dream. Eventually, Newhart was invited to do one of his popular one-sided phone call routines at the local Chicago Emmy awards between Abraham Lincoln and his press agent.
In 2007, Newhart told Conan O’Brien that “Abe Lincoln Vs. Madison Avenue,” which you can listen to below, is “maybe the best piece of writing I ever did.”
It was a hit and ABC hired him in 1958 shortly afterward to do a “man on the street” routine. One of Newhart’s friends, a disc jockey, Dan Sorkin, later introduced Newhart to the head of talent at Warner Bros. Records. The new record label signed him the following year after hearing three of Newhart’s recordings.
His first comedy album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” was released in 1960 and it was a hit. It was the first comedy album to become number one on the Billboard charts and Newhart later won Grammys for album of the year and best new artist. AV Club said it “changed stand-up comedy forever.”
From comedy albums to a short-lived variety sitcom
Newhart’s first album was selling so well and so fast that Warner Bros. released a second album from the comedian six months later, “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back.”
It won a Grammy for best comedy performance — spoken word the same year. Over the next 11 years, he released seven more albums, including “Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newart” (1964) and “Best of Bob Newhart” (1971).
“The first two albums flowed like a dam burst. You had these ideas,” Newhart told Billboard. “‘Retirement Party’ was based on my background in accounting, “Grace L. Ferguson Airline” was based on plane flights I had taken while in service, looking for the cheapest way to get back home. And then it became harder. They dammed up the dam. The good ideas come full born, it’s like giving birth.”
After, NBC gave Newhart his own variety show in 1961 simply called “The Bob Newhart Show.” Even though it won a Peabody and Primetime Emmy for outstanding program achievement in 1962 NBC canceled the series after one season. He also appeared on a short-lived CBS variety series with Carol Burnett called “The Entertainers.”
In the ’60s, Newhart could be seen on “The Dean Martin Show,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” in movies like “Hell is for Heroes” and “Hot Millions,” and at nightclubs.
“The Bob Newhart Show” and “Newhart”
When “The Bob Newhart Show” launched in 1972, it was an instant hit despite going up against “Sanford and Son” and “M*A*S*H.” The CBS comedy about a Chicago psychologist, Dr. Bob Hartley, ran for six seasons.
Its style partially inspired the types of comedies we would see later with “Seinfeld,” “Roseanne,” and even “The Big Bang Theory.” He eventually guest-starred on the latter.
In 2017, Newhart told Variety the series remains timeless because of a suggestion he made.
“I told the writers this show is going to be syndicated and we are going to look pretty silly in 20 years if we are doing a Gerald Ford joke. And I was right,” said Newhart. “It’s easy to write topical jokes, but you are going to look stupid. They all agreed.”
Another suggestion that Newhart made was that his character didn’t have any children because he “didn’t want to be the dumb father that seemed to be in every sitcom.”
The comedian returned to TV in 1982 with an eight-season run of “Newhart” where he played a Vermont innkeeper. The last scene of the finale was a shocker when it revealed the entire series was nothing more than a dream of Newhart. More than that, it revealed that the show existed within the world of Newhart’s other show, “The Bob Newhart Show.”
According to Entertainment Weekly, it was Newhart’s wife, Ginnie, who came up with the finale idea. The finale is considered television’s best by Rolling Stone, EW, and TV Guide.
Newhart was inducted into Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1993, an achievement the comedian said was the proudest moment in his career.
“The Big Bang Theory” and his first Emmy win
After appearances on “The Simpsons,” “NCIS,” and two more shows “George & Leo” and “Bob,” Newhart began a recurring role on CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” in 2013.
Newhart played Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton, the star of a science show Sheldon Cooper grew up watching, on the longtime comedy for five seasons. Though Sheldon fanboyed over Jeffries, the scientist found Dr. Cooper incredibly irritating. Professor Proton died on the show, but lived on as a “Star Wars” Force ghost who gave Sheldon advice.
The fan-favorite role won Newhart his first Primetime Emmy in 2013 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.
Newhart married his wife, Virgina “Ginny” Quinn, in January 1963. He is survived by his wife, four children (Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and Courtney), and 10 grandchildren.
Kirsten Acuna contributed to this obituary.
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