Bob Newhart, whose stammering, deadpan unflappability carried him to stardom as a standup comedian and later in television and movies, has died, according to a statement from his longtime publicist Jerry Digney. He was 94.
Digney said Newhart died in Los Angeles on Thursday morning local time after a series of short illnesses. He called the star’s passing an “end of an era in comedy”.
Over the course of five decades, Newhart’s popularity rarely waned, whether it was as the recording star of the comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart — the first comedy album to win the Grammy for album of the year — the lead in two top-rated television sitcoms, or a supporting actor in movies including Catch-22 — in which he played the timid Maj. Major — Cold Turkey, Legally Blonde 2 and Elf.
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He remains best known for the television shows, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, both of which were built around his persona as a reasonable man put-upon by crazies.
Born George Robert Newhart in Oak Park, Illinois on September 5, 1929, Newhart was originally an accountant and advertising copywriter.
He first rose to fame with his comedy album, 1960’s The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. The album was a phenomenon of its time: one of the best-selling albums of the year, No. 1 for 14 weeks on Billboard’s album chart and Grammy Award winner. He also hit No. 1 with the follow-up: The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!
The Bob Newhart Show debuted in 1972. He played a Chicago psychologist, Bob Hartley, who ministered to a host of eccentric patients.
In Newhart, he took on the role of Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon, who tried to maintain his sanity while surrounded by comical locals.
In both cases, his characters found refuge with their wives, played by Suzanne Pleshette in The Bob Newhart Show and Mary Frann in Newhart.
The latter show’s finale remains one of the most famous in television history. In the final Newhart episode, Newhart’s town is purchased by a Japanese millionaire. Golfers at a new course regularly batter the inn with their drives, and one day — in the midst of an argument with townspeople — Newhart is hit by a golf ball. After a quick fade to black, he awakens… as Hartley, his character from The Bob Newhart Show, in bed with Pleshette.
“Honey, wake up! You won’t believe the dream I just had,” he tells her, to uproarious audience laughter.
Newhart quickly moved into other media. He was the host of a television variety show, also called The Bob Newhart Show, in 1961. Though it lasted just one season, he was honoured with a Peabody Award.
He was a frequent guest on the era’s variety and talk shows, and a regular fill-in host on the Tonight Show.
Newhart never really retired, continuing to make television appearances in recent years on Young Sheldon and The Big Bang Theory.
