Bob Newhart

George Robert Newhart{{cite news |title=Comedian Bob Newhart, deadpan master of sitcoms and telephone monologues, dies at 94 |url=https://apnews.com/article/bob-newhart-dead-799460b72b3c47e7aaf4eeb246f00b8c |access-date=July 18, 2024 |work=AP News |date=July 18, 2024 |language=en}} was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/bob-newhart-everyman-comic-elevated-sitcom-art-form-dies-94-rcna41588|title=Bob Newhart, everyman comic who elevated sitcom to art form, dies at 94|first=Ethan|last=Sacks|publisher=NBC News |date=July 18, 2024|accessdate=July 18, 2024}} His parents were Julia Pauline (née Burns; 1901–1994), a housewife, and George David Newhart (1899–1987), a part-owner of a plumbing supply business. His mother was of Irish descent, while his father was of German and Irish descent.{{cite web|url=http://archive.naplesnews.com/entertainment/celebrity/review-comedian-bob-newhart-tickles-naples-funnybone-299df21e-4b6d-012d-e053-0100007fab55-365643521.html|title=Comedian Bob Newhart tickles Naples' funnybone|access-date=April 18, 2018}} He went by his middle name, "Bob," to avoid confusion with his father. The family name Newhart is of German origin (Neuhart).{{cite web |author1=The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson |title=Bob Newhart, Anthony Quinn; Julie Lynne Hayek |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5984620/reference |publisher=IMDb |access-date=October 16, 2022 |date=May 18, 1983}} One of his grandmothers was from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.{{cite news |title= Misunderstanding Thorold, feeling good about St. Catharines |author= Herod, Doug |url= http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2211240 |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120910110235/http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2211240 |url-status=dead |archive-date= September 10, 2012 |newspaper= St Catharines Standard |date= December 8, 2009 |access-date= April 6, 2012 }} He had three sisters.

Newhart was educated at Catholic schools in the Chicago area, including St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park, and attended St. Ignatius College Prep (high school), graduating in 1947. He then enrolled at Loyola University Chicago, from which he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in business management. Newhart was drafted into the U.S. Army and, until his discharge, in 1954, served as a U.S.-based clerk during the Korean War.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/bob-newhart-dead-obituary-1081988/|title=Bob Newhart, Groundbreaking Stand-Up Comic and TV Sitcom Legend, Dead at 94|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=July 18, 2024|accessdate=July 18, 2024|first=David|last=Browne}} He briefly attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, but did not complete a degree, in part, he said, because he had been asked to behave unethically during an internship.

File:Carol Burnett Bob Newhart Caterina Valente Entertainers 1964.JPG, and Carol Burnett in 1964]]

After the war, Newhart worked for United States Gypsum as an accountant. He later said that his motto, "That's close enough," and his habit of adjusting petty cash imbalances with his own money showed that he lacked the temperament of an accountant. In 1958, Newhart became an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles, a major independent film and television producer in Chicago.{{cite book | author1=Margaret Hicks | author2=Mick Napier | title=Chicago Comedy: A Fairly Serious History | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GB83XHjwh0C&pg=PA66 | access-date=November 24, 2012 | date=May 2, 2011 | publisher=The History Press | isbn=978-1-60949-211-3 | page=66}} There, he and a co-worker entertained each other with long telephone calls about absurd scenarios, which they later recorded and sent to radio stations as audition tapes. When the co-worker ended his participation by taking a job in New York, Newhart continued the recordings alone, developing routines.

Dan Sorkin, a radio station disc jockey, who later became the announcer-sidekick on Newhart's NBC series, introduced Newhart to the head of talent at Warner Bros. Records. Based solely on those recordings, the label signed him in 1959, only a year after it had come into existence. Newhart expanded his material into a stand-up routine that he began to perform at nightclubs. He became famous mostly on the strength of his audio releases, in which he played a solo "straight man". Newhart's routine was to portray one end of a conversation (usually a phone call), playing the comedic straight man while implying what the other person was saying. Newhart's 1960 comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was the first comedy album to make number one on the Billboard charts and peaked at number two in the UK Albums Chart.{{cite book

| first = David

| last = Roberts

| year = 2006

| title = British Hit Singles & Albums

| edition = 19th

| publisher = Guinness World Records Limited

| location = London

| isbn = 1-904994-10-5

| page = 393}}{{cite news | title = In Step With: Bob Newhart | work = Parade Magazine | date = July 17, 2005 | url = http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_07-17-2005/in_step_with_0 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070315020844/http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2005/edition_07-17-2005/in_step_with_0 | archive-date = March 15, 2007 }} It won two Grammy Awards, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist.

Newhart told a 2005 interviewer for PBS's American Masters that his favorite stand-up routine was "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue", which appears on this album. In the routine, a slick promoter has to deal with Lincoln's reluctance to agree to efforts to boost his image. Chicago TV director and future comedian Bill Daily, who was Newhart's castmate on The Bob Newhart Show, suggested the routine to him.{{cite web|url= https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/archive/interview/bob-newhart-interview-1/|title= Bob Newhart Interview|publisher= PBS|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} A follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!, was released six months later and won Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word that year. His subsequent comedy albums include Behind the Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (1961), The Button-Down Mind on TV (1962), Bob Newhart Faces Bob Newhart (1964), The Windmills Are Weakening (1965), This Is It (1967), Best of Bob Newhart (1971), and Very Funny Bob Newhart (1973). Years later, he released Bob Newhart Off the Record (1992), The Button-Down Concert (1997), and Something Like This (2001), an anthology of his 1960s Warner Bros. albums. On December 10, 2015, publicist and comedy album collector Jeff Abraham revealed that a "lost" Newhart track from 1965 about Paul Revere existed on a one-of-a-kind acetate, which he owns. The track made its world premiere on episode 163 of the Comedy on Vinyl podcast.{{cite web |url=http://theinterrobang.com/199318-2/ |title=Lost Bob Newhart Routine Airs Publicly for the First Time |date=December 10, 2015 |website=The Interrobang |access-date=December 10, 2015}}

Newhart's success in stand-up led to his own short-lived NBC variety show in 1961, The Bob Newhart Show. The show lasted only a single season, but it earned Newhart a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and a Peabody Award. The Peabody Board cited him as "a person whose gentle satire and wry and irreverent wit waft a breath of fresh and bracing air through the stale and stuffy electronic corridors. A merry marauder, who looks less like St. George than a choirboy, Newhart has wounded, if not slain, many of the dragons that stalk our society. In a troubled and apprehensive world, Newhart has proved once again that laughter is the best medicine." In the mid-1960s, Newhart was one of the initial three co-hosts of the variety show The Entertainers (1964), with Carol Burnett and Caterina Valente,Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1988). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows 1946 – Present. Ballantine Books. p. 238. ISBN 0-345-35610-1 appeared on The Dean Martin Show 24 times and on The Ed Sullivan Show eight times. He appeared in a 1963 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, "How to Get Rid of Your Wife"; and on The Judy Garland Show. He also appeared on series such as Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, Captain Nice, and Insight. Newhart guest-hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 87 times, and hosted Saturday Night Live twice, in 1980 and 1995. In 1964, he appeared at the Royal Variety Performance in London, before Queen Elizabeth II.{{cite web |last1=Charity |first1=Royal Variety |title=Performances :: 1964, London Palladium {{!}} Royal Variety Charity |url=https://www.royalvarietycharity.org/royal-variety-performance/archive/detail/1964-london-palladium |website=royalvarietycharity.org |access-date=July 18, 2024}}

In 1962, Newhart filmed An Evening with Bob Newhart, thought to be the first pay-per-view television special, for Canadian-based Telemeter.{{cite news |last1=Zinoman |first1=Jason |title=Bob Newhart Holds Up. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/arts/television/bob-newhart-standup-comedy.html |access-date=July 19, 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=July 18, 2024}}

{{Main|The Bob Newhart Show}}

File:Newhart show cast 1977.JPG

Newhart starred in two long-running sitcoms. In 1972, soon after he guest-starred on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, he was approached by his agent and his managers, producer Grant Tinker, and actress Mary Tyler Moore (the husband/wife team who founded MTM Enterprises), to work on a series called The Bob Newhart Show, to be written by David Davis and Lorenzo Music. He was very interested in the starring role of psychologist Bob Hartley, with Suzanne Pleshette playing his wry, loving wife, Emily, and Bill Daily as neighbor and friend Howard Borden.{{cite web|url= https://www.avclub.com/the-bob-newhart-show-has-aged-gracefully-1798180611|title= The Bob Newhart Show has aged gracefully|website= AV Club|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

The Bob Newhart Show was a part of the CBS comedy lineup on Saturday Night consisting of All in the Family, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and The Carol Burnett Show.{{cite web|url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2023/10/17/best-night-in-television-history-50-anniversary/71217714007/|title= 50 years later, a look back at the best primetime lineup in the history of television|website= USA Today|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} The series was an immediate hit. The show eventually referenced what made Newhart's name in the first place; apart from the first few episodes, it used an opening-credits sequence featuring Newhart answering a telephone in his office. According to co-star Marcia Wallace, the entire cast got along well, and Newhart became close friends with both Wallace and co-star Suzanne Pleshette.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In addition to Wallace as Bob's wisecracking, man-chasing receptionist Carol Kester, the cast included Peter Bonerz as amiable orthodontist Jerry Robinson; Jack Riley as Elliot Carlin, the most misanthropic of Hartley's patients; character actor and voice artist John Fiedler as milquetoast Emil Petersen; and Pat Finley as Bob's sister, Ellen Hartley, a love interest for Howard Borden. Future Newhart regular Tom Poston had a briefly recurring role as Cliff "Peeper" Murdock, veteran stage actor Barnard Hughes appeared as Bob's father for three episodes spread over two seasons, and Martha Scott appeared in several episodes as Bob's mother.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

By 1977, the show's ratings were declining and Newhart wanted to end it, but was under contract to do one more season. The show's writers tried to rework the sitcom by adding a pregnancy, but Newhart objected: "I told the creators I didn't want any children, because I didn't want it to be a show about 'How stupid Daddy is, but we love him so much, let's get him out of the trouble he's gotten himself into'." Nevertheless, the staff wrote an episode that they hoped would change Newhart's mind. Newhart read the script and he agreed it was very funny. He then asked, "Who are you going to get to play Bob?"{{cite web |url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/newhart1.htm |title=The Bob Newhart Show | A Television Heaven Review |publisher=Televisionheaven.co.uk |date=June 2008 |access-date=December 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105210744/http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/newhart1.htm |archive-date=January 5, 2012 }} Coincidentally, Newhart's wife gave birth to their daughter Jenny late in the year, which caused him to miss several episodes.

In the last episode of the fifth season, not only was Bob's wife, Emily, pregnant, but his receptionist, Carol, was, too.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} In the first show of the sixth season, Bob revealed his dream of the pregnancies and that neither Emily nor Carol was really pregnant. Marcia Wallace spoke of Newhart's amiable nature on set: "He's very low key, and he didn't want to cause trouble. I had a dog by the name of Maggie that I used to bring to the set. And whenever there was a line that Bob didn't like—he didn't want to complain too much—so, he'd go over, get down on his hands and knees, and repeat the line to the dog, which invariably yawned; and he'd say, "See, I told you it's not funny!". Wallace also commented on the show's lack of Emmy recognition: "People think we were nominated for many an Emmy, people presume we won Emmys, all of us, and certainly Bob, and certainly the show. Nope, never!" Newhart discontinued the series in 1978 after six seasons and 142 episodes. Wallace said of its ending, "It was much crying and sobbing. It was so sad. We really did get along. We really had great times together."

Of Newhart's other long-running sitcom, Newhart, Wallace said: "But some of the other great comedic talents who had a brilliant show, when they tried to do it twice, it didn't always work. And that's what... but like Bob, as far as I'm concerned, Bob is like the Fred Astaire of comics. He just makes it look so easy, and he's not as in-your-face as some might be. And so, you just kind of take it for granted, how extraordinarily funny and how he wears well." She was later reunited with Newhart twice, once in a reprise of her role as Carol on Murphy Brown in 1994, and on an episode of Newhart's short-lived sitcom, George & Leo, in 1997.{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/george_leo|title= George & Leo|website= Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

Although primarily a television star, Newhart appeared in a number of popular films, beginning with the 1959 war story Hell Is for Heroes (where he did his one-sided telephone act in a bunker).{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hell_is_for_heroes|title= Hell is For Heroes|website= Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} In 1968, Newhart played an annoying software specialist in the film Hot Millions. His films include 1970's Alan Jay Lerner musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, the 1971 Norman Lear comedy Cold Turkey, Mike Nichols's war satire Catch-22, the 1977 Disney animated feature The Rescuers and its 1990 sequel The Rescuers Down Under as the voice of Bernard, and he played the president of the United States in the comedy First Family (1980).{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bob_newhart|title= Bob Newhart|website= Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

By 1982, Newhart was interested in a new sitcom. After he had discussions with Barry Kemp and CBS, the show Newhart was created, in which Newhart played Vermont innkeeper and TV talk show host Dick Loudon. Mary Frann was cast as his wife, Joanna. Jennifer Holmes was originally cast as Leslie Vanderkellen, but left after former daytime soap star Julia Duffy joined the cast as Dick's inn maid and spoiled rich girl, Stephanie Vanderkellen. Peter Scolari (who had been a fan of Newhart's since he was 17) was also cast as Dick's manipulative TV producer, Michael Harris, in six of the eight seasons. Steven Kampmann, who was a neighbor for a while, was cast as Kirk Devane for two years, at a cafe he owned. Character actor Tom Poston played the role of handyman George Utley, earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1984, 1986, and 1987. Like The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart was an immediate hit, and again, like the show before it, it was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards but failed to win any. During the time Newhart was working on the show, in 1985, his smoking habit finally caught up to him, and he was taken to the emergency room for secondary polycythemia. The doctors ordered him to stop smoking.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 1987, ratings began to drop. Newhart ended in 1990 after eight seasons and 182 episodes. The last episode ended with a scene in which Newhart wakes up in bed with Suzanne Pleshette, who played Emily, his wife from The Bob Newhart Show.{{cite magazine|url= https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/bob-newhart-appreciation-newhart-finale-1235063494/|title= Why the 'Newhart' Finale Is the Perfect Example of Bob Newhart's Comic Genius|magazine= Rolling Stone|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} He realizes (in a satire of a famous plot element in the television series Dallas a few years earlier) that the entire eight-year Newhart series had been a single nightmare of Dr. Bob Hartley's, which Emily attributes to eating Japanese food before he went to bed. Recalling Mary Frann's buxom figure and proclivity for wearing sweaters, Bob closes the segment and the series by telling Emily, "You really should wear more sweaters" before the typical closing notes of the old Bob Newhart Show theme played over the fadeout. The twist ending was later chosen by TV Guide as the best finale in television history.{{cite web|url= https://www.tvguide.com/galleries/best-tv-finales/3/|title= The Best TV Finales|website= TV Guide|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} With the exception of the series finale, Newhart simply said "meow" in the MTM Productions closing logo on all episodes. The finale's logo used a sound clip of the two brothers named Darryl shouting "QUIET!!!" in unison; prior to this, only their brother Larry ever spoke a word while they remained silent.{{cite web|url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/12/01/the-kitten-that-roared/|title= THE KITTEN THAT ROARED|website= Chicago Tribune|date= December 1985|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}{{cite web|url= https://interviews.televisionacademy.com/shows/newhart-the-last-newhart|title= The Last Newhart|website= Television Academy|date= October 22, 2017|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

File:Bob Newhart, 1991.jpg, {{Circa|1991}}]]

In addition to stand-up comedy, Newhart became a dedicated character actor in film and television. Newhart played a beleaguered school principal in In & Out (1997), acted in the Will Ferrell Christmas comedy film Elf (2003), and made a cameo appearance as a sadistic but appreciative CEO at the end of the comedy Horrible Bosses (2011).{{cite web|url= https://abc7ny.com/post/comedian-bob-newhart-deadpan-master-sitcoms-telephone-monologues/15068866/|title= Comedian Bob Newhart, deadpan master of sitcoms and telephone monologues, dies at 94|website= ABC News|date= July 18, 2024|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} He appeared on It's Garry Shandling's Show and Committed, reprised his role as Dr. Bob Hartley on Murphy Brown, and appeared as himself on The Simpsons. Newhart had a role on NCIS as Ducky's mentor and predecessor, a retired forensic pathologist, who was discovered to have Alzheimer's disease.{{cite web|url= https://www.looper.com/1280352/ncis-character-you-forgot-bob-newhart-played/|title= The NCIS Character You Likely Forgot Bob Newhart Played|website= Looper|date= May 14, 2023|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

In 1992, Newhart returned to television with a series about a cartoonist called Bob.{{cite web|url= https://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/bob/1030260699/|title= Bob|website= TV Guide|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} The ensemble cast included Lisa Kudrow, but the show did not develop a strong audience and was cancelled shortly after the start of its second season, despite good critical reviews. On The Tonight Show following the cancellation, Newhart joked he had now done shows called The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart, and Bob so that his next show was going to be called The. In 1997, Newhart returned again with George & Leo on CBS with Judd Hirsch and Jason Bateman (Newhart's first name being George); the show was cancelled during its first season. In 1995, Newhart was approached by Showtime to make the first comedy special of his 35-year career, Off the Record, which consisted of him performing material from his first and second albums in front of an audience in Pasadena, California.{{cite web|url= https://www.tvguide.com/movies/bob-newhart-off-the-record/2060138004/|title= Bob Newhart: Off the Record|website= TV Guide|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

File:Comedian Bob Newhart.jpg

In 2003, Newhart guest-starred on three episodes of ER in a rare dramatic role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, his first in nearly 20 years. In 2005, he began a recurring role in Desperate Housewives as Morty, the on-again/off-again boyfriend of Sophie (Lesley Ann Warren), Susan Mayer's (Teri Hatcher) mother. In 2009, he received another Primetime Emmy nomination for reprising his role as Judson in The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice.{{cite web|url= https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the-librarian-the-curse-of-the-judas-chalice|title= The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice|website= Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} On August 27, 2006, at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by Conan O'Brien, Newhart was placed in a supposedly airtight glass prison that contained three hours of air. If the Emmys went over the time of three hours, he would die. This gag was an acknowledgment of the common frustration that award shows usually run on past their allotted time (usually three hours). Newhart "survived" his containment to help O'Brien present the award for Outstanding Comedy Series (which went to The Office).{{cite web|url= https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2022-07-06/bob-newhart-58th-emmy-awards|title= Bob Newhart Risks it All from Keeping the Emmys Running Long|website= Los Angeles Times|date= July 6, 2022|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} During an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Newhart made a comedic cameo with members of the ABC show Lost lampooning an alternate ending to the series finale.{{cite web|url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lost-alternate-endings-jimmy-kimmel-offers-funny-answers-that-sound-familiar/|title= "Lost" Alternate Endings: "Jimmy Kimmel" Offers Funny Answers That Sound Familiar|publisher= CBS News|date= May 24, 2010|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} In 2011, he appeared in a small but pivotal role as a doctor in Lifetime's anthology film on breast cancer, Five.{{cite web|url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1877740/?ref_=tt_ch|title= Five (TV Movie 2011)|publisher= IMDb|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

In 2013, Newhart appeared in an episode of the sixth season of The Big Bang Theory playing the aged Professor Proton (Arthur Jeffries), a former science TV show host turned children's party entertainer, for which he was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award.[http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/bob-newhart Bob Newhart {{!}} Television Academy]. Emmys.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014. It was Newhart's first Emmy. At that year's Emmy ceremony, Newhart appeared as a presenter with The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons and received a standing ovation. He continued to play the character periodically through the show's 12th and final season and on its spinoff Young Sheldon.{{cite web |date=March 21, 2013 |title='The Big Bang Theory' Season 6: Bob Newhart to Play Professor Proton |url=http://tvline.com/2013/03/21/the-big-bang-theory-season-6-cast-bob-newhart-professor-proton/ |access-date=March 21, 2013 |website=TVLine}} On December 19, 2014, the 85-year-old Newhart made a surprise appearance on the final episode of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, where he was revealed to be the person inside Secretariat, Ferguson's on-set pantomime horse. The show then ended with a scene parodying the Newhart series finale, with Ferguson and Drew Carey reprising their roles from The Drew Carey Show.{{cite web|url= https://tvline.com/news/craig-ferguson-late-late-show-finale-bob-newhart-drew-carey-574661/|title= Late Late Show: Craig Ferguson Says Goodbye With Incredible Twist Ending|website= TV Line|date= December 20, 2014|accessdate= July 28, 2024}} In June 2015, Newhart appeared on another series finale, that of Hot in Cleveland, playing the father-in-law of Joy Scroggs (Jane Leeves). It marked a reunion with Betty White, who was a cast member during the second season of Bob 23 years earlier. The finale ends with their characters getting married.{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hot-cleveland-finale-betty-white-799316/|title= 'Hot in Cleveland' Creator Talks Going Out on Top and the Series Finale's Betty White Tribute|website= The Hollywood Reporter|date= June 3, 2015|accessdate= July 28, 2024}}

Newhart was known for his deadpan delivery and a slight stammer that he incorporated early on into the persona around which he built a successful career. The hesitant stammer was his natural speaking style – "Truly, that's ... the ... way I talk"{{citation |last=Newhart |first=Bob |page=11 |title=I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny |date=September 19, 2006 |publisher=Hachette Books |isbn=978-1-4013-8599-6 |language=en}} – and he used it to build tension in the audience, "Tension is very important to comedy. And the release of the tension – that's the laugh."{{Cite web |last=Spencer |first=Amy |date=August 21, 2022 |title=Bob Newhart Reveals the Greatest Moment in His Comedy Career |url=https://parade.com/celebrities/bob-newhart-comedy-legacy |access-date=July 19, 2024 |website=Parade |language=en}}

On his TV shows, although he got his share of funny lines, he worked often in the Jack Benny tradition of being the "straight man" while the sometimes rather bizarre cast members surrounding him got the laughs. But Newhart said, "I was not influenced by Jack Benny", and cited George Gobel and Bob and Ray as his initial writing and performance inspirations.Thorn, Jesse. (May 16, 2012) [https://web.archive.org/web/20120517221643/http://www.avclub.com/articles/bob-newhart-talks-about-standup-sitcoms-and-why-he,75185/ Bob Newhart talks about stand-up, sitcoms, and why he stays busy · Interview · The A.V. Club]. Avclub.com. Retrieved April 12, 2014.

Several of his routines involved hearing half of a conversation as he spoke to someone on the phone. In a bit called "King Kong", a rookie security guard at the Empire State Building seeks guidance as to how to deal with an ape that is "between 18 and 19 stories high, depending on whether there's a 13th floor or not." He assured his boss he has looked in the guards' manual "under 'ape' and 'ape's toes'." His other famous routines included "The Driving Instructor", "The Mrs. Grace L. Ferguson Airline (and Storm Door Company)", "Introducing Tobacco to Civilization", "Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Avenue", "Defusing a Bomb" (in which an uneasy police chief tries to walk a new and nervous patrolman through defusing a live shell discovered on a beach), "The Retirement Party", "Ledge Psychology", "The Khrushchev Landing Rehearsal", and "A Friend with a Dog."

In a 2012 podcast interview with Marc Maron, comedian Shelley Berman accused Newhart of plagiarizing his improvisational telephone routine style (although not any actual material of Berman's).{{cite web|url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_332_-_shelley_berman|title=Episode 332 – Shelley Berman|work=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast|date=November 5, 2012 }} However, in interviews both years before and after Berman's comments, Newhart never took credit for originating the telephone concept, which he noted was done earlier by Berman and — predating Berman — Nichols and May, George Jessel (in his well-known sketch "Hello Mama"), and in the 1913 recording "Cohen on the Telephone". Starting in the 1940s, Arlene Harris also built a long radio and TV career around her one-sided telephone conversations, and the technique was later also used by Lily Tomlin, Ellen DeGeneres, and others.{{cite news|last=Martel|first=Ned|title=For Bob Newhart, Dean of Deadpan, the Laughs Go On|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/12/arts/television/12bob.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 12, 2005}}

On January 12, 1963, Newhart married Virginia Lillian "Ginnie" Quinn (December 9, 1940 – April 23, 2023). She was a daughter of character actor Bill Quinn, and met Newhart via an introduction by comedian Buddy Hackett. The couple had four children: Robert (born 1963), Timothy (born 1967), Jennifer (born 1971), and Courtney (born 1977), followed by 10 grandchildren.{{Cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-feb-19-la-et-bob-newhart19-2010feb19-story.html |title=The funny world of Bob Newhart |last=King |first=Susan |website=Los Angeles Times|date=February 19, 2010 }} Both Catholics, the couple raised their children in that faith.{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pn/Bob_Newhart.html|title=The religion of Bob Newhart, comedian, sitcom actor|access-date=May 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428110921/http://www.adherents.com/people/pn/Bob_Newhart.html|archive-date=April 28, 2008|url-status=usurped}} Bob was a member of the Church of the Good Shepherd and the related Catholic Motion Picture Guild{{cite web |title=Our History |url=https://www.gsbh.org/69 |publisher=Church Of The Good Shepherd |access-date=October 24, 2018 |language=en |archive-date=May 1, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501155002/https://www.gsbh.org/69 |url-status=dead }} in Beverly Hills, California.{{cite web|url=http://www.goodshepherdbh.org/a-city-on-a-hill/our-history/|title=Our History|work=Church of the Good Shepherd}} Ginnie died at age 82 on April 23, 2023.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/ginnie-newhart-dead-bob-newhart-1235400983/#:~:text=She%20was%2082.,their%2060%2Dyear%20wedding%20anniversary.|title=Ginnie Newhart, Wife of Bob Newhart, Dies at 82|first=Mike|last=Barnes|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=April 24, 2023|accessdate=April 24, 2023}}{{cite news |title=Ginnie Newhart, comedian's wife for six decades, dies at 82 |url=https://chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2023/4/24/23696771/ginnie-newhart-dead-bob-wife-obituary |access-date=April 24, 2023 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |agency=Associated Press |date=April 24, 2023 |language=en}}

Newhart was the uncle of actor and comedian Paul Brittain.{{Cite web |url=https://www.timeout.com/chicago/tv/paul-brittain-on-saturday-night-live-interview |title=Paul Brittain on Saturday Night Live-Interview |last=O'Connor |first=Rod |website=Time Out|date=February 15, 2011 }}

The Newhart and Rickles families were close, often vacationing together.{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/aarp-convention-2013_n_3383576.html |title=AARP Convention 2013 Brings Don Rickles And Bob Newhart Together for the First Time |date=June 4, 2013 |journal=HuffPost |access-date=October 20, 2016 |author=Emling, Shelley}} Don Rickles and Newhart appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many appearances on Carson's show. The two also appeared together on the television sitcom Newhart and for previous episodes of The Tonight Show, where Newhart or Rickles were guest hosts. The friendship was memorialized in Bob & Don: A Love Story, a 2023 short documentary film by Judd Apatow, released by The New Yorker, featuring interviews, as well as home videos, with both families.{{cite news| url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/judd-apatows-bob-and-don-a-love-story| title=Judd Apatow's Bob and Don: A Love Story: Watch a short film about the lifelong friendship between Bob Newhart and Don Rickles, who were not an obvious match| magazine=The New Yorker| date=November 27, 2023| first=Bruce| last=Handy}}

For over 25 years, Newhart's family lived in a mansion in Bel Air. The house was designed by Wallace Neff in a French Country style. The {{convert|9,169|sqft|m2|adj=on}}, five-bedroom home featured formal gardens, a lagoon-style pool with waterfall, and guest apartment. Newhart sold the property to developers in May 2016 for $14.5 million.{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hp-top-sales-20160528-snap-story.html |title=Funnyman Bob Newhart exits Bel-Air with $14.5-million deal, and other top sales |date=May 28, 2016 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}{{Cite web |last=David |first=Mark |date=May 12, 2016 |title=Bob Newhart Sells Bel Air Spread |url=https://variety.com/gallery/bob-newhart-sells-bel-air-spread/ |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=Variety |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160516172927/https://variety.com/gallery/bob-newhart-sells-bel-air-spread/ |archive-date=May 16, 2016 }}{{Cite web |title=Celebrity Homes LA {{!}} Bob Newhart Bel Air {{!}} Elvis Trousdale |url=https://therealdeal.com/la/issues_articles/a-list-fixer-uppers/ |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=The Real Deal Los Angeles |language=en-US}} The new property owners razed the mansion and sold the empty {{convert|1.37|acre|ha|adj=on}} lot for $17.65 million in 2017.{{Cite news |date=November 23, 2016 |title=Bob Newhart's former estate, now razed, lists as a vacant lot for $26 million |url=https://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-bob-newhart-bel-air-home-20161123-story.html |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=420 Amapola Ln, Los Angeles, CA 90077 |url=https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/420-Amapola-Ln-Los-Angeles-CA-90077/111917053_zpid/ |access-date=March 11, 2022 |website=Zillow |language=en}}

In 1995, Newhart was one of several investors in Rotijefco (a blend of his children's names), which bought radio station KKSB (AM 1290 kHz) in Santa Barbara, California. Its format was changed to adult standards and its call sign to KZBN (his initials).[http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-BC-YB/1996/B-AL-MT-BC-YB-1996.pdf Information] from the Broadcasting & Cable Yearbook 1996 page B-58 – Retrieved February 5, 2018 In 2005, Rotijefco sold the station to Santa Barbara Broadcasting, which changed its call sign to KZSB and format to news and talk radio.{{cite web |title=CDBS Print |url=https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101019352&formid=314&fac_num=57731 |website=licensing.fcc.gov |publisher=Federal Communications Commission |access-date=October 24, 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/164669/kzsb_newspress_radio_heralds_return_of_community_news_and_talk/index.html |title=KZSB News-Press Radio Heralds Return of Community News and Talk |work=RedOrbit.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010021129/http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/164669/kzsb_newspress_radio_heralds_return_of_community_news_and_talk/index.html |archive-date=October 10, 2007 |access-date=October 24, 2018 }}

Newhart was an early home-computer hobbyist, purchasing the Commodore PET after its 1977 introduction. In 2001, he wrote, "Later, I moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was more memory than I would ever possibly need."{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-09-tt-32244-story.html | title=Happy Birthday PC! | work=Los Angeles Times | date=August 9, 2001 | access-date=January 9, 2015 | author=Colker, David}}

In 1985, Newhart was hospitalized for secondary polycythemia, a condition attributed to his years of heavy smoking. He recovered after several weeks and eventually quit smoking.

Newhart died from complications of several short illnesses at his home in Los Angeles on July 18, 2024, at the age of 94.{{cite web |last=Barnes |first=Mike |date=July 18, 2024 |title=Bob Newhart, Dean of the Deadpan Delivery, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bob-newhart-dead-sitcom-legend-1235952438/ |accessdate=July 18, 2024 |work=The Hollywood Reporter}}{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/bob-newhart-dead-comedian-1236077300/|title=Bob Newhart, Comedy Icon, Dies at 94|work=Variety|accessdate=July 18, 2024|date=July 18, 2024|last=Dagan|first=Carmel}}{{Cite web |last=Overhultz |first=Lauryn |date=July 18, 2024 |title=Bob Newhart, legendary comedian and sitcom star, dead at 94 |url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/bob-newhart-legendary-comedian-sitcom-star-dead-94 |access-date=July 18, 2024 |publisher=Fox News |language=en-US}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd1xe8p1pq1o|title=American comedian Bob Newhart dead at 94, publicist says|date=July 18, 2024 |work=BBC News|accessdate=July 18, 2024}} Upon his death, President Joe Biden released a statement which read, "Today, we mourn the loss of Bob Newhart, a comedy legend and beloved performer who kept Americans laughing for decades."{{cite web|url= https://deadline.com/2024/07/bob-newhart-tributes-reactions-1236014767/|title= Bob Newhart Tributes: Judd Apatow Recalls "His Brilliant Comedy And Gentle Spirit", Al Franken Remembers Stellar 'SNL' Appearance, Joe Biden Mourns "Comedy Legend"|website= Deadline Hollywood|date= July 18, 2024|accessdate= July 19, 2024}} Those who paid tributes to Newhart included Reese Witherspoon, James Woods, Julie Bowen, Carol Burnett, Conan O'Brien, Alec Baldwin, Judd Apatow, Kaley Cuoco, Mayim Bialik, Kunal Nayyar, Iain Armitage, Al Franken, Mark Hamill, and Jamie Lee Curtis.{{cite web|url= https://apnews.com/article/bob-newhart-death-reactions-14680448947535349ada41645ac09236|title= Bob Newhart mourned by Carol Burnett, Kaley Cuoco, Judd Apatow, Al Franken and more|work= Associated Press News|date= July 18, 2024|accessdate= July 19, 2024}}{{cite web|url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bob-newhart-dead-hollywood-tributes-1235952472/|title= Jamie Lee Curtis, Judd Apatow, Paul Feig, Kaley Cuoco Remember Bob Newhart: "Truly One of a Kind"|website= The Hollywood Reporter|date= July 18, 2024|accessdate= July 19, 2024}}

He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).{{Cite web |last=Wayne |first=Gary |title=Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills: Stars' Graves |url=https://www.seeing-stars.com/Buried2/ForestLawnHollywood1.shtml |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=seeing-stars.com}}{{better source needed|reason=SeeingStars is a self-pub.|date=February 2025}}

• The Best of Bob Newhart (Warner Bros. Records, 1971)
• Masters (Warner Bros. Records, 1973)
• Bob Newhart (Pickwick Super Stars, 1980)
• Something Like This...: The Bob Newhart Anthology (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2001)

On September 20, 2006, Hyperion Books released Newhart's first book I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This. The book is primarily a memoir but also features comic bits. Transcripts of many of Newhart's classic routines are woven into the text. Actor David Hyde Pierce said, "The only difference between Bob Newhart on stage and Bob Newhart offstage is that there is no stage".{{cite news| url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-newhart19sep19,1,1987080.story?coll=la-entnews-tv | work=Los Angeles Times | first=Matthew | last=DeBord | date=September 19, 2006 | title=Bob Newhart is cool. No punch line}}

• {{Portal-inline|Biography}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

| last = Newhart

| first = Bob

| title = I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!

| publisher = Hyperion

| year = 2006

| location = New York

| pages = 256pp

| no-pp = yes

| url = https://archive.org/details/ishouldntevenbed00newh

| url-access = registration

| isbn = 1-4013-0246-7

| oclc = 798740383

}}

• {{cite journal

| author = Mayerly, Judine

| title = The Most Inconspicuous Hit on Television: A Case Study of Newhart

| journal = Journal of Popular Film and Television

| year = 1989

| doi = 10.1080/01956051.1989.9943638

}}

• {{cite book

| author = Sorenson, Jeff

| title = Bob Newhart

| location = New York

| publisher = St. Martin's

| year = 1988

| isbn = 9780312017415

| url = https://archive.org/details/bobnewhart00sore

| oclc = 1028864224

}}

• {{cite book

| author = Reilly, Rick

| title = Who's Your Caddy: Looping for the Great, Near Great, and Reprobates of Golf

| year = 2003

| url = https://archive.org/details/whosyourcaddyloo00reil

| url-access = registration

| publisher = Doubleday

| location = New York

| oclc = 1036926730

| isbn = 978-0-3855-1089-9

}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Commons category|Bob Newhart}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{AFI person | 22908-Bob-Newhart }}
• {{IMDb name}}
• {{TCMDb name}}
• {{National Public Radio|4624698}} (Fresh Air) in 1998 and rebroadcast in 2005
• [https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/database/newhart_b.html Bob Newhart profile] from American Masters
• {{The Interviews name|bob-newhart}}
• [http://comedycouch.com/interviews/bnewhart2.htm Bob: The Last Interview]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20180131204642/http://www.lexingtonfilm.com/bobnewhartinterview.htm Bob Newhart four-part interview with Horace J. Digby on A3Radio]}}
• [https://www.standard.net/entertainment/movies-tv/bob-newhart-s-button-down-mind-nudges/article_f76f348d-cb39-537f-add3-2f0e9e1e2841.html Newhart turns 90, Standard-Examiner, accessed August 30, 2019]
• {{Find a Grave|272571616}} (gravesite photograph)

{{Navboxes

|title = Awards for Bob Newhart

|list =

{{EmmyAward ComedyGuestActor}}

{{Golden Globe Award Best Actor TV Comedy}}

{{Grammy Award for Album of the Year}}

{{Grammy Award for Best New Artist}}

{{Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album}}

{{Mark Twain Prize for American Humor}}

{{TCA Career Achievement Award}}

{{1992 Television Hall of Fame}}

}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Newhart, Bob}}

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