The comedian Bob Newhart has died. He was 94.
Us Weekly can confirm that Newhart died on Thursday, July 18, after a “series of short illnesses,” his publicist, Jerry Digney, said in a statement.
“Comedy has given me a wonderful life. When I first started out in stand-up, I just remember the sound of laughter,” the late actor once said. “It’s one of the great sounds of the world.”
Newhart was born in September 1929 in Oak Park, Illinois, and later went on to attend Loyola University Chicago. After receiving his degree, the comedian was drafted into the United States Army and was discharged in 1954.
Newhart’s transition into the comedy world came in 1958 when he became an advertising copywriter for a major independent film and television producer. (He was initially an accountant.)
After signing with Warner Bros. Records, the actor quickly skyrocketed to fame with the release of his 1960 album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. The comedy compilation went on to win the 1961 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Newhart himself won Best New Artist.
Due to Newhart’s success with his album and as a stand-up comedian, he transitioned into television with his 1972 hit series The Bob Newhart Show. The show — which starred Suzanne Pleshette, Peter Bonerz, Bill Daly and Marcia Wallace — ran until 1978 and received two Emmy nominations.
“It’s very gratifying, when people come up to you, say, on a plane. Someone will say, ‘I don’t mean to bother you, but I just loved your show. And my dad and my mother and I would sit and watch the show, like a ritual,’” Newhart told The Washington Post in a 2018 interview. “They looked upon the show as a great time, and they would thank me. I would just say, ‘Well, thank you, but I enjoyed making it just as much as you enjoyed watching it.”
After the popularity of The Bob Newhart Show, the Illinois native created the 1982 sitcom Newhart in which he played a Vermont innkeeper and TV talk show host alongside an ensemble cast including Mary Frann, Peter Scolari, Julia Duffy and Jennifer Holmes. The series — which ran until 1990 — also was nominated for multiple Emmy Awards.
Newhart went on to create two more television series, 1992’s Bob with Lisa Kudrow and 1997’s George & Leo. He also guest starred in several prominent television show’s including ER and Desperate Housewives. In 2013, Newhart appeared on The Big Bang Theory, which led to him winning his first Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
Throughout his career, Newhart has received numerous accolades including receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999 and winning the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2002.
He also became a beloved holiday figure after playing Will Ferrell’s father, Papa Elf, in the 2003 comedy, Elf.
As for the actor’s personal life, Newhart married Virginia Quinn in January 1963 and welcomed sons Robert and Timothy and daughters Jennifer and Courtney. Virginia died in April 2023 at the age of 82.
Newhart is survived by his four children and numerous grandchildren.
