(UnitedHeadlines.com) – On July 18, comedian Bob Newhart, 94, died in Los Angeles, California, following a series of short illnesses.
Born on Sept. 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois, Newhart began writing and performing comedy routines in the late 1950s. A former advertising copywriter and accountant, his career took off in 1960, when his debut comedy album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” became the first comedy album to climb to No. 1 on the Billboard chart. At the 1961 Grammy Awards ceremony, his second comedy album, “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!” won for comedy performance, while “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” won the Album of the Year award. Newhart was also named best new artist.
He went on to make his film debut in the movie “Hell Is for Heroes” in 1962. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films, including “Catch-22,” “Cold Turkey,” “Horrible Bosses,” “In & Out,” and “Elf.”
However, he is best known for his two TV shows. For six seasons, from 1972 to 1978, he starred as Bob Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show,” and from 1982 to 1990, he starred as Dick Loudon on “Newhart.” He also had roles on the TV shows “The Big Bang Theory,” “Hot in Cleveland,” “The Librarians,” and “Young Sheldon.”
He was also a regular fill-in host for Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show,” hosting the show 87 times.
Throughout his career, Newhart was nominated for nine Emmy Awards, and in 2013, he won his first acting Emmy Award for his guest appearance on “The Big Bang Theory.”
In 1993, he was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and his material was added to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History collection. In 2002, he won the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
He was predeceased by his wife, Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, who died in 2023. He is survived by his children, Courtney, Jennifer, Robert, and Timothy.
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