Bob Newhart, a comedic icon who is recognized for his influences in stand-up, television, and movies, has died at the age of 94, according to a statement from his longtime publicist Jerry Digney.
Digney said Newhart died in Los Angeles on Thursday morning after a series of short illnesses, and called his passing an “end of an era in comedy.”
With an entertainment career that spanned over fifty years, Newhart remains best known for the television shows, “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972-78) and “Newhart” (1982-90), which earned him three Emmy nominations for a Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Yet, his work continued to grace the contemporary era of TV, and he won his first Emmy for his performance on “The Big Bang Theory” as Arthur Jeffries, also known as Professor Proton, who appeared as the former children’s science show host and as Sheldon’s ghostly Jedi mentor.
Newhart was known for his deadpan comedic delivery, which he used in his shows where he played the part of the more rational man surrounded by the shenanigans of the other characters.
He also starred as a supporting actor in numerous movies throughout his career, including “Catch-22,” “Cold Turkey,” and “Elf.”
Born George Robert Newhart in Oak Park, Illinois on September 5, 1929, Newhart initially became an accountant and advertising copywriter before going into the entertainment business. He first branched into comedy in the 1950s with stand-up and became widely known with his 1960 album of comedic monologues, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” which was the first comedy album to top the Billboard 200, hitting No. 1 for 14 weeks. He also hit No. 1 again the same year with his follow-up album, “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!”
Newhart was awarded three GRAMMY awards in 1960 at the 3rd GRAMMY awards. He won Best New Artist Of 1960, Album Of The Year (The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart) and Best Comedy Performance — Spoken Word (The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!). He remains the only comedian to have won Best New Artist and Album Of The Year.
The actor and comedian was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1993, and has had his material added to the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. In 2002, he won the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
During a PBS interview in 2005, Newhart joked about his time as an accountant, saying, “in my case, I don’t think it’s amazing that a bad accountant could become a comedian,” adding, “there’s something about numbers and music and comedy, I’m not sure what it is.”
Newhart is survived by his four children, Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert, and numerous grandchildren, according to Digney. His wife of 60 years, Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, passed away last year.
