Fans bid ‘a loving goodbye’ to legendary comedian and sitcom star Bob Newhart

Jul 19, 2024
As the world grapples with the loss of Newhart, fans and colleagues of the "groundbreaking" entertainer have paid tribute, reflecting on the qualities that have made him a revered figure. Source: AP PHOTO.

Beloved stand-up comedian and sitcom star Bob Newhart has sadly passed away at the age of 94, leaving the entertainment community to mourn the loss of the iconic star.

Newhart died in his home in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 18 after a series of short illnesses, according to his longtime publicist Jerry Digney.

Born on September 5, 1929, Newhart’s career took off in the late 1950s with a unique comedy routine where he played the straight man to an unheard voice on the other end of a phone call.

His 1960 live album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, was groundbreaking, becoming the first comedy album to reach the top of the charts and earning him three Grammy Awards.

In 1961, Newhart hosted a short-lived NBC variety show called The Bob Newhart Show. He then starred as Chicago psychologist Robert Hartley on a program also titled The Bob Newhart Show from 1972 to 1978 and as Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon on the series Newhart from 1982 to 1990. During the 1990s, he led two short-lived sitcoms, Bob and George and Leo.

Newhart also had a notable film career, appearing in movies such as Catch-22 (1970), Cold Turkey (1971), In & Out (1997), and Elf (2003). He provided the voice for Bernard in Disney’s animated films The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). From 2013 to 2018, he portrayed Professor Proton on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, a role that earned him his first Primetime Emmy Award.

In 2002 he was awarded the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

As the world grapples with the loss of Newhart, fans and colleagues of the “groundbreaking” entertainer have paid tribute, reflecting on the qualities that have made him a revered figure.

Newhart is survived by four children, Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert, and several grandchildren.

-with Reuters.