Bob Newhart, deadpan comedy legend and sitcom star, dies at 94

Bob Newhart, one of television's most revered comedic actors of all time, died Thursday at his home in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. He was 94.

His longtime publicist, Jerry Digney, confirmed the news to Entertainment Weekly.

Newhart's career spanned 60 years, from his early roots as a stand-up on The Ed Sullivan Show to his cameos as the beloved Professor Proton on Young Sheldon. His pitch-perfect timing and deadpan delivery made him a timeless comic force.

Born in Oak Park, Ill., Newhart served in a non-combat role during the Korean War before briefly finding work as a less-than-satisfactory accountant for a construction company. (He later wrote in his book I Shouldn't Be Doing This that his motto during the job was "That's close enough.") After a stint in copywriting, Newhart started a career in standup comedy, developing a reputation for his one-sided phone conversation routine, pretending to talk to the likes of Abraham Lincoln, Sir Walter Raleigh, and a security guard at the Empire State Building witnessing King Kong's ascent.

Newhart released his first comedy album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, in 1960. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1961 (becoming the first comedy album to do so), while Newhart was named Best New Artist. He would release several more albums over the next two decades.

His work in standup got him noticed by NBC, which gave him an eponymous variety show in 1961. The program only lasted one season, but it showed Hollywood he had the chops for hosting — and for busting chops. He went on to help emcee on The Entertainers, The Dean Martin Show, Ed Sullivan, and The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson.

Newhart's big break as an actor came in 1972, when he was cast as psychologist Robert "Bob" Hartley on the workplace comedy The Bob Newhart Show. For six seasons, Newhart was the perennial straight man next to bonkers clients like the neurotic Elliot Carlin (Jack Riley) and knitter Lillian Bakerman (Florida Friebus). His work on the show earned him three Emmy nominations.

Since his surname could clearly attract eyeballs, Newhart was back in prime time in 1982 on Newhart, this time playing a New York writer named Dick who runs a rural Vermont inn with his wife, Joanna (Mary Frann). The show lasted eight seasons but was probably best known for the way it ended: A confused Newhart wakes up next to Suzanne Pleshette, his smart-alecky wife from The Bob Newhart Show.

Newhart credited his longtime wife, Ginny (they were married for 60 years, until her death in 2023), with coming up with the idea. 

"JFK once said victory has a thousand fathers and defeat is an orphan," he told EW in 2018. "This is the true story of how the show ended. It was in the sixth year of the show, and my wife, Ginny, and I were going to a party. I said, 'I think this is going to be the last year of Newhart.' Suzanne Pleshette was at this party, so Ginny said, 'I think I have the ending. You should wake up in bed with Suzanne and explain to her this dream you had.' So I gave it to the writers. The crew didn't know about it the night of the finale. We did a run-through, the crew went to dinner, and when they came back, we told them we added a scene. We just told them to keep filming, whatever happens."

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More seminal roles followed for Newhart, like his gig as bumbling educator Tom Halliwell in In & Out (1997) and as Papa Elf opposite Will Ferrell in Elf (2003). He also lent his voice to The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, portraying Bernard in Disney's animated adventures. In 2013, Big Bang Theory producers Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre cast him as Arthur Jeffries, a former children's TV host who went by the name of Professor Proton. After a lifetime of indelible roles, his work on the long-running CBS sitcom finally earned Newhart his one and only Emmy.

Newhart is survived by four children — Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy, and Robert — and numerous grandchildren