Celebrity Celebrity Deaths Celebrity Death News Remembering Bob Newhart's Life in Photos The beloved actor, who died on July 18, 2024, at 94, was best known for his deadpan humor over the course of his decades-long career in show business. By Scott Huver Scott Huver Scott Huver is a freelance writer-reporter at PEOPLE. He has been writing about entertainment, celebrity, pop culture, crime, fashion and the Los Angeles area for over 20 years. People Editorial Guidelines and Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld Alexandra Schonfeld is a features writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since April 2022. Her work previously appeared in Newsweek. People Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 18, 2024 04:20PM EDT Close Bob Newhart in 1975. Photo: Hulton Archive/Getty Bob Newhart, award-winning actor who starred on the CBS series The Bob Newhart Show from 1972 to 1978, died on July 18, 2024. He was 94 years old. Over the course of his decades-long career in Hollywood, he stepped into dozens of iconic roles in films like Elf, Legally Blonde 2 and on shows like Big Bang Theory and ER, for which he earned Emmy nods. From his early days in comedy and his successful sitcoms to his six-decade marriage and family life, here's a look back at the actor's remarkable life both on and off the camera. 01 of 15 Bob Newhart Gets His Start in Comedy Bob Newhart in 1982. Harry Langdon/Getty Images Born George Robert Newhart in Oak Park, Illinois, on Sept. 5, 1929, Bob Newhart graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor's degree in business management before he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served as a personnel manager during the Korean War until his discharge in 1954. He soon took a job as an accountant, but five years later Warner Bros. Records signed him to a comedy album based on telephone recordings he'd done with a pal. "They said, 'We want to record you at your next nightclub,' " Newhart recalled to PEOPLE in a 2019 interview. "I said, 'We have kind of a problem: I've never played a nightclub.' " Executives vowed to get him into one, "but that took six months, because it was hard to find a place that could take a chance on a guy. I pretended I knew what I was doing, and then the record came out and went crazy and now I had to learn the art of standup from the top." "Being onstage took all the bravado I had," he added, "pretending like I knew what I was doing." 02 of 15 Bob Newhart at Loyola University Bob Newhart in 1961. MPTV Bob Newhart performed at Loyola University in Chicago in 1961; the venue has since been named the Newhart Family Theater. "It's emotional for me," he told PEOPLE. 03 of 15 Bob Newhart with Tom Poston Bob Newhart and Tom Poston in 1961. MPTV "He was the straight man," Bob Newhart said of pal and frequent collaborator Tom Poston (in 1961). "Actually he was a catcher in the circus." 04 of 15 Bob Newhart and His Family Bob Newhart, wife Ginnie and their children in 1982. Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images Buddy Hackett set up Bob Newhart with wife Ginnie, whom he wed in 1963. "He said, 'You'll get married and have kids and call one Buddy,' " said Newhart (with Ginnie and kids Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert in 1982). Ginnie died in April 2023; the couple had been married for 60 years and together had 10 grandchildren. 05 of 15 Bob Newhart with Carol Burnett Bob Newhart and Carol Burnett in 1964. CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images "She's very generous to other performers," Bob Newhart once told PEOPLE of his The Entertainers costar Carol Burnett (here in 1964). 06 of 15 Bob Newhart on 'The Dean Martin Show' Bob Newhart and the Rat Pack in 1965. Gerald K. Smith/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images "Everything was perfect," Bob Newhart recalled of many laughter-filled Rat Pack moments on The Dean Martin Show (with, from left, Frank Sinatra, Martin and Danny Thomas in 1965). 07 of 15 'The Bob Newhart Show' Bob Newhart in 1972. CBS "She had a mouth on her like a Marine," Bob Newhart quipped when asked his favorite thing about the late Suzanne Pleshette, his TV wife from 1972 to 1978 on their wildly popular The Bob Newhart Show. 08 of 15 'Newhart' Bob Newhart in 1982. CBS The comic was staying in a small hotel in Seattle when he had the idea for Newhart, which ran for eight seasons from 1982 to 1990 and costarred Tony Papenfuss, William Sanderson and Mary Frann (in 1987). 09 of 15 Bob Newhart and Johnny Carson Bob Newhart and Johnny Carson in 1990. Chris Haston/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images "After an episode Johnny [Carson] would play drums," Bob Newhart recalled of visits to his friend on The Tonight Show (ca. 1990). "Then we'd go back to our house for more drinks." 10 of 15 Bob Newhart and Betty White Bob Newhart and Betty White in 1993. CBS via Getty Images Bob Newhart shared the screen with fellow comedy legend (and Oak Park, Illinois, native!) Betty White on his short-lived early '90s sitcom, Bob. 11 of 15 Bob Newhart in 'Elf' Bob Newhart and Will Ferrell in 2003's 'Elf'. Moviestore/Shutterstock "I read the script and said to Ginnie, 'This is going to be like Miracle on 34th Street,' " Bob Newhart recalled of signing on to 2003's Elf with Will Ferrell. 12 of 15 Bob Newhart on 'The Big Bang Theory' Bob Newhart on 'The Big Bang Theory' in 2013. Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images "Chuck [Lorre] came to me, and I said I'd like to do that Big Bang show because I still have my fastball," joked Bob Newhart (with Jim Parsons, Bill Nye and Johnny Galecki in 2013). 13 of 15 Bob Newhart Wins an Emmy Bob Newhart wins an Emmy in 2013. Tommaso Boddi/WireImage On winning an Emmy for his work on The Big Bang Theory in 2013 (his first following seven nominations), Bob Newhart told PEOPLE, "Having a full-blown standing ovation from your peers — that's something special." 14 of 15 Bob Newhart and Ben Stiller at the 2019 Emmys Bob Newhart and Ben Stiller at the 2019 Emmys. Amy Sussman/WireImage Presenting with Ben Stiller at the September 2019 Emmys was "fun," Bob Newhart told PEOPLE of one of his last major public outings. He was introduced standing beside wax figures of fellow comedy "legends" George Burns and Lucille Ball. Only there was one big difference. "I'm still alive," Newhart, who turned 90 in that same month, reminded Stiller. Vibrant as ever, Newhart drew more laughs yet as he threatened, "This legend is going to kick your ass," and quipped, "I hated you, by the way, in Tropic Thunder." "It was a very funny moment," Newhart recalled to PEOPLE. "I was amazed at the reactions." It's what kept the actor going, he once told PEOPLE. "I get this question a lot: 'Why do you still do comedy?' " he said. "Why would you ever get tired of making people laugh? You never want to give up that sound, that great sound that you fell in love with 60 years ago." 15 of 15 Bob Newhart Dies Bob Newhart in 2019. David Livingston/Getty On July 18, 2024, Bob Newhart's publicist Jerry Digney told The Hollywood Reporter and The Wrap that the beloved actor had died at his home in L.A. following a series of short illnesses. He was 94. He is survived by four children, sons Robert and Timothy and daughters Jennifer and Courtney, as well as 10 grandchildren.