Comedian Bob Newhart has died at the age of 94, his publicist has confirmed.
His longtime publicist Jerry Digney told the New York Post in a press release that Newhart died following “a series of short illnesses”.
The legendary comedian’s career began in the 1950s as a stand-up comedian after a stint in the army when he became known as “the funny guy in the barracks” during the Korean War, he told the outlet in 2020.
His first big break came while working in Chicago in an accounting job, when he began making funny phone calls to a friend to pass the time, before sending the recordings to radio stations. It was this that caught the attention of the then-president of Warner Bros. Records, James Conkling, who booked him in the Houston nightclub and recorded his performances.
His career began in earnest when his comedy routine, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, won a Grammy Award as Album of the Year at the 1961 Grammys, becoming the first comedy album to get that accolade.
Newhart said in 2020: “They didn’t even have a category for comedy at that time. It beat out [Harry] Belafonte, Sinatra and an Elvis album [Are You Lonesome Tonight?]. They kept calling my name and I kept walking up there and thanking them for the awards.”
This eventually led to him getting his own TV series, The Bob Newhart Show and Newhart, which ran in the 1970s and 1980s.
He told Los Angeles Magazine in 1990 of his style of comedy: “I tend to find humor in the macabre.
“I would say 85% of me is what you see on the show. And the other 15% is a very sick man with a very deranged mind.”
As well as his own shows, Newhart has also starred in many blockbuster films including Elf, Legally Blonde 2, Horrible Bosses, and In and Out, as well as TV series including The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, as well as ER.
Throughout his career, he was nominated for 10 Emmys, winning one for his role on The Big Bang Theory.
In his personal life, Newhart was married to Virginia Quinn from 1964 until her death in 2023, and the couple shared four children – Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and Courtney – and also had 10 grandchildren.
Speaking of his legacy, Newhart previously told PBS: “People more and more come up to me saying thank you for all the laughter.
“And my reaction is always the same. It was my pleasure. And that’s the truth.”
Our thoughts remain with Newhart’s family, friends, and fans at this heartbreaking time.
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