Bob Newhart, sitcom pioneer and beloved 'Elf' actor, dies at 94
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Newhart approached comedy with economic precision, honing his craft by watching other comedians and seeing what they did well — especially his idol, Jack Benny.
One of Newhart's trademark schticks was doing phone calls in which only his half of the conversation could be heard, allowing the audience members to fill in the blanks with their imaginations.
His first album notched three Grammys (album of the year, best new artist and best comedy performance: spoken word) in 1962.
NBC handed the budding star his own variety show, the "Bob Newhart Variety Show," which earned high praise — it won the Emmy for best comedy series in 1962 — but low ratings. The show was canceled after just one season.
Comedian Bob Newhart and his bride, Virginia Quinn, kiss during a toast at a reception that followed their marriage in St. Victor Roman Catholic Church in West Hollywood, Calif., on Jan. 12, 1963.David Smith / AP file
Newhart had better fortune offstage: He married Virginia "Ginny" Quinn on Jan. 12, 1963, a marriage that would last until she died in 2023 and produced four children — sons Robert and Timothy and daughters Jennifer and Courtney.
He also became good friends with another popular comic of the era, Don Rickles, with whom he would travel across the globe on shared vacations with their wives over the ensuing years.
Newhart released seven more comedy albums and continued to dabble in television. He hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for a three-week stretch during one of Johnny Carson's salary disputes with the network. Newhart later said that he thought he was being groomed as a potential replacement for Carson.
The perfect TV vehicle that had to date eluded him came in 1972 with the premiere of "The Bob Newhart Show." Playing Dr. Bob Hartley, an exasperated psychologist and husband to a much more emotionally stable school teacher (Suzanne Pleshette), provided the opportunity to perfect the straight-man role that would mark much of the rest of his career. Over the show's successful six-season run, he even got to use his trademark one-sided phone call schtick.
Four years after the end of his first major sitcom hit, "Newhart" debuted. The titular star played Dick Loudon, a do-it-yourself book author who is running a Vermont inn with his wife, played by Mary Frann. Once again, the joke was usually on him, as a collection of oddball friends, neighbors and guests came and went from his orbit.
But for all the joking going on in front of the studio audience, he was a "consummate professional" backstage, said William Sanderson, who played the local bumpkin Larry, whose brothers Darryl and Darryl perpetually followed in his wake.
The cast and show creators of "The Bob Newhart Show." CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
"I had years of subsequently working for different bosses and you really appreciate Bob's professionalism, not to mention his incredible sense of humor," said Sanderson, who had been bartending as much as acting in the New York theater scene when he landed his big break.
"I quickly saw the way he treated the crew, which had a lot of the same people from his first show. He didn't believe in keeping the audience late at night. He would try to finish by 10 or 11 o'clock to get them home."
Scolari, who played the producer of Loudon's television show in "Newhart," became a real-life friend and golf buddy of his mentor's over the course of the show. But he never stopped trying to keep up when the camera started rolling.
"If you made Bob Newhart laugh, I mean come on, you must be somewhere in the right direction," said Scolari. "And you don't get that just anywhere, because there aren't too many iconic geniuses around."
The similarity between the two lead characters he would be most associated with was so obvious that Newhart played it for laughs in the 1990 "Newhart" series finale. In that episode, Hartley wakes up next to his original on-screen wife — a role reprised by Pleshette in one of the most memorable cameos in television history — to realize that the whole eight seasons of the story set in Vermont had been just a dream.
"A one-trick pony should not be underestimated," said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. "Because if the one trick that that pony does is good enough, it can last an entire career. If at the end of the act, it sprouts wings and flies away, you don't need any more tricks than that."
Bob Newhart as Professor Proton on "The Big Bang Theory."CBS
Newhart struggled to find the same level of success in the 1990s with his next sitcom, "Bob" (1992), which lasted only one and a half seasons. Five years later, his next attempt at a signature show, "George & Leo," proved an even bigger disappointment, canceled in the midst of its first season.
But Newhart managed a third act. He found renewed popularity in the 21st century with a memorable supporting role in the 2003 movie "Elf," playing opposite Will Ferrell, and then a recurring role as the former host of a children's science show named Professor Proton on "The Big Bang Theory."
"What was important about 'Big Bang Theory' is that it brought that Newhart character that he had perfected over his entire, long career and brought it to a whole new audience," said Thompson. "There were a lot of people who saw him ... who probably never had seen an episode of either of his two previous sitcoms."
The role also gave him a long-overdue actor Emmy, for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series.
Bob Newhart.Gerald Smith / NBCEthan Sacks
Ethan Sacks writes for NBCNews.com.
Daniel Arkin contributed.
Tags
Who is online
445 visitors
a comedy genius with a unique delivery that set him apart from all the rest...
I loved him. He will be missed
Always loved his deadpan approach to comedy
Incredible talent. I loved him in The Librarian films.