TV Icon Bob Newhart Dead at 94

Comedian and actor Bob Newhart, who starred in long-running sitcoms Newhart and The Bob Newhart Show for CBS, has died at the age of 94.

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Newhart’s longtime publicist, Jerry Digney, confirmed to TVLine that the TV icon passed away on Thursday morning at his Los Angeles home after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart first gained fame as a stand-up comedian with a distinctively dry and deadpan style; his 1960 comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts and won the Grammy for Album of the Year. He went on to star as psychologist Bob Hartley, alongside Suzanne Pleshette (as wife Emily) and Bill Daily (as next-door neighbor Howard Borden), on CBS’ The Bob Newhart Show , which debuted in 1972. It became a hit and ran for six seasons, ending in 1978.

In 1982, Newhart returned to CBS to star as Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon in the sitcom Newhart . With a supporting cast that included Mary Frann, Tom Poston, Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari, Newhart became a hit as well, wrapping up an eight-season run in 1990. The series finale stands as one of the most surprising in TV history, with Newhart waking up in bed next to his Bob Newhart Show co-star Pleshette, revealing the entire series to be a dream in the mind of his Bob Newhart Show character.

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After a number of failed sitcoms ( Bob , George & Leo ), Newhart took on a dramatic role on NBC’s ER as depressed patient Ben Hollander, earning an Emmy nomination in 2004. He later appeared in a number of episodes of CBS’ The Big Bang Theory as Sheldon’s childhood idol Professor Proton, winning his first-ever Emmy Award for the role in 2013. Newhart later reprised the Professor Proton character on Big Bang prequel series Young Sheldon .

On the film side, Newhart memorably appeared in such movies as Catch-22, Cold Turkey, In & Out, Legally Blonde 2, Elf and Horrible Bosses .

Newhart is survived by four children — Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert — and numerous grandchildren. His wife of 60 years, Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, passed away in 2023.

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