US actor Bob Newhart dies aged 94 following ‘series of short illnesses’

US comedian and actor Bob Newhart has died at the age of 94 “after a series of short illnesses”, his publicist Jerry Digney announced in a statement to the PA news agency.

The accountant-turned entertainer “died at home in Los Angeles” a year after his wife of 60 years Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, who died in April 2023.

He was known for The Bob Newhart Show and had a recurring guest role on sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

In 2013 he won an Emmy for his role playing Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton in the show about friends Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard.

His other awards include three Grammys , which he won in 1961 for comedy album The Button-Down Mind Of Bob Newhart.

He remains the only comedian to have won best new artist and album of the year, according to the Grammy Awards website.

After the 1960s, the comic – known for his deadpan sense of humour – went on to dominate the sitcom landscape for nearly two decades with The Bob Newhart Show, which ran between 1972 and 1978, and Newhart, which ran from 1982 to 1990.

Newhart also played Papa Elf in 2003 Christmas movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell, and Lou Sherman in 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.

He is survived by four children, Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert, and numerous grandchildren, according to his publicist.