R.I.P. Bob Newhart: ‘Elf’ And ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ Comedy Icon Dead At 94

Bob Newhart , the comedy legend best known for his deadpan humor, has died. He was 94.

Newhart passed away in his Los Angeles home Thursday (July 18) after experiencing a series of short illnesses, according to a press release from his longtime publicist, Jerry Digney.

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“Comedy has given me a wonderful life. When I first started out in stand-up, I just remember the sound of laughter,” he once said, per Digney’s press release. “It’s one of the great sounds of the world.”

Newhart led a decades-long career in television and film which included three landmark television series, including the 1961 short-lived variety show The Bob Newhart Show , which won a Primetime Emmy Award; a 1972 NBC sitcom of the same name, in which he starred as a clinical psychologist; and the 1982 sitcom Newhart , in which he played a New York author who owns a Vermont inn with his wife.

Some may also recognize him from his more recent roles in the 2003 Will Ferrell comedy Elf , in which he played Papa Elf, and his special appearances on The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon .

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In 2013, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor for his memorable performance as the aging TV science host Professor Proton in Big Bang Theory .

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Born in 1929 in Illinois, Newhart began working as an accountant after finishing college. But his passion for comedy led him to a new career, kicked off by his historic live comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart which nabbed him three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year. The legendary comedy album sat at No. 1 on the Billboard charts for 14 weeks in 1960.

Newhart’s career widely spanned television and film, with appearances in Hell is For Heroes , Catch-22 , The Simpsons , ER , Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde , and George & Leo .

“I tend to find humor in the macabre. I would say 85 percent of me is what you see on the show. And the other 15 percent is a very sick man with a very deranged mind,” he said in a 1990 interview with Los Angeles Magazine, per T he Hollywood Reporter .

Newhart was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame in 1993. He was also honored with the Mark Twain Prize for Humor in 2002.

Newhart is survived by his children Robert Jr., Timothy, Courtney, and Jennifer, and his 10 grandchildren. His wife of 60 years, Ginnie Newhart, passed away in 2023.

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