Revealed: Bob Newhart Died After Decades of Chain Smoking

Smoking and choking: Bob Newhart managed to cheat death TWICE before he was finally taken from us. Knewz.com can reveal that the comedy legend, who has now passed away at 94 following “a series of short illnesses”, almost didn’t make it to his 60s. In 1985, the deadpan funnyman checked into a hospital after his nose started bleeding – and kept bleeding. As he wrote in his 2006 memoir I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This! and Other Things That Strike Me as Funny : “My realization about the evils of nicotine came one summer day in 1985 when I developed a nosebleed that just wouldn't stop.”

Newhart, a lifelong smoker, was told he had developed a rare disease because of the bad habit. A source explained: “There was so much nicotine in his bloodstream, his body overproduced red blood cells and he started bleeding uncontrollably from his nose. The condition was ‘polycythemia secondary,’ the reverse of leukemia, where the body overproduces white blood cells.” In his book, Newhart said: “In nearly every photograph we have of me in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, I'm holding a cigarette. I always smoked onstage ... I was so addicted that if I woke up in the night to go to the bathroom, I'd light a cigarette for the walk.” But after his startling brush with death, he quit smoking at age 56 – and recovered from his mysterious ailment just a few weeks later.

Decades later, Newhart almost choked to death on a piece of meat as he and his wife Ginny celebrated their 40th anniversary at a star-studded dinner party in 2003. An eyewitness said: “We thought Bob was a goner. Bob was sitting between Ginny and Barbara Sinatra when suddenly he started clutching his throat and pointing to his mouth. He started to turn red in the face and when Ginny realized he couldn’t breathe, she screamed: ‘Oh my God, he’s choking! Help him, somebody!’” Lew Hyman, an importer who was sitting at the same table, added: “I looked over, and Bob’s eyes were bulging and he was drooling from his nose and mouth. He couldn’t even gasp because his windpipe was totally blocked by a piece of roast beef.” “I jumped up behind his chair, put my arms under his ribs, clasped my hands together and pulled up as much as I could twelve times.”

Nothing worked ... until retired Colorado police detective Jason Heathman, who was engaged to Dean Martin's daughter Gina, stepped in to give it a shot. On his second try performing the Heimlich, the chunk of beef flew out of Newhart's mouth and “and rocketed a good 20 feet across the room”, with all 50 guests clapping and cheering while Ginny tearfully hugged her hubby. The insider told Star Magazine at the time: “Everyone expected Bob to leave the party immediately and go home after that narrow escape. But, like the trooper he is, he sat down and finished his dinner – and for the rest of the night he had this big smile on his face.” The next day, Newhart and his wife sent Jason and Gina, the widow of Beach Boys rocker Carl Wilson, a thank you gift: a solid silver picture frame engraved with the cheeky line, “We’re all choked up about your wedding!”