Deadpan Comic Legend Bob Newhart Dead at 94

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Newhart was a television comedy fixture in the 1970s and ’80s

Bob Newhart
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Bob Newhart, whose trademark deadpan delivery made him one of the most enduring TV comedians of the 1970s and ’80s, died at his Los Angeles home Thursday at the age of 94 after a short illness, his longtime publicist confirmed. 

The Chicago-born Newhart was a 31-year-old former accountant and copywriter in 1960, when he decided to give standup a try by pressing two comedy albums, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, which spent 14 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts, and follow-up The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!, which hit No. 1. The latter also won Grammys for Album of the Year and Comedy Album of the Year. Newhart himself was named Best New Artist.

The success of the LPs helped spawn the recorded comedy business, not to mention Newhart’s TV comedy career, which (kind of) took off with NBC comedy-variety series The Bob Newhart Show. That series lasted only a season but did win a Peabody Award. 

A decade later, CBS would launch a new show starring Newhart with the same title, and this time it found success, ranking in the top 20 of primetime shows for its first three seasons and staying on the air from 1972-'78

Newhart played low-key Chicago psychologist Dr. Robert “Bob” Hartley, whose deadpan skill set played well off Suzanne Pleshette (who played his schoolteacher wife, Emily), Marcia Wallace (who played receptionist Carol) and Peter Bonerz (doctor chum Jerry), among other cast mates. 

Newhart's winning comedic formula transitioned by CBS in 1982 with the launch of Newhart, in which the eponymous star played a book author turned Vermont innkeeper. That successful series ran until 1990. 

During and after this core span of work, there were too many TV guest appearances and movie roles to name — you can see Newhart's full IMDB profile here. 

Not surprisingly, with yet another TV comedy legend from his era passing, Newhart received plenty of recognition on the social internet Thursday:

Daniel Frankel
Daniel Frankel

Daniel Frankel is the managing editor of Next TV, an internet publishing vertical focused on the business of video streaming. A Los Angeles-based writer and editor who has covered the media and technology industries for more than two decades, Daniel has worked on staff for publications including E! Online, Electronic Media, Mediaweek, Variety, paidContent and GigaOm. You can start living a healthier life with greater wealth and prosperity by following Daniel on Twitter today!