The American comedian and actor has died Bob Newhart at 94 years of age. Bob Newhart became famous for the television series ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ and ‘Newhart’ which were very successful during the 1970s and 1980s.
The actor’s publicist Jerry Digney said he died in Los Angeles after a series of brief illnesses. Best remembered today as the star of two major television series in the 1970s and 1980s bearing his name, Newhart began his career as a standup entertainer in the late 1950s -Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” which won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year .
Newhart was born in Illinois, attended Loyola University in Chicago, majored in commerce, and graduated in 1952, when he enlisted in the US Army. After completing his military service two years later, he attended Loyola Law School, but dropped out in 1956. He then held various jobs.
The actor together with a friend recorded some of their conversations and tried to sell them to radio stations. The tapes didn’t sell, but Newhart’s monologues were noticed by Chicago DJ Dan Sorkin, who offered him his first radio job, which lasted just five weeks.
Four years later, the comedian starred in the eight-season series “Newhart” as a successful New York writer who decides to reopen a closed inn. Newhart was a calm, reasonable man surrounded by a group of rowdy locals. Two later series in which he participated were “Bob”, 1992-93, and “George & Leo”, 1997-98. Over the years, Newhart also appeared in many films, usually in comedy roles. Among them: “Catch 22”, “In and Out”, “Legally Blonde 2”.
“The Big Bang Theory” creator Chuck Lorre spoke about his collaboration with Newhart in a statement to Variety: “For years I’ve been begging Bob to be in one of my series. He always said no. But then he fell in love with “The Big Bang Theory” and said yes on two conditions, that his character had to run multiple episodes and he wanted to win an Emmy. We did both. I got to work with a comic legend. Excellent in his art and a kind man.”