Bob Newhart, who brought understated comic style to TV sitcoms, dies at 94
Bob Newhart, one of the first comedians to star in a TV sitcom based on his stand-up persona, died at his home in Los Angeles at age 94. His publicist, Jerry Digney, confirmed his death. The stammering Midwesterner, known for his self-deprecating manner and starchy wit, had a gift for making audiences think he was always just playing himself, and at times that was almost true.
He once said Dr. Robert Hartley, his popular 1970s role on “The Bob Newhart Show," was 85% him, 15% TV character. Behind the low-key facade was a student of comedy who dissected jokes to figure out why they worked and wove sharp observations about life’s absurdities into his humor.
A career spanning 60 years included several TV series, including five self-styled comedy shows that used his name as its calling card. More than a dozen film credits include “Hell Is for Heroes" opposite Steve McQueen (1962), “Catch-22" with Alan Arkin (1970), “First Family" with Gilda Radner (1980) and “Elf" with Will Ferrell (2003). As a performer, he played off his image as a guy who might have memorized the tax code, a short man with a hairline that started retreating when he was 15.
His halting speech became part of his brand, but he insisted it was never intentional. “When I first performed, I didn’t study all the working comedians and say, ‘There is nobody stammering out there…What a great opportunity,’ " he wrote in his 2006 memoir, “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!" He explained: “Truly, that’s …the…way I talk." Newhart launched an era that would bring sitcoms like “Seinfeld" and “Roseanne" to TV, featuring stand-up comedians playing fictionalized versions of themselves and carrying their comic sensibility. George Robert Newhart was born Sept.
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