ELF actor and The Big Bang Theory star Bob Newhart has died at age 94 as fans pay tribute to the beloved entertainer.
The Emmy Award winner’s death was announced on Thursday.
Newhart’s publicist, Jerry Digney, revealed the news.
In a statement, Digney said that Newhart died after a series of short illnesses.
Newhart jumped into the Hollywood scene in the 1970s, starring as Chicago psychologist Robert Hartly in The Bob Newhart Show.
He followed up his TV debut by playing the role of Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon in the 1980s series Newhart.
During the 1990s, he had two short-lived sitcoms playing Bob McKay in Bob, and George Stoody in George and Leo.
Among his most notable roles was his portrayal of Papa Elf in the beloved 2003 Christmas film Elf, starring Will Ferrell.
Newhart made his first of six guest appearances on The Big Bang Theory as Professor Proton, for which he received his first Emmy Award in 2013.
He appeared in more than two dozen films and TV series throughout his career, including cameos in The Simpsons, NCIS, ER, Mad TV, Murphy Brown, and The Librarians, among others.
Fans paid tribute to Newhart after the news of his death hit social media.
“Rest in Peace Legend,” one wrote on X.
Another added, “One of the funniest guys who ever lived.”
A third said, “One of my all time favorite performers.
“You will be greatly missed Bob Newhart. Rest in Peace.”
“Tv was my sanctuary as a kid growing up and Bob was a huge part of my comforting feel-good TV life,” someone else mentioned.
A fifth fan said, “The world is a little less funny now.”
George Robert Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois – a village west of Chicago.
He was a brother to three sisters: Joan, Pauline, and Virginia.
Newhart graduated high school in 1947 and went on to get his bachelor’s degree in business management from Loyola University Chicago in 1952.
That year, the comedian was drafted into the U.S. Army and was discharged two years later in 1954.
He worked many jobs while performing in an Oak Park stock company where his friend, Ed Gallagher, recorded some of their conversations and tried to sell them to radio stations.
Unfortunately, the tapes weren’t successful at any stations, but caught the eye of a DJ named Dan Sorkin, who gave Newhart a job at a radio station.
Newhart’s DJing gig didn’t last very long, but Sorkin introduced Newhart to the president of Warner Bros Records at the time, James Conkling.
He helped get Newhart a gig at a nightclub in Houston where all of his performances were recorded.
His 1960 live album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, was very popular.
Newhart continued those stories with The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back and Behind the Button-Down Mind.
Newhart gained three Grammys for The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in 1961 and was the first comedy record to be honored as album of the year.
In 1963, Newhart married Ginnie Newhart – who died on April 23, 2023.
She was 82 years old.
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