Comedian Bob Newhart dead at 94

George Robert “Bob” Newhart died Thursday in Los Angeles, according to his publicist, Jerry Digney, who spoke with WORLD by phone. Digney said Newhart died after a series of short illnesses. His career spanned radio, stage, LP records, television, and movies ranging from Catch-22 to Elf.

With his deadpan delivery and disarming stammer, Newhart mined the vein of human absurdity for more than 60 years. “Comedy is a way to bring logic to an illogical situation, of which there are many in everyday life,” he wrote in his 2006 memoir, I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things that Strike Me as Funny.

In 1961, former Chicago accountant Newhart won three Grammy Awards for the album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. Although the record included the monologue “The Driving Instructor,” the then 31-year-old Newhart hadn’t learned to drive. During his Great Depression-era boyhood, his family could seldom afford gas.

After Army service, Newhart tried and "gave up" on law school. He later  said of this period, “I never liked the term ‘flunked out.’” As an accountant, he jokingly said his motto was, “That’s close enough.” (He said he made up small discrepancies from his pocket.) Years of dead-end jobs inspired radio monologues about failure and frustration that finally catapulted Newhart to recording fame.

Newhart regretted that during his youth his father had shown little interest in his activities. In 1972, after a triumphant decade in stand-up comedy, Newhart accepted his first sitcom role to allow more time with his growing family. He starred in the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show, and later, Newhart. He credited his long marriage to the power of laughter. An observant Catholic, Newhart poked gentle fun at his church’s trappings and claimed all religions teach the same thing: “Be nice to each other.”

In later years Newhart called the United States an uptight country of easily offended people who take themselves too seriously, adding, “Why don’t we just laugh at ourselves?”

Newhart’s wife, Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, died in 2023. They are survived by four children, and numerous grandchildren.