Here’s a look at the life of comedian, actor and writer Bob Newhart.
Personal:
Birth date: September 5, 1929
Birth place: Oak Park, Illinois
Birth name: George Robert Newhart
Father: George David Newhart, part-owner of a plumbing and heating business
Mother: Julia Pauline (Burns) Newhart
Marriage: Virginia “Ginnie” (Quinn) Newhart, (January 12, 1963-present)
Children: Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, Courtney
Military service: US Army, 1952-1954
Education: Loyola University of Chicago, B.S., 1952; Attended Loyola University School of Law in the mid-1950s.
Other Facts:
Before becoming a stand-up comedian, he was an accountant for US Gypsum and an advertising copywriter in Chicago.
Stammering and saying “Same to you, fella,” are two standards of his deadpan monologues.
Some part of his name is in the title of each of his four television shows, Bob, Newhart, and George.
His first television show, “The Bob Newhart Show (1961),” earned an Emmy and a Peabody award for the network.
He has earned seven Emmy nominations and won one. He has also won three Grammys.
He guest-hosted “The Tonight Show” 87 times.
The 1990 finale of “Newhart” is considered by some to be one of the best episodes in television. Newhart says his wife, Ginnie, came up with the idea that it was all a dream.
Timeline:
1959 – Signs recording contract with Warner Brothers.
February 1960 – First night club performance, at the Tidelands Motor Inn in Houston.
April 1, 1960 – Release of his first album, “The Buttoned-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” The album goes on to reach number one on the Billboard charts and is the first comedy album to do so.
April 13, 1961 – Wins three Grammys for Album of the Year for “The Buttoned-Down Mind of Bob Newhart”; Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word for “The Buttoned-Down Mind Strikes Back”; and Best New Artist.
October 11, 1961-June 13, 1962 – “The Bob Newhart Show,” a 60-minute variety show with Newhart as host, airs.
1962 – First movie role in “Hell is for Heroes,” a World War II drama starring Steve McQueen.
September 16, 1972-April 1, 1978 – “The Bob Newhart Show” airs, with Newhart as psychologist Bob Hartley living in Chicago.
October 25, 1982-May 21, 1990 – “Newhart” airs, where Newhart plays a Vermont innkeeper.
September 18, 1992-December 27, 1993 – “Bob” airs, with Newhart as a cartoonist.
1993 – Is inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Hall of Fame.
September 15, 1997-March 16, 1998 – “George & Leo” airs, with Newhart as a bookstore owner.
January 6, 1999 – Receives a star for television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
October 29, 2002 – Receives the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
September 2006 – Memoir, “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me as Funny,” is published.
April 20, 2009 – Is inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Broadcasting Hall of Fame.
2012 – Opening of the Newhart Family Theatre at the Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts at Loyola University in Chicago. Newhart graduated from Loyola, and his three sisters graduated from Mundelein College. The two schools merged in 1991.
2013 – Wins Emmy for Best Guest Actor for the television series “The Big Bang Theory.”
June 11, 2015 – Newhart appears in the opening episode of the documentary series “The Seventies.”