Bob Newhart

Creating his own unique comedy shtick with one-sided phone conversations, Bob Newhart parlayed that success into comedy albums, two successful sitcoms, movies, talk show appearances, and guest star stints on other television shows. Yet, through it all, he remained steadfast in his beliefs.

He was born as George Robert Newhart in Oak Park, Illinois, on September 5, 1929, to Catholic parents George David Newhart and Julia Pauline Burns. He sister, M. Joan Newhart, later became a nun. Newhart graduated in 1952 from St. Ignatius College with a business degree. Drafted into the Korean War by the U.S. Army, he served stateside instead of going overseas. After his discharge from the Army in 1953, Newhart became an accountant for United States Gypsum. It wasn't the best career path for him, as he later joked that his motto there was, "That's close enough."

Newhart then worked for an unemployment office, but left once he realized he was making only slightly more there than those who were actually on unemployment. Switching jobs again, and working for Fred A. Niles, he and a fellow copywriter would pass the time by recording comedic conversations on the phone. They turned these into audition tapes, and eventually when his co-worker bowed out, Newhart continued on this own.

These phone conversations became even more humorous when done alone, one-sided, when only Newhart's part of the conversation could be heard. He took this material to comedy clubs, building a whole routine around it. In 1960, he released his first album, The Button Down Mind of Bob Newhart, and it topped albums by Elvis Presley, as well as the Sound of Music soundtrack on the charts. Winning Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best New Artist, and Best Comedy Performance – Spoken Word, Newhart released more than ten additional albums throughout the years.

Newhart became a regular on talk shows such as The Dean Martin Show and the Ed Sullivan Show, and even guest-hosted The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson eighty-seven times. In 1961, he had his own variety show, and while it only lasted one year, it did earn him an Emmy award nomination and a Peabody award.

It was in 1972 that Newhart starred in his own sitcom, the Bob Newhart Show, which had him acting with Suzanne Pleshette, Bill Daily, Peter Bonerz, and Marcia Wallace. The show was a big success, and continued for six seasons. It's been said that he vehemently refused to play a father on his show, as he didn't want to then become the bumbling father. When the writers wrote a script that had his character's wife, played by Pleshette, getting pregnant, he reportedly said, "It's very funny. Who are you going to get to play 'Bob'?

In 1982, Newhart made a comeback to television with a new sitcom, simply titled Newhart. This also starred Tom Poston, Mary Frann, and Julia Duffy, and made household names of the characters Larry, Darryl, and Darryl. The show poked fun at the nighttime soap Dallas, by ending it's eight year run with Newhart's character waking up in a bed with Pleshette, and finding out all his years with Frann were a dream. Two more stabs were made at sitcoms, Bob in 1992, and George and Leo in 1997, with Jason Bateman and Judd Hirsch.

Newhart filmed his share of movies as well, such as On a Clear Day You Can See Forever with Barbra Streisand and Yves Montand; Little Miss Marker with Walter Matthau, Julie Andrews, and Tony Curtis; and Elf with Will Ferrell and James Caan. He also voiced characters in the animated features The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie. Late in his career he filmed guest stints on several popular television shows, including Murphy Brown, ER, and Desperate Housewives. In 2006, Newhart published an autobiography, I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This.

YUDDY