Farewell to US TV comedy legend Bob Newhart, whose deadpan delivery and dry sense of humour served as the anchor of US TV sitcom classics The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978) and Newhart (1982-1990). He died yesterday, 18th July aged 94.
Somewhere in the house I may still have a couple of Bob Newhart LPs I used to listen to, along with catching The Goon Show and other comedy on radio in the early 1970s, when we didn’t have a TV in the house. Wonderful stuff, particularly his take on driving instructors.
Newhart was the inspiration for countless comedians across the globe, and dominated ratings for the better part of two decades for the US TV network CBS, first as bemused Chicago psychologist Dr. Robert Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show and, later, as befuddled author Dick Loudon on Newhart. The finale of that latter show – with its ending nod to The Bob Newhart Show – is considered one of the best in US TV history.
Despite several Emmy Award nominations for those shows, Newhart didn’t win until 2013, when he captured the trophy for his guest-spot portrayal as “Professor Proton” in The Big Bang Theory (2007-2019).
A Grammy winner for his 1960 comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” (the first comedy album to top the Billboard charts, and, possibly one of the LPs I may have), Newhart attracted a new generation of fans through movies – as Papa Elf in the 2003 feature film, Elf – as well as guest spots in dozens of TV shows, including “Bart the Fink”, a 1996 episode of The Simpsons.
Farewell, sir – you will be missed. But the laughter lives on.
Bob Newhart, 5th September 1929 – 18th July 18 2024
• You can post your tributes to Bob here on the official Bob Newhart Facebook page
• Bob Newhart Official Website – bobnewhartofficial.com
• National Public Radio: Stand-Up Comic Bob Newhart
• The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series by Jessica Radloff includes a number of behind the scenes photos, including some of Bob
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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