Kit Roberts
Legendary comedian Bob Newhart has died at the age of 94.
The actor's longtime publicist Jerry Digney confirmed that Newhart died at his home in Los Angeles after 'a series of short illnesses'.
Digney described Newhart as an 'accountant-turned-entertainment icon', as Newhart started his career in a completely different industry to what he would become known for as an accountant.
He would achieve recognition after releasing a live comedy album in 1960, before starring in a pair of CBS sitcoms.
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His 1960 album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart scooped him a Grammy award for album of the year and best new artist.
Newhart was known for his dry deadpan delivery and laconic manner, characteristics that would land him starring roles in two long-running sitcoms.
In a 1990 interview with Los Angeles magazine, he described where he got his inspiration for his bone dry comedy.
He said: “I tend to find humor in the macabre. I would say 85 percent of me is what you see on the show. And the other 15 percent is a very sick man with a very deranged mind."
In 1992, Newhart was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
He starred in The Bob Newhart Show in the 1970s, in which he was cast as a psychologist.
The series touched on topics including the emerging movement advocating for gay rights, as well as the stigma surrounding mental health.
In the 1980s, he would go on to star in Newhart.
Newhart would then go on to become known to later generations for his roles in Elf, starring Will Ferrell and The Big Bang Theory.
The comedian once recalled how while he was working as an accountant, he would improvise silly scenes with a colleague to pass the time.
Speaking in 2012, he said: "Around 3:30, 4 o’clock, I would become … depressed. To break up the monotony of accounting, which I wasn’t very good at to begin with, I would call Ed and … we would improvise over the phone.
"I called him one time and I said, ‘Mr. Smithers? Yeah, this is Bob at the yeast factory, and we have a fire here, sir. The fire company, they’re pouring water on it… Mr. Smithers, I’m gonna have to run up to the second floor'.”
Newhart married Virginia 'Ginny' Quinn in 1963, and the pair were married until her death in 2023 at the age of 82.
He is survived by his children, Robert Jr., Timothy, Courtney and Jennifer, and 10 grandchildren.