Bob Newhart
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Bob Newhart's unique comedic style has crossed all
generational lines through every medium of entertainment. Bob Newhart came
into popularity from hitting the top of the record charts with his debut
album in 1960 to lending his distinctive voice to a Disney animated film,
to his three hit television series The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart and Bob,
Bob Newhart is one of our country's finest comics. Bob Newhart seven
comedy albums have sold more than 3 million copies. With his dry wit and
wry smile, Bob Newhart continues to bring warmth and laughter to
generations of fans.
Bob Newhart perhaps the only man in the world to talk to himself on the
phone without people looking at him strangely. Not only that, he has
become a household name to two generations. You got it right if you said
Bob Newhart. Known the world over for his two long running television
shows, Bob's real start came in standup comedy, yes -- talking to himself
on the telephone.
Bob Newhart leaves the Army. It began when Bob Newhart, after Army
service, worked as an accountant and an advertising copywriter. He was
also performing in a theatrical stock company (his real love) in his
hometown, Chicago.
During this time, Bob Newhart and a friend at the ad agency, Ed Gallagher,
used to amuse themselves by making long, antic phone calls to each other,
which they recorded as audition tapes for comedy jobs. When Gallagher
decided to drop out and opted, instead, for an advertising career, Bob
Newhart simply "picked up the slack," as he puts it, and thus was born his
famous one-man, two-way telephone conversations.
Bob Newhart, Bob Newhart. In 1959, Bob Newhart was introduced by a Chicago
disc jockey to the head of talent at Warner Bros. Records, George Avakian,
who immediately signed him to a contract. Thus was born "The Button-Down
Mind of Bob Newhart," which became the first comedy album to go to number
1 on the charts. Bob Newhart was an immediate sell out in comedy concerts,
nightclubs and theater stages all over America.
Bob Newhart, Bob Newhart. Seven more albums followed, each extremely
successful, selling in the millions. In fact, Bob Newhart's album sales
records, set in the 1960's, actually stood unbroken until 1993! (And
typical of Bob, he didn't even know he had set the record for having the
Number 1 and Number 2 albums for more than eight months, until someone
accidentally told him the record had been broken.)
Bob Newhart, Bob Newhart. So the television networks, always in need of
the biggest possible audiences, looked to Bob Newhart to supply them. But
could he act? Until Bob's first series, comedians had been invited on
television either to do their old nightclub routines on variety shows like
"The Ed Sullivan Show" or, if given their own series, like Milton Berle,
to do the routines they had done from burlesque days onward. Indeed, Bob's
own first series was on NBC, a variety program called "The Bob Newhart
Show." It was a prestigious hit, winning both an Emmy and the Peabody
Award, perhaps the most coveted award in television.
Bob Newhart, Bob Newhart. Such was the skyrocketing popularity of Bob
Newhart, actor and stand-up comedian, that he was also cast in a number of
motion pictures, with some of the biggest film stars in Hollywood: "Hell
Is For Heroes" with Steve McQueen, "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever"
with Barbara Streisand, "Catch 22" with Jon Voigt, "Little Miss Marker"
with Walter Matthau, "Hot Millions" with Peter Ustinov, "Cold Turkey" with
Dick Van Dyke, "Thursday's Game" with Gene Wilder and "First Family" with
Gilda Radner. So famous was his voice and style of delivery, that he was
selected to become the cartoon voice of Bernard the Mouse in two films,
"The Rescuers" and "The Rescuers Down Under."
"The Bob Newhart Show" debuted in 1972, on CBS, marking the beginning of a
seven-year run. It co-starred Suzanne Pleshette as Bob's wife, Emily, and
one of the finest casts of feature players on television, according to
television critics and historians to this day. But by 1978, Bob felt it
was time to move on to new projects.
Bob Newhart missed live, standup performances, for which he didn't have
much time with the rigors of a weekly series and film roles during the
hiatus months. He toured for nearly two years, when television got him
back into a new series with a new format.
Bob Newhart, Newhart. In 1982, Bob Newhart returned to CBS with "Newhart",
playing a New York, do-it-yourself book author turned Vermont Innkeeper.
Again, surrounded by an ensemble of quirky characters (another trademark
of Bob Newhart's television career), ending only against the wishes of the
network, but because Bob felt it was better to put the show to rest while
it was at its peak. Television fans remember the final episode of
"Newhart", in which he "awoke" in his old bedroom (from "The Bob Newhart
Show") with his "wife", Suzanne Pleshette, next to him, proclaiming he had
had the strangest dream! Critics and fans alike have called this the
single best and most surprising episode in television comedy history.
Among Bob Newhart's favorite honors are his selection as Grand Marshall of
the 102nd Tournament of Roses Parade, joining 101 other world famous
leaders, stars and politicians and other world notables, and his induction
into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1993.
Bob Newhart and his wife, Virginia, live in Bel Air. They have four
children, Rob, Tim, Jennifer and Courtney. An avid golfer, Bob Newhart
spends as much time as he can on the links, but he has less and less hours
for his sports pastime with his continuing tours of comedy concerts.
Bob Newhart guest-starred on ER in a very rare dramatic role which earned
him a 2004 Emmy Award nomination, his first in nearly twenty years.
Bob Newhart does Desperate Housewives. In 2005 he began a recurring role
in Desperate Housewives as Morty, the on-again/off-again boyfriend of
Sophie (Lesley Ann Warren), Susan Mayer's (Teri Hatcher) mother.
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