Hollywood comedian Bob Newhart dead aged 94

Showbiz veteran Bob Newhart, who shot to fame in the ‘60s before enjoying a lengthy guest role on The Big Bang Theory, has died.

Legendary Hollywood comedian and actor Bob Newhart has died. He was 94.

The US screen star, a recipient of three Grammys, an Emmy and a Golden Globe award, died at his Los Angeles home on Thursday after a series of short illnesses, his publicist Jerry Digney announced in a press release.

Newhart enjoyed a six-decade career in show business, kicking off with the release of his debut comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in 1959, which became the first comedy record to hit no. 1 on the Billboard charts, earning him two Grammy Awards for album of the year and best new artist.

Bob Newhart, the American stand-up performer whose comedy made him one of the top TV stars of his era, has died, his publicist announced July 18, 2024. Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP

He swiftly transitioned to television, rising to greater prominence with his own NBC variety series The Bob Newhart Show in 1961, before landing a sitcom, also titled The Bob Newhart Show, on CBS from 1972 to 1978.

Newhart followed up with yet another popular sitcom, Newhart, which aired from 1982 until 1990.

More recently, Newhart had feature roles in films including 2003’s Elf, in which he played the adoptive father of Will Ferrell’s character Buddy, and starred as Professor Proton on The Big Bang Theory from 2013 to 2018, a role which saw him awarded with his first Primetime Emmy Award.

Newhart starred on The Big Bang Theory.

Newhart and Will Ferrell in Elf.

He reprised his role on the spin-off Young Sheldon, appearing in three episodes from 2017 until 2020.

Newhart’s death comes after his wife Virginia Lillian ‘Ginnie’ Quinn, who he married in 1963, died aged 82 in April 2023 after a “long illness”.

The actor is survived by their four children, sons Robert, who was born 1965, and Timothy, born in 1967, and daughters Jennifer, born in 1973 and Courtney in 1979.

He was also a grandfather to 10 grandchildren.

Star Wars actor Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the galaxy franchise, led tributes to Newhart on social media.

“From his groundbreaking stand-up to his two classic sitcoms he gave us a lifetime of laughter. Truly one-of-a-kind. Thank you Bob Newhart,” Hamill wrote on X.

Originally published as Hollywood comedian Bob Newhart dead aged 94