- Title: "A sad day": Flowers placed on Hollywood star of comedic actor Bob Newhart
- Date: 19th July 2024
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (JULY 18, 2024) (REUTERS) MAN WALKING TOWARDS BOB NEWHART'S STAR AND PLACING FLOWERS ON TOP BOB'S NAME ON RIBBON STAR AND FLOWERS FLOWERS STAR AND FLOWERS BEING FILMED ON PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SHANE FOSS, 38, FROM SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, SAYING: "I always watched a lot of reruns and stuff like with my mom. More than anything, it brings me, watching with my mom, and late night shows and stuff like that. And then actually, the lady reminded me of like the Big Bang Theory, when he made kind of appearances in there and stuff. But yeah, I was more or less watching it as a young kid." VARIOUS FLOWERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) KEVIN CLEGG, 59, FROM TACOMA, WASHINGTON STATE, SAYING: "When I first heard about Bob Newhart, it was probably when I was probably 10 years old maybe, you know, or younger. And my parents would watch the Carol Burnett show, he'd be on that - or Mary Tyler Moore, sorry, Mary Tyler Moore. He'd be on that show, so we'd see that." CARD (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOMINIC RYAN, 35, FROM WEST HOLLYWOOD, SAYING: "I really liked his work in 'Elf'. His character in 'Elf' really stuck for me, man. It was like, just a great costume there, working alongside Will Ferrell there. Respected Bob Newhart and a very sad day to hear of his passing. FLOWERS TO RIBBON
- Embargoed: 2nd August 2024 03:08
- Keywords: Bob Newhart Death Flowers Hollywood Walk of Fame
- Location: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- City: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment,North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001008519072024RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: On Hollywood Boulevard, flowers were placed on the star of comedic actor Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday (July 18) at the age of 94, his publicist said.
Newhart died at his home in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses, said his longtime publicist Jerry Digney.
Newhart had two hit shows - first playing a psychologist on "The Bob Newhart Show" from 1972 to 1978, and then portraying a Vermont innkeeper on "Newhart" from 1982 through 1990. In both shows, he relied on a bland, cardigan-clad everyman character who is confounded by the oddball people around him.
Newhart was nominated for Emmy Awards nine times, beginning in 1962 for writing on his short-lived variety show, but did not win until 2013 when he was given the award for a guest appearance on "The Big Bang Theory."
Newhart's career began in the late 1950s, with a comedy routine in which he played straight man to an unheard voice on the other end of a telephone call. Tommy Smothers of the Smothers Brothers duo called Newhart "a one-man comedy team" because of his dialogs with invisible partners.
His 1960 live album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," was a big hit that was also highly influential. It became the first comedy album to top the charts and earned him three Grammy awards.
Newhart's characters had a trademark stammer, which he said was not an act but the way he really talked. He said a TV producer once asked him to cut down on the stammer because it was making the shows run too long.
"'No,' I told him. 'That stammer bought me a house in Beverly Hills,'" Newhart wrote in his memoir, "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!"
He ended his "Newhart" show in 1990 with an episode regarded as one of the most unique in the annals of U.S. television. In the last scene of the series he awakens in bed with his wife from the first series after "dreaming" his life in the second series.
Newhart was born on Sept. 5, 1929, in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park and graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 1952.
In the late 1950s Newhart had a boring accounting job - in which he claimed that his credo was "that's close enough" - and began writing comedy sketches with a colleague as a diversion. Those led to radio performances and eventually a record deal with Warner Bros.
"Probably the best advice I ever got in my life was from the head of the accounting department, Mr. Hutchinson, I believe at the Glidden Company in Chicago, and he told me, 'You really aren't cut out for accounting,'" Newhart told an interviewer.
Before winning an Emmy in 2013, Newhart had been nominated three times for his acting on "Newhart," once for writing on his 1961 variety show and twice for appearances on other shows. He also was a frequent guest on variety shows and talk shows.
He appeared in a number of movies including "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever," "Catch-22" and "Elf."
In 2002, he was awarded the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Asked by the New York Times in 2019 whether he felt 90 years old, Newhart said, "My mind doesn't. I can't turn it off."
Newhart was introduced by comedian Buddy Hackett to his future wife, Virginia, whom he married in 1964. The Newharts had four children and Virginia Newhart died in 2023.
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