Back in 1995, Bob Newhart, the legendary comedian, guest-hosted Saturday Night Live with a hilarious opening sketch. Picture this: a security guard at the Empire State Building is having the worst first day ever, and guess who shows up? That's right, King Kong. Bob, playing the guard, frantically calls for help. "There's a problem, and it's not in the manual," he joked. "He's between 18 and 19 stories high," Bob added, trying to figure out whether they had a 13th floor or not. "I yelled at his feet. I said, 'Shoo, ape. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to leave.'”
When Bob released his first album back in 1960, he became comedy's ultimate straight man. The beloved entertainer, who passed away on July 18 at the age of 94, brought his signature stuttering everyman persona to recordings, two iconic TV series, and films, including the modern holiday classic Elf. "I thought it might last a couple of years, maybe three or four," Bob once said about his career. "I certainly didn't expect it to last this long. I take great satisfaction in that longevity." That stuttering, deadpan delivery became one of the most recognizable comedic styles in entertainment history.
Born in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, Bob was fascinated by comedians on The Ed Sullivan Show, especially Jack Benny. He began recording funny bits with a friend just to pass the time at work. "In 1959, I gave myself a year to make it in comedy," Bob recalled. "If it didn't work out, it was back to accounting for me." But fate had other plans. Warner Brothers Records signed him, and the rest is comedy history.
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When the label asked Bob to record his debut album in front of a live audience, he hesitated. "The problem was, I'd never played in a nightclub," Bob admitted. But his vinyl debut, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, became a game-changer. It was the first comedy recording to hit number one on the Billboard charts, earning two Grammys, including Album of the Year, beating out recordings by Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, and Nat King Cole. A follow-up album, released just six months later, also topped the charts.
Bob's career took off from there. He toured as a stand-up comedian, appeared on late-night talk shows, and even had his own short-lived variety series. But his big break came in 1972 with The Bob Newhart Show. Playing Chicago psychologist Dr. Robert Hartley, Bob showcased his dry, deadpan humor surrounded by a recurring group of eccentric patients and bolstered by his sarcastic-but-loving wife Emily, played by Suzanne Pleshette. "For 12 years, I was on the road doing stand-up, mostly one-night shows," Bob recalled. "I wanted a normal life where I could be home with my family."
Bob Newhart's Lifelong Love Story with Ginnie
A decade earlier, comedian Buddy Hackett set up Bob on a blind date with Virginia "Ginnie" Quinn, who was babysitting Buddy's kids at the time. Ginnie was already dating someone else, but Buddy had other plans. "Bob's Catholic, you're Catholic, and I think maybe you should marry each other," Buddy told her. The couple married in 1963 and went on to have four children together, one of whom was nicknamed Buddy. "I don't care how successful you've been in this business," Bob said in 2013. "If you haven't had a good family life, what have you really achieved? You can be the richest man in the world, but what have you really accomplished? That's the way I look at life."
Bob Newhart's Return to Television
In 1982, Bob returned to television with Newhart. This time, he played self-help author-turned-Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon. "I realized how running a hotel was similar to being a psychologist," Bob told Closer exclusively. "The guests were like the patients — no matter how crazy they were, you had to go along with them." The series lasted eight seasons and concluded with one of the greatest TV finales of all time. In it, Dick is hit in the head by a golf ball and wakes up with Emily in The Bob Newhart Show bedroom as Bob Hartley — implying that his second series had all been a dream. The idea came from Ginnie. "We were apprehensive," Bob admitted. "But when we got the audience's reaction, we knew we'd done something special."
