The tedium he experienced in a previous job as an accountant inspired Bob Newhart to create a style of deadpan comedy starring an all-too-ordinary man. The comedian and actor passed away this Thursday at the age of 94 after “a series of brief ailments,” his representative, Jerry Digney, confirmed to the American media.
Although he rose to fame by reinterpreting his past self, first doing monologues on the stages of his country and then with his own sitcoms on television from the seventies onwards, his last two on-screen appearances were playing Professor Proton in The Big Bang Theory and in its prequel, Young Sheldon. Went with The Big Bang Theory when he won his first and only Emmy Award in 2013, for guest actor, although he has been nominated for the award in that and other categories on nine occasions throughout his career.
I’ll admit that the only thing I’ve seen Bob Newhart in was Big Bang Theory as Professor Proton, but he was an incredible talent on that show. Completely hilarious. Especially his scenes of him with Penny. He’ll truly be missed. pic.twitter.com/slJC24WUGo
— ReelTalker (@TalkerReel92) July 18, 2024
But his longest-running characters were precisely that, costumbristas. And permanently confused by the world around them. He was a psychologist from Chicago in The Bob Newhart Show from 1972 to 1978 and the owner of a Vermont inn in Newhart nothing less than from 1982 to 1990. The end of this second series may be familiar to the Spanish audience that follows The Serranos: In the last chapter he woke up in bed next to the woman who was his wife in his previous series. Everything that happened in the second of these fictions had been dreamed by his previous character.
In film, he appeared in supporting roles in comedies such as Elfwith Will Ferrell; How to get rid of your boss, alongside Jason Bateman, Jennifer Anniston and Jason Sudeikis; and In & Outstarring Kevin Kline.
His career began in the fifties and, in addition to shows in theaters and variety shows on television, he recorded several comedy albums. The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhartreleased in 1960, led to a comedy album topping the charts and earned him three Grammy Awards.
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