Bob Newhart dead at 94 as Elf and The Big Bang Theory fans pay tribute
ELF actor and The Big Bang Theory star Bob Newhart has died at age 94 as fans pay tribute to the beloved entertainer.
The Emmy Award winner's death was announced on Thursday.
He followed up his TV debut by playing the role of Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon in the 1980s series Newhart.
He appeared in more than two dozen films and TV series throughout his career, including cameos in , , ER, Mad TV, Murphy Brown, and The Librarians, among others.
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Fans paid tribute to Newhart after the news of his death hit .
Will Ferrell's father in the film worked in the iconic building.
BEFORE STARDOM
George Robert Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois - a village west of Chicago.
He was a brother to three sisters: Joan, Pauline, and Virginia.
Newhart graduated high school in 1947 and went on to get his bachelor's degree in business management from Loyola University Chicago in 1952.
That year, the comedian was drafted into the US Army and was discharged two years later in 1954.
He worked many jobs while performing in an Oak Park stock company where his friend, Ed Gallagher, recorded some of their conversations and tried to sell them to radio stations.
Unfortunately, the tapes weren't successful at any stations but caught the eye of a DJ named Dan Sorkin, who gave Newhart a job at a radio station.
Newhart's DJing gig didn't last very long, but Sorkin introduced Newhart to the president of Warner Bros Records at the time, James Conkling.
He helped get Newhart a gig at a nightclub in Houston where all of his performances were recorded.
His 1960 live album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, was very popular.
Newhart continued those stories with The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back and Behind the Button-Down Mind.
Newhart gained three Grammys for The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart in 1961 and was the first comedy record to be honored as album of the year.
In 1963, Newhart married Ginnie Newhart - who died on April 23, 2023.
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She was 82.
Newhart and his wife have four children: Robert, Jennifer, Courtney, and Timothy.