Bob Newhart dead: US actor and comedian dies aged 94 after 'a series of short illnesses'

According to his publicist Jerry Digney, the accountant-turned entertainer “died at home in Los Angeles” a year after his wife of 60 years Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, who died in April 2023.

He was known for The Bob Newhart Show and had a recurring guest role on sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In 2013 he won an Emmy for his role playing Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton in the show about friends Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Howard.

Born George Robert Newhart on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois, the actor first gained fame in the early 1960s with his groundbreaking comedy album, "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," which became a best-seller and won him the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1961.

Newhart starred in two highly successful and influential television series, The Bob Newhart Show where he played Dr Robert Hartley, a Chicago psychologist. He also portrayed Dick Loudon in another series called ‘Newhart’, where he reprised the role of an author and innkeeper in a quirky Vermont town.

He also appeared in various films, including "Catch-22" (1970), "Elf" (2003), and "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" (2003).

Newhart is survived by four children, Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert, and numerous grandchildren, according to his publicist.