BOB NEWHART (1929-2024) - A Legacy of Laughter

HIS DEADPAN, GENTLE HUMOR MADE HIM A SUPERSTAR OF COMEDY FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS

- LOUISE A. BARILE

In 1995, Saturday Night Live guest host Bob Newhart opened the show with a bit about a security guard at New York’s Empire State Building whose first day on the job coincided with the arrival of King Kong. “Something’s come up, and it’s not covered in the guard’s manual,” Bob said as the man calling for help. “He’s between 18 and 19 stories high, depending on whether we have a 13th floor or not,” he added. “I yelled at his feet. I said, ‘Shoo, ape. I’m sorry, but you are going to have to leave.’”

From the release of his first album in 1960, Bob was comedy’s ultimate straight man. The performer, who died on July 18 at age 94, brought his stuttering everyman persona to recordings, two beloved TV series, and films including the modern holiday classic Elf. “I thought it might possibly last a couple of years, maybe three or four,” said Bob of his comedy career. “I certainly never expected it to last. I take great satisfaction in that longevity.”

Born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., Bob studied comedians on The Ed Sullivan Show, particularly Jack Benny, and began recording funny bits with a friend to pass the time at work. “In 1959, I gave myself a year to make it in comedy,” he said. “It was back to accounting if comedy didn’t work out.” He didn’t have to wait. Warner Brothers Records signed him, but he waffled when the label asked him to record his album in front of a live audience. “I said, ‘Well, see, we have a problem there because I’d never played in a nightclub,’” Bob recalled.