ACTOR
Bob Newhart
- Known for
- The Rescuers Down Under (1990), The Librarian: Quest for the Spear (2004), Newhart (1982), The Bob Newhart Show (1972)
38 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Bob Newhart is an actor best known for The Rescuers Down Under, The Librarian: Quest for the Spear and Newhart.
All facts (38)
- #001
Bob Newhart guest-hosted The Tonight Show (1962) starring Johnny Carson 87 times.
- #002
He was drafted into the United States Army and served in the US until he was honorably discharged (1954) during the Korean War.
- #003
His wife, Ginny Newhart, came up with the idea for The Last Newhart (1990), the final episode of Newhart (1982), in which the entire 1982 series was a dream of Dr. Bob Hartley from The Bob Newhart Show (1972).
- #004
Every television series he starred in has his name in the title: The Bob Newhart Show (1961), The Bob Newhart Show (1972), Newhart (1982), Bob (1992) and George & Leo (1997) (George is his real name, Robert is his middle name).
- #005
Before finding success in comedy venues in the 1960s, Bob worked as an accountant at a firm in Chicago. He hated every minute of it.
- #006
He was honored with the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for comedy.
- #007
He is a co-owner of a Hollywood restaurant along with actor Dustin Hoffman.
- #008
He smoked heavily for years until doctors ordered him to quit (1985).
- #009
Before becoming a successful comedian, he was a copywriter for Fred A. Niles, one of Chicago's leading independent film and television producers.
- #010
As he (born 1929) grew older, his sitcom wives grew progressively younger. On The Bob Newhart Show (1972), Suzanne Pleshette (born 1937) was eight years younger. On Newhart (1982), Mary Frann (born 1943) was fourteen years younger. And on Bob (1992), Carlene Watkins (born 1952) was twenty-three years younger.
- #011
In his youth, his idols were Robert Benchley, Jack Benny and Fred Allen.
- #012
He was the best and closest friend of the late Suzanne Pleshette and spoke at her funeral on January 24, 2008, along with another former The Bob Newhart Show (1972) co-star and best friend, Marcia Wallace. Both Pleshette and Wallace appeared with him on The Bob Newhart Show (1972).
- #013
He has a sister who is a nun (Sister M. Joan Newhart).
- #014
He appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) 8 times.
- #015
He attended Loyola University Chicago, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management (1952).
- #016
He appeared six times as Professor Proton (also known as Arthur Jeffries) in seasons 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 of The Big Bang Theory (2007).
- #017
On January 6, 1999, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6381 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- #018
He appeared on The Dean Martin Show (1965) 24 times.
- #019
He began his contract career as a comedian at Warner Bros. Records (1959).
- #020
Bob Newhart released 10 comedy albums.
- #021
After smoking so much, he was hospitalized for a nosebleed and then for polycythemia, but he recovered shortly afterward [September 3, 1985].
- #022
As a small child he always wanted to be called Bob, so he dropped his first two names, George Robert, to rename himself Bob Newhart.
- #023
Newhart was the first home-computer hobbyist to buy a Commodore PET after its introduction in 1977. In 2001 he wrote: "I later moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was probably more memory than I needed."
- #024
He was stationed at Camp Roberts in San Luis Obispo, California (1952).
- #025
Former The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Newhart (1982) co-stars Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Tom Poston, William Sanderson, Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari all appeared as guest stars in the same 1997 episode of George & Leo (1997).
- #026
He attended and graduated from St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, Illinois (1947).
- #027
He is best known to the public for his roles as Dr. Robert 'Bob' Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Dick Loudin on Newhart (1982).
- #028
Before becoming a successful comedian, he worked as a delivery man at a meat market.
- #029
He lived with his family until his twenties.
- #030
Before becoming a successful comedian, he worked many jobs in downtown Chicago, from pinspotter to office clerk.
- #031
He was a big fan of both shows: I Love Lucy (1951) and The Milton Berle Show (1966).
- #032
His friends: Tom Poston, Suzanne Pleshette, Mary Frann, Marcia Wallace, Peter Bonerz, Julie London, Buck Henry, Bill Daily, Bill Bixby, Jane Curtin, Don Rickles, Olympia Dukakis, Johnny Carson, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, José Ferrer, Jack Riley, Bernard Fox, Richard Benjamin, Tim Conway, Dick Martin, John Fiedler, Eva Gabor, Tony Randall, Mary Tyler Moore, Bill Cosby and Conan O'Brien.
- #033
He was considered for the role of Andy Stone in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995), which went to Alan King.
- #034
He was cremated at the crematorium of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills. The urn was later buried next to his wife's urn (Bright Eternity section, Map #H62, Lot 7685, Single Ground Range Space 2).
- #035
After spending 22 winters in Chicago, Illinois, he joined the Sixth Army in San Francisco, California.
- #036
He is the son-in-law of actor Bill Quinn.
- #037
He attended Bill Bixby's funeral in 1993.
- #038
Bob Newhart auditioned for the role of Coach Calhoun in the 1978 film Grease.
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