Bob Newhart

In 1985, following attack of polythemia due to heavy and incessant smoking, he was rushed to the hospital. He not only recovered early but has since quit smoking as well.

Bob Newhart was born as George Robert Newhart to Julia Pauline and George David Newhart in Austin, Chicago, Illinois. His father co-owned a plumbing and heating supply enterprise.

He had an Irish, German and English ancestry. Trained as a Roman Catholic, he attended the St Catherine of Siena Grammar School and St Ignatius College Prep School. It was at high school that he changed his name to Bob

Completing high school studies in 1947, he enrolled himself at the Loyola University of Chicago for a degree in business management. He graduated from the same in 1952.

For two years after graduation, he served in the US Army as a personnel manager in Korean War. Relieved from his duties in 1954, he took up job as an accountant and later in 1958, as an advertising copy editor. In his pastime, he wrote comedy sketches for radio.

It was during his years at the ad agency that he made long telephonic calls to Ed Gallagher, his co-worker, wherein they entertained each other. Later, they recorded these calls and started using them as tapes for audition for comedy work.

Though Gallagher lost interest in the same with time, he continued the recordings and developed a lingo which remained with him for the rest of his life. Coincidentally, his audition tape was heard by a disc jockey in 1959 who officially introduced him to Warner Bros Records talent head.

His impressive comic timing and knack for playing with words earned him a contract with the production house. He was basically entrusted with the job of expanding his recorded material into stand-up routine

No sooner, he became famous for his audio releases which portrayed him as the world’s first solo ‘straight man’. His main motive was to bring to audience one end of a conversation.

His ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ aired in 1971 on CBS as a sitcom was a major hit. It ran for six seasons, airing 142 episodes. The show ranked in Top 20 during its first three seasons, garnering two Emmy nominations and one Golden Globe nomination for him in the category of ‘Best TV Actor- Musical/ Comedy’. In 2007, the TIME magazine placed the show in its list of ‘100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME’.