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Louise Thomas
Editor
Saturday Night Live paid a touching tribute to comedy legend Bob Newhart after his death on 18 July at the age of 94.
The stand-up comic, who starred on The Bob Newhart Show and made appearances in <em>Elf </em>and <em>The Big Bang Theory</em>, died at his Los Angeles home after a series of short illnesses, his publicist Jerry Digney said.
In a tribute, NBC’s <em>Saturday Night Live</em> posted a monologue that he performed when hosting the show in 1995.
Newhart hosted Saturday Night Live twice, on 10 May 1980 with musical guest The Amazing Rhythm Aces/Bruce Cockburn and on 11 February 1995 with musical guest Des’ree.
At the end of the 1995 episode, Newhart and guest star Suzanne Pleshette recreated the ending of Newhart, where the comedian wakes up and realises that it was all a dream. On the <em>SNL</em>episode, the “dream” happened to be him hosting the show.
Newhart began his long career with an incredibly popular live stand-up routine, which was recorded in 1960 and became the first comedy album ever to top the Billboard pop charts. The record won Newhart “Album of the Year” and “Best New Artist” at the Grammys that year.
The iconic record has retained its influence in popular culture ever since. Pete Campbell listens to it in the first season of Mad Men, while Joel Maisel butchers the Abe Lincoln routine in the pilot episode of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
Newhart went on to star in his own sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show, in 1972. The show ran for six years until 1978, a ratings success for its entire duration.
After four years, he returned with another sitcom, Newhart, playing an innkeeper in Vermont. It ran for eight years until the 1990 finale where he woke up as his character from The Bob Newhart Show and realised that the new show had been a dream.
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Newhart continued to work in film and television, with roles on The Simpsons, Elf, and even a cameo in 2011’s Horrible Bosses.
Starting in 2013, he made a number of appearances in The Big Bang Theory and played TV show host-turned children’s party entertainer Professor Proton on the prequel show Young Sheldon.
Newhart’s death came just over a year after the passing of his wife, Ginnie Newhart, who died in April 2023, months after their 60th wedding anniversary.
He is survived by their four children, Robert Jr, Timothy, Courtney and Jennifer, and 10 grandchildren.
