Trivia

Newhart insisted there never be any children for his character to be the father of in each of his television series. "I told the creators I didn't want any children, because I didn't want it to be a show about 'How stupid Daddy is, but we love him so much, let's get him out of the trouble he's gotten himself into.'" In the sixth year of Newhart's CBS sitcom, The Bob Newhart Show (1972), the writers wrote a script in which Emily Hartley was pregnant. When Newhart was asked his opinion of the script, he said, "It's very funny. Who are you going to get to play Bob?".

Guest hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) 87 times.

Received his first Emmy Award nomination in 1962. He did not win until 2014, 52 years later, for playing "Professor Proton" (a.k.a. Arthur Jeffries) in the sitcom episode The Proton Displacement (2013).

Drafted in the United States Army and served stateside during Korean War until he was honorably discharged (1954).

His wife, Ginny Newhart, came up with the idea for The Last Newhart (1990) (the last episode of Newhart (1982)), in which the entire 1982 series was all a dream of Dr. Bob Hartley of The Bob Newhart Show (1972).

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 first name, Robert is his middle name).

He was awarded a Kennedy Centre Mark Twain Prize for comedy.

Before hitting his success on the comedy circuits in the 1960s, Bob worked as an accountant for a Chicago firm. He hated every minute of this.

Was a heavy smoker for years, until he was ordered by doctors to stop (1985).

Co-owns a Hollywood restaurant with actor Dustin Hoffman.

As he (born 1929) got older, his sitcom wives got successively younger. In The Bob Newhart Show (1972), Suzanne Pleshette (born 1937) was eight years younger. In Newhart (1982), Mary Frann (born 1943) was fourteen years younger. And in Bob (1992), Carlene Watkins (born 1952) was twenty-three years younger.

His idols when he was young were Robert Benchley, Jack Benny and Fred Allen.

Is best and closest friends with the late Suzanne Pleshette, and spoke at her funeral, alongside another ex-The Bob Newhart Show (1972) co-star and best friend, Marcia Wallace, on 24 January 2008. Both Pleshette and Wallace co-starred in The Bob Newhart Show (1972) with him.

Before he was a successful comedian, he became an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles, a major independent film and television producer in Chicago.

He has a sister (Sister M. Joan Newhart) who is a nun.

Nominated for a 2007 Grammy Award in the best spoken word album category for his album "I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!".

His comedy album "The Buttoned-Down Mind of Bob Newhart" (1960) went to #1 on the charts, beating out Elvis Presley and "The Sound of Music" original Broadway cast album. The album won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for 1960.

Appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) 8 times.

Attended Loyola University Chicago, where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Business Management (1952).

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6381 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on January 6, 1999.

Like Bill Cosby, Newhart has the ability to be funny without resorting to profanity. The closest Newhart comes is in his bit "The Driving Instructor", in which he comments, "...I don't suppose it is so damn funny".

Made six appearances as Professor Proton (a.k.a. Arthur Jeffries) on The Big Bang Theory (2007) in Seasons 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12.

Was hospitalized with a nosebleed, followed by polycythemia, after all that smoking, but soon recovered [3 September 1985].

Began his contract career as a comedian for Warner Bros. Records (1959).

Appeared on The Dean Martin Show (1965) 24 times.

Has released 10 comedy albums.

As a little boy, he always wanted to be called Bob, hence, he dropped his first two names George Robert to rechristen the name of Bob Newhart.

His former The Bob Newhart Show (1972) and Newhart (1982), co-stars, Marcia Wallace, Bill Daily, Tom Poston, William Sanderson, Julia Duffy and Peter Scolari, had all guest-starred on the same episode of George & Leo (1997) in 1997.

Was stationed at Camp Roberts in San Luis, Obispo, California (1952).

Attended and graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in Chicago, Illinois (1947).

His parents were Julia Pauline (Burns), a housewife, and George David Newhart, a part-owner of a plumbing and heating-supply business.

His family surname was "Neuhardt" several generations back. His father was of half German and half Irish descent, and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His paternal grandmother was born in Canada, to Irish immigrants.

Before he was a successful comedian, he used to work as a delivery boy for a meat market.

Best known by the public for his starring roles as Dr. Robert 'Bob' Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show (1972), and as Dick Loudin on Newhart (1982).

Resided with his parents until he was in his twenties.

In the game "World of Warcraft", the character Robert Newhearth, an NPC curator of library books in the city of Dalaran, is based visually on the character Judson in "The Librarians".

Newhart was an early home-computer hobbyist, purchasing the Commodore PET after its 1977 introduction. In 2001, he wrote "Later, I moved up to the 64 KB model and thought that was silly because it was more memory than I would ever possibly need.".

Was a huge fan of both shows: I Love Lucy (1951) and The Milton Berle Show (1966).

Before he was a successful comedian, he had a great deal of jobs from a pinspotter to an office boy in Downtown Chicago.

Friends with: 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.

He was considered for the role of Andy Stone in Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995), which went to Alan King.

He attended the Sixth Army in San Francisco, California, after spending 22 winters in Chicago, Illinois.

Son-in-law of actor Bill Quinn.

Attended the 1993 funeral of Bill Bixby.

He played comedic roles in two war-themed dramas: a radio man in Hell Is for Heroes, and a major (whose name is literally Major Major) in Catch-22.

Is buried next to his wife, Ginni Newhart, at the San Fernando Mission Catholic Cemetery in Mission Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA.