Bob Newhart Biography

Bob Newhart

The first of Bob Newhart's two stand-up comedy albums, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart (1960), became the first comedy album to reach the top of the album charts, and earned Newhart three Grammy Awards (album of the year, best new artist, best comedy performance—spoken word). His follow-up The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1962), as well as his frequent performances on the Jack Paar and the Ed Sullivan Shows, solidified his spot as the most popular comedian of the time. Although he hosted an Emmy- and Peabody-Award-winning variety show during the early 1960s and performed in two one-season situation comedies during the 1990s, Newhart struck comedic and ratings gold during the 1970s and 1980s with two shows, The Bob Newhart Show (1972–78) and Newhart (1982–90). Both pitted the besieged everyman Newhart against the neurotic antics of the ensemble casts he assembled. Although he has had limited success in films, Newhart has appeared in many, including Catch-22 (1970), The Rescuers (1977, voice) and its sequel The Rescuers Down Under (1990, voice), and most recently In and Out (1997).