Our first exposure to the great comic talent Bob Newhart was his Grammy Award-winning first album, "The Buttoned-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," a nod to his conforming, bookish persona, that was a masterpiece of monologues and one-sided "phone conversations." Starting in stand up comedy, Newhart, who died yesterday, moved to television with two hit series The Bob Newhart Show (1972 -1978) and Newhart (1982-1990), and film with appearances in Catch-22 and Elf. Samples of his "phone conversations" are here, here, here, and here. He was the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (2002), an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
He was a uniquely funny man, an original, and a beloved presence in our living rooms and theaters for decades. Tributes can be found here, here, and here. RIP.
(photo: PBS)
