Comedic legend Bob Newhart dies at 94

Bob Newhart, the genial funnyman whose button-down mind produced a treasure trove of TV comedy, died Thursday at age 94.

Newhart’s publicist confirmed his death to the Daily News, saying he died at his home in Los Angeles following a series of short illnesses.

The suburban Chicago native began his illustrious career in the late 1950s before headlining a pair of eponymous TV smashes in different decades: “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and “Newhart” in the ’80s.

He was still going strong in recent years, finally winning his first individual Emmy for a guest-starring role on “The Big Bang Theory” in 2013.

Newhart was a smash as a comedian with his deadpan style, complete with a slight stammer. He had huge success with comedy albums — when comedy albums were a big thing — and his Midwestern charm translated to TV with his pair of hit series.

Born on Sept. 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois, Newhart served in the Army in the Korean War and worked as an advertising copywriter before his comedy audition tapes caught the attention of Warner Bros. Records, where he signed in 1959.

“I gave myself a year to make it in comedy; it was back to accounting if comedy didn’t work out,” he once said.

But work out it did.

His 1960 debut album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” — recorded live at a performance in Houston — soared to the top of the Billboard charts. It also won album of the year at the 1961 Grammys, beating out releases by Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte and Nat King Cole.

Success surprised no one more than Newhart himself.

“When I started, I thought I might have five years, and that was fine,” he told the Daily News in 2014. “I pictured myself like an elevator operator, and people in the corner would say, ‘That guy used to be Bob Newhart.’”

More smash albums followed, as did his first foray into TV with his eponymous variety show in 1961. Unlike “The Bob Newhart Show,” the later ratings hit of the same name, this one lasted just a single season. But while viewers didn’t embrace it, critics did: Newhart won the prestigious Peabody Award, while the show won an Emmy and earned Newhart a nomination.

Stand-up success and TV guest spots continued for Newhart throughout the 1960s. The counterculture changed comedy for many people but not for Newhart, who stayed true to his persona.

“Around the time of ‘Laugh-In’ in the late 1960s, there was a temptation to get blue,” he told The News in 2014. “But I just never felt comfortable doing it.”

Again using the title “The Bob Newhart Show,” he returned to series TV in 1972, this time playing a psychologist. Audiences embraced Newhart and co-star Suzanne Pleshette, and the show ran for six seasons and 142 episodes.

The ’80s produced another hit, “Newhart,” with its star playing an author who leaves New York City to run a rustic Vermont inn. Mary Frann played his wife on the show, with Newhart serving as a straight man to eccentric characters such as brothers Larry, Darryl and Darryl.

The series ran for eight years and 184 episodes, none more memorable than the final one in 1990. Playing off the prime-time soap smash “Dallas,” which resurrected a presumably dead character by claiming the previous season was all just a dream, “Newhart” went a step beyond.

The last episode revealed the entire series had all been a dream, with Newhart waking up in bed with Pleshette, telling her all about his dream of managing an inn in Vermont and the strange inhabitants of the town. The scene ended to the music of their 1970s series.

The surprise ending won raves from viewers, and in 2016, Entertainment Weekly named it one of the best TV series finales of all time.

Newhart then went on to have two short-lived series in the ’90s, but continued to be in demand. He appeared as Papa Elf in the 2003 holiday hit “Elf” and made six appearances as Arthur Jeffries in “The Big Bang Theory” — which finally earned him his long-deserved Emmy and delighted the crowd at the ceremony.

The award rounded out the other honors he had already claimed through the years, including a Peabody, Grammy, Golden Globe and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

“It was quite an emotional experience,” he told The News of winning the Emmy. “It was the standing ovation that just put me away. That’s your peers, and they’re saying you’re good.”

Audiences had known that for decades.

Offscreen, Newhart was a devoted family man. After meeting on a blind date set up by comedian Buddy Hackett, Newhart married his wife Ginnie in 1963. Together they had four children.

The couple remained together until Ginnie’s death in April 2023 at the age of 82. In earlier interviews, the Newharts said laughter was the secret to the longevity of their marriage.