Bob Newhart
Bob Newhart
George Robert Newhart, better known as Bob Newhart, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide bestseller and reached number one on the Billboard pop album chart—it remains the 20th best-selling comedy album in history. The follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! was also a massive success, and the two...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actor
Date of Birth5 September 1929
CityOak Park, IL
CountryUnited States of America
I don't want to sound like the old guy, but cynicism is a potential danger. It colors our way of looking at the world.
I'm not a classically trained actor. I'm not a product of Stavlovski method or anything like that.
I think there's a little confusion between humor and 'gross' passing for humor. That's kind of regrettable, because they aren't the same thing.
There is an edginess in my work that people don't always recognize.
I'm glad you can't talk on your cells while the plane is in the air. That would drive me crazy.
The greatest comedian I've ever seen is Jack Benny. He wasn't afraid of the silences.
I've had time off, and it drove me nuts. I was crawling up the wall.
Probably the best advice I ever got in my life was from the head of the accounting department, Mr. Hutchinson, I believe at the Glidden Company in Chicago, and he told me, 'You really aren't cut out for accounting.'
For some reason, comedians are still children. The social skills somehow never reach us, so we say exactly what we think without weighing the results.
Humor is so important to the American scene throughout history.
When I started, I was doing all the good comedians I'd ever seen. Then I developed my own voice. My routines are my natural way of looking at the world.
If you look at Jack Benny, George Burns, or Don Rickles, they've all had long, successful marriages. So, I think there's something about laughter and the durability of a marriage.
The schizophrenic has no sense of humor. His world is a constantly daunting, unfriendly place.
I didn't know I was cool, but I was very flattered that some of the younger comedy writers came up to talk to me at the Emmys. I found that gratifying.