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
There is an edginess in my work that people don't always recognize.
The best advice I was probably given and the best advice I could give someone who is trying to get into the comedy field is to take advantage of every opportunity you have to work to hone your skills.
Richard Pryor introduced me to the world of the inner city, and the urban world, and did it hysterically. My favorite comedian, even though we work 180 degrees differently, but funny is funny is funny.
I found the most difficult thing when you became successful - when I had the record album, it won Album of the Year - that you were cut off from the source of your material. Your material was everyday people, and you were kind of cut off from that, and you had to work at it.
You may have done 20 great shows in a row and come to one, and it doesn't work. You never presume anything.
I just made the decision that I was going to try comedy, and if didn't work, then I knew it didn't work. Then I would go back and do whatever. But at least I wouldn't torture myself the rest of my life, wondering whatever would have happened.
I know Chuck Lorre personally, and am familiar with his work going back to 'Roseanne' and 'Cybil.'
The show went through several stages before it went on the air,
People stayed home on Saturdays to watch CBS, ... I don't know why or how the networks abandoned Saturday nights. Maybe cable has had something to do with that. I don't know, but I do know that at one time Saturdays were big for the networks.
I wouldn't want that man as my psychologist.
The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Second Season
That idea came from my wife (Virginia), ... You know, 'Dallas' had done the thing about one season being nothing more than a dream. We managed to keep it a secret until we actually shot the show. You should have heard the audience when they saw me and Suzanne in bed.
When you're going for a joke, you're stuck out there if it doesn't work. There's nowhere to go. You've done the drum role and the cymbal clash and you're out on the end of the plank.
More and more, as I get older, people come up to me and say, 'Thank you for all the laughter.' And my standard answer is, 'It was my pleasure.' But that's the truth.