US actor and comedian Bob Newhart dies aged 94 'after a series of short illnesses'

Bob Newhart Bob poses at the 2013 Emmy Awards Credit: AP

American comedian and actor Bob Newhart has died at the age of 94 “after a series of short illnesses," his publicist announced.

The accountant-turned entertainer “died at home in Los Angeles” a year after his wife of 60 years Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart, who died in April 2023.

He played Papa Elf in the 2003 Christmas movie Elf, starring Will Ferrell, and Lou Sherman in the 2011 comedy Horrible Bosses.

In 2013, he won an Emmy for his role in the sitcom as Arthur Jeffries/Professor Proton.

Comedian Bob Newhart and his wife Ginny Credit: AP

He was also known for The Bob Newhart Show and had a recurring guest role on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.

In the 1960s, Bob Newhart's comedy album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart became the first comedy record to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, beating Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, and Nat King Cole.

It topped Billboard's album chart for 14 weeks and was one of the year's best-sellers.

Newhart was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1993 and had his work added to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. In 2002, he won the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

He is survived by four children, Jennifer, Courtney, Timothy and Robert, and numerous grandchildren, according to his publicist.

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