Episode Details

Bob Newhart, known as the King of Deadpan, went from "failed accountant" (his own words) to an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning comedian and actor who worked steadily for six decades.The first full-length biography of the comedian, BOB NEWHART: The Life and Laughter of an American Treasure (Oct. 29, 2026) looks at how the balding, unremarkable-looking man with the periodic put-on stutter belied a brilliant mind and golden straight-face delivery.In 1961, his album Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, recorded the year before at his debut stand-up gig in a small club in Houston, won two Grammy Awards, was a multimillion-copy bestseller, reached #1 on the Billboard charts, saved Warner Bros. Records from extinction, and introduced America to the self-effacing, mild-mannered everyman with a deadpan stammer. His ingenious sketches of his timeless one-sided telephone conversations vaulted Bob Newhart into the big time. He didn't rest on his laurels.Newhart would go on to star in Emmy and Peabody Award-winning NBC sketch comedy series, and appearances on The Dean Martin Show and The Tonight Show with both Jack Paar and Johnny Carson. He would land supporting roles in films like Hell Is for Heroes, Cold Turkey, Catch-22, and Elf opposite Will Ferrell.Newhart would cement his iconic status in 1972 with the long-running The Bob Newhart Show. He would strike back-to-back sitcom gold with Newhart in 1982, and his Emmy-winning turn in The Big Bang Theory would bookend a career that ran for more than six decades.

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