Perspectives; Bob Newhart

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George Robert Newhart (born September 5, 1929) is an American stand-up comedian and actor noted for his deadpan and slightly stuttering delivery. Newhart came to prominence in 1960 when his album of comedic monologues, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart , became a 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 success, and the two albums held the Billboard number one and number two spots simultaneously. Newhart later went into acting, starring as Chicago psychologist Robert Hartley in The Bob Newhart Show during the 1970s and then as Vermont innkeeper Dick Loudon on the 1980s series Newhart . He also had two short-lived sitcoms in the 1990s, Bob and George and Leo . Newhart had film roles such as Major Major in Catch-22 and Papa Elf in Elf . He provided the voice of Bernard in the Disney animated films The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under . In 2004, he played the library head Judson in The Librarian , a character that continued in 2014 on the TV series The Librarians . In 2013, Newhart made his first of six guest appearances on The Big Bang Theory as Professor Proton, for which he received his first Primetime Emmy Award on September 15, 2013.
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"Don Rickles and I are best friends. I know that might seem strange to those who know Don only by reputation, but somebody has to be his friend. Just to make sure I don’t forget, Don gave me a doormat that sits just outside the front door of my house. It reads: ‘ The Newharts: The Rickles’s Best Friends. ’"

"The greatest comedian I’ve ever seen is Jack Benny. He wasn’t afraid of the silences."

"I’ve been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I’m just another slightly amusing accountant."

"With the advent of cell phones, especially with the very small microphone that attach to the cell phone itself, it’s getting harder and harder I find, to differentiate between schizophrenics and people talking on a cell phone."

"I don’t like country music, but I don’t mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means ‘put down’."

“I don’t know how doctors pick one specialty over another. Some you can understand. Pediatricians. Or gynecologists delivering babies, bringing a new life into the world, but how does someone want to be a proctologist? How can you fall in love with proctology?”

"No matter what hyenas sound like, they are not actually laughing."
 
My parents had his first album and I listened to it so much I almost had it memorized. My favorite skit is the complainer in the army. His telephone monologues were hysterical.

He did deadpan humor better than anyone then or now!
 
So many times on CAF, especially in some of the more “repetitive sinning” threads, I want so much to post this clip. But I know someone would be offended.

 
“The greatest comedian I’ve ever seen is Jack Benny. He wasn’t afraid of the silences.”
This is so very apt.
If you’re an actor, comedy can be incredibly difficult, because your character doesnt know how funny he is or the situation is. It’s serious to the character.

And for a live performer, audience reaction is their bread and butter. In fact, the reason TV started having live studio audiences was that the old stage actors relied on reactions to get a feel for the rhythm and flow of their routine.

At the same time, it’s not at all unusual for a line that gets lots of laughs during rehearsal to fall utterly flat before a live audience, but a line that was only mediocre to the cast and crew is screamingly funny to the audience.
 
I’ve never cared for his humor. I really don’t think he’s funny.
 
If we were to meet in person, you wouldn’t think I was very funny either. But we could still be friends. 🙂
 
I think my favorite was the call where the night watchman for the Empire State Building calls his boss when King Kong climbs it.

I also loved his two big TV series, The Bob Newhart show and Newhart.
 
I like both of those shows, but Newhart did have so great characters. “ This is my brother Daryl, and my other brother Daryl.” 😊
 
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