New York, United States | AFP | Thursday 07/18/2024 – Comedian Bob Newhart, who made his mark on American television in the 1960s and 1970s and recently played the character of Professor Proton in the series “The Big Bang Theory”, has died at the age of 94, his agent announced Thursday.
Bob Newhart died at his Los Angeles home following a series of health problems, his agent, Jerry Digney, said in a statement.
Originally an accountant, he broke into comedy in 1960 by recording an album of monologues, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart”, which earned him first place in the record sales charts at the time and, an unprecedented feat for a stage comedian, the most prestigious awards in the music industry, with the Grammy Awards for best album and newcomer of the year.
In the process, he launched the show “The Bob Newhart Show” on NBC, then an eponymous series in the 1970s where he played a psychologist from Chicago. His character established him as a legendary icon of American television, which also opened the doors to cinema, with roles in “In and Out” (1997) or “Elf” (2003).
In the 2010s, he made several appearances as Professor Proton in “Big Bang Theory”, a series regarding physicists that became one of the most watched in the world.
