Bob Newhartis widely considered one of the funniest television actors of all time, and reflecting that, most of his best movies and TV shows are in the comedy genre. Newhart first started to see his star rise in the 1960s while working as a stand-up comic and recording a comedy album. It wouldn’t be long before television and movie roles followed.
Newhart is known for his deadpan delivery of some of the funniest lines, not breaking character even as others around him struggle to maintain a straight face. Though the wider audience might know him best for those comedic roles, he does have a few surprisingly dramatic parts that make it into his best movies and TV shows as well. ThoughNewhart passed away in 2024, his legacy in entertainment lives on.
It’s Newhart that really helps make the movie less scary for children.
When this movie was being made in the 1980s, it was rare for Disney to make sequels, especially to animated projects. While in the 2000s Disney began churning out direct-to-video sequels for their classics and today, sequels are fairly common, it was not an easy task to get a sequel greenlit before that. That’s whyThe Rescuers Down Underwas such a surprise for fans of the first animated movie - especially since the original was released in 1977.
The Rescuers Down Underfollows the same mice from the original movie on a new rescue mission. This time around, they head to Australia to save a boy from a poacher and end up on quite the adventure with a few new sidekicks along the way.
Newhart returns to voice the mouse Bernard here.While the movie is dark, that darkness is offset by Newhart’s signature dry wit, but also his ability to play up how much Bernard is in love with fellow mouse and rescuer Bianca.It’s Newhart that really helps make the movie less scary for children.
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One thing thatNCIShas done very well during its long tenure on the air is to employ some interesting guest stars. Because the show is essentially a crime procedural with new characters entering and exiting every week, there is not always a chance to get to know those characters. Sometimes,a little bit of stunt casting helps the audience to invest in them, and there have been quite a few well-known actors who have appeared in a single episode, like Newhart.
Newhart appears in the episode “Recruited” as the previous medical examiner for NCIS. He was the mentor to the medical examiner at the time, Dr. “Ducky” Mallard. His visit to the team is a surprise as he shows up just in time to help them investigate the death of a man who supposedly fell down a flight of stairs.
Not only does Newhart’s appearance help to flesh out Ducky’s background with the agency, but he also fits right in on the show.NCISinfuses humor into the show with jokes among the team to keep things light even when the cases are heavy. Newhart helps to do just that here.
LikeNCIS,The Big Bang Theoryhas had some impressive guest stars during its run. Many of them have been from genre television, like theStar Trekfranchise, in keeping with the show’s celebration of all things geeky or nerdy. Newhart’s role in the show is a little different than those though.
The series itself follows a group of friends and coworkers through milestone events in their lives. A sitcom that acts as a coming-of-age story while the characters are in their 30s, the main characters all make huge achievements in their careers and find lasting relationships during the show’s run. Newhart appears as someone from their childhood.
Sheldon (Jim Parsons) grew up watching a children’s science program featuring the characterProfessor Proton. The show, not unlikeBill Nye the Science Guy, taught children about simple science concepts in an entertaining way.Newhart is the actor/scientist who starred as Professor Proton inThe Big Bang Theory’s universe. He appears in several episodes, becoming a mentor of sorts for Sheldon. His appearances are always laced with humor and life lessons.
He was nominated for an Emmy for his guest appearances in the series three times, winning once.
Young Sheldonis the first spin-off series ofThe Big Bang Theory. The series also acts as a prequel, following Sheldon (Ian Armitage) during his youth in Texas and when he first attends college. The series allows the franchise to expand beyond Sheldon and his friend group to include the entire Cooper family.
Newhart only appears in a handful of episodes in the series. Technically, he is still playing Arthur Jeffries as he did in the flagship series. The difference here is that Sheldon has not met him yet and does not know him as the man playing the role. Instead, Sheldon sees him on television as Professor Proton.
Newhart’s role works as an in-universe Easter egg for fans of the original show, but it is also a fun way to showcase Newhart’s comedic timing for modern audiences as well.
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It’s a great cat-and-mouse game that Newhart does not get to play in his comedies.
Newhart only appears in one episode ofThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour.It’s a departure for him as the series is decidedly more dramatic than anything else he is usually in, and it’s a very early role in his acting career.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, curated by Hitchcock himself, is an anthology series. It lasted for three seasons, and each episode of the show tells a different “tale of suspense.” The series makes for a more condensed version of one of his movies, allowing audiences to get the thrill of watchinga Hitchcock storyat home instead of traveling to the theater.
Newhart appears in the episode “How to Get Rid of Your Wife”as Gerald Swinney, a husband who is so tired of his wife that he has decided to get rid of her by any means necessary. Complicating his many different plans is the fact that she is also ready to be rid of him. It’s a great cat-and-mouse game that Newhart does not get to play in his comedies.
Newhart really appeared to be up for anything in the role…
The Librariansstarted off as a series of made-for-TV movies starring Noah Wyle as a man who ends up the librarian in a library full of magical and mythical artifacts. Eventually, a TV series spun out of those movies. Newhart appears in both the movies and television series.
Newhart’s Judson is revealed to have been the very first Librarian. He is also the caretaker of the library and the mentor to Wyle’s character.Much of his role in the franchise is as a stereotypical mentor in that he calmly and warmly teaches the new Librarian how to handle the job. There is, of course, plenty of Newhart’s mischievousness in the role as he rattles off lines about using Excalibur to teach Flynn to sword fight.
Newhart really appeared to be up for anything in the role, playing a dead man, a spirit in a mirror, and having fun with his time as Judson, despite often simply being there to impart wisdom to another character.
The idea of a human raised by elves at the North Pole deciding to find his birth father might not initially sound like a winning formula for a holiday movie, but it is.Elfhas become a modern Christmas classic. It’s the kind of movie that people watch on repeat during the holiday season. The movie has also had a Broadway adaptation and inspired a stop-motion television special.
Will Ferrel plays the titular elf as he travels to New York and has a series of misadventures when finding his birth father. Their relationship does not start off great, and Buddy finds himself disheartened at points. Their family, however, gets to play a role in saving Christmas, and everything works out in the end.
Newhart is also Papa Elf, the older elf who adopts Buddy when the baby ends up at the North Pole.While Papa Elf is there in a supporting role rather than in the bulk of the film, it’s also Newhart’s character who dryly narrates the charming movie, revealing in the end that he penned a children’s book about Buddy’s experiences.His sweet and fatherly approach to the role, coupled with his dry tone, makes him a fantastic addition to the movie.
The Bob Newhart Showis one of the most popular comedy series of all time. It helped to introduce a much wider audience to Newhart when it aired in the same programming block asMASHandThe Carol Burnett Show.
The series follows the everyday life of psychologist Bob Hartley, his wife, and his employees. It allowed Newhart to play the straight man and his co-stars to be the louder and more comedic parts. It also employed some of the conventions still used in sitcoms today, like Newhart dreaming about things happening for most of the episode, only to wake at the end to show the audience it never happened.
While many might have expected, especially since Newhart is considered a legend today, that the beloved series also would have been loved by award shows, that’s not the case. It actually did not often get nominated for prestigious awards, but decades later has been honored in many “best of TV” lists.Newhart also reprised his role in an episode ofSaturday Night Livein 1995.
Considering that Bob Newhart’s career spanned decades on television and film, it might be hard to imagine that two of Newhart’s best movies involve him voicing the same cartoon mouse, but it’s true.The Rescuershelped Disney to craft a new kind of hero in their animated movies.Heroes did not have to be princes or adventurers but could be common mice who stood up to the scariest of villains. Newhart gives voice to that very mouse in Bernard for the first time in 1977.
The first movie is just as dark as the sequel would be. It focuses, like its sequel, on the kidnapping of a child. The child is only six and the plan is to force her into a cave to retrieve a lost diamond because she is small enough to fit. It’s a stark contrast to the Disney movies released right before it, which were more optimistic in tone. Bianca is the rescuer assigned to help the child, and she picks Bernard, who is working as a janitor, to help her.
Bernard is not a hero, but is afraid of flying and does not understand how a little mouse like him can save the day. That is part of the charm of the movie. The other is inthe voice performance as Newhart delivers his deadpan humor easily in a voiceover role and is able to make Bernard’s very tone quake with fear of planes, ladders, and everything in between when needed.The Rescuersis truly one of the best movies Newhart ever made.
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Newhartis the TV series that Bob Newhart was on the longest. It’s alsohis most critically acclaimed project and his most almost-awarded.Newhartis frequently named among the best television shows of all time in critical circles today, even though it aired its last episode more than 30 years ago.
The series follows the Loudons as they move from New York to Vermont and take over the running of a historic bed and breakfast. Their move is supposed to be a relaxing change of pace for them, but instead, they find their lives upended by the neighbors and guests that enter their lives. The eccentric characters that populate their lives is part of what makes the show so entertaining.
The series was nominated for 25 Emmys during its run but never won. It was also nominated for six Golden Globes but did not win.
Of course,this is also the show that is responsible for the TV fan’s fear that the final episode of a show will reveal that everything that came before it was all a dream. That’s exactly what happens when Newhart’s character wakes up in the series finale, revealing he is still playing Robert Hawley ofThe Bob Newhart Show.
