THEARTOF
NEWHART
Bob’s 1960
debutalbum
hi t No.1 on
thecharts
and beat
outFrank
Si natrafor
Recordof the
Yearat the
Grammys!
Bobfinallywonhis firstEmmyin
2013 forhis guestroleonTheBig
Bang Theory(withJimParsons).
From 1972–’78, Bob (with Suzanne
Pleshette) played Dr. Bob Hartley
on The Bob Newhart Show.
He co-starred with Peter Scolari,
Julia Duffy, Tom Poston and Mary
Frann on Newhart from 1982–’90.
shareit with.It would’vebeengreatif
GinnyandI could’vesharedthat,but
I couldn’taffordto getmarried.
Is it trueBuddyHackett
introducedyouto Ginnywhen
sh e washis kids’babysitter?
Yes.We hadbeenonThe David
SusskindShowtogetherin 1960,and
I talkedabouthavinga degreein
accounting.Buddysaidto me,“You
mean,you don’thaveto do comedy?”
And I said,“No,Buddy,Ihavetodo
this.”I ranintohimlater,andhe
said,“I’vegota niceCatholicgirlfor
you.”So he setus up on a blinddate,
and thenwe starteddating,andwe
endedup gettingmarriedin 1963.
Didyouknowprettyquicklythat
shewastheone?
Yeah,shewaseverything.We had
the samevalues,andwe enjoyed
beingwitheachother.Shehada
greatsenseof humor,so shehadall
the thingsI waslookingfor.
How haveyouandGinnystayed
happilymarriedfor56 years?
Shebringsme downto Earthif I
get toofullof myself.Severalyears
ago,Ginnyaskedme to takeout
the recyclables.I wasfeelingfull
ofmyself, so I said,“Doyou think
AngelinaJoliemakesBradPitttake
out therecyclables?”Andshesaid,
“If you wereBradPitt,I wouldn’task
youto takeouttherecyclables!”
Howhaveyoutwomaintained
that groundedperspective?
Shewasan extrain movies,so
weknowtheothersideofshow
business.We didn’tgo to all the
A-listparties.Thatisn’tthewaywe
wantedto live.It looksglamorous,
but whenyou’regoingto perform
and you haveto walkthroughthe
kitchenandsomebodysays,“Don’t
stepon thatlettuceoverthere,”it
bringsyou backdownto Earth.
What weresomehighlightsof
yourlifethatyousharedwithher?
Therewereso many.MeetingJack
LIF E LESSONS
Benny and George Burns and so
many giant stars who became
good friends. Ginny and I went to
London when I was invited by a
British college. It was Lord Louis
Mountbatten’s favorite charity, and
Prince Charles was there. Farrah
Fawcett and Cary Grant were also on
the plane on the way home.
Did you get to meet Cary?
Yes. When we were at Heathrow,
Ginny and I were in the lounge,
and Cary Grant was there. Ginny
said, “Oh, Bob, would you watch
the luggage? I want to run to the
gift shop and get some gifts for the
kids.” Cary said, “Go ahead, Ginny
— Bob and I will watch the luggage.”
I thought to myself, “Cary Grant just
called me Bob!” So of all the awards,
I guess the top one would be Cary
Grant calling me Bob.
Have any of your kids or
grandkids ever tried comedy?
My grandson, who’s 12, did stand-
up the other day. I asked him what it
was like. He said he told one joke and
it worked, then he told another that
didn’t work, but he went right ahead.
I said, “That’s the secret. You’ve got
to keep going and put one foot in
front of the other.”
Do you ever think of retiring?
I always say, “What are you going to
tell people: ‘I’m really tired of making
people laugh’?” It’s a wonderful thing
to be able to do. You go out and do a
good show, and you and the audience
are happy for an hour or so. People
forget their troubles, pick themselves
up and dust themselves off. How could
you hate that? I don’t think I’ll ever
stop performing. It’s in my blood.
What’s left on your bucket list?
It’s weird, but I don’t think I have
a bucket list. I’ve done just about
everything I’ve ever thought or even
didn’t think I would do. Making
people laugh is all I care about.
— Reporting by
Amanda Champagne-Meadows
22 September 2, 2019 CLOSER
