New book explores the life and career of Bob Newhart

And in different generations know comedian Bob Newhart in very different ways. Younger fans recognize him, of course, as the elf who raises Will Ferrell's buddy in the Christmas classic. Oh, yes. And older generations, of course, remember him from his TV shows, Newhart and the Bob Newhart Show. And still others remember him from his days in stand-up. Buddy, you're not an elf. I am really not mad. Buddy, wake up. You won't believe the dream I just had. What is it? I don't know. I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. Bob Newhart was a trailblazer in comedy and now, believe it or not, the first ever biography about him has just been released in Michael Starr's new book, Bob Newhart, The Life and Laughter of an American Treasure. He chronicles everything from the comedian's award-winning career to his 60 years of marriage. Michael's here with us now. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Good. Michael, you covered television at the New York Post for about 30 years. That's how I first got to know you. And you said this is the first Bob Newhart biography. So my first question to you is what took so long? And why did you decide to take up the mantle here? Well, Bob had always been on my list of people to write about. There was one other book that came out when it was in the early to mid 80s, and it didn't really cover his entire career because he did so much after that. Mm-hmm. So I wanted to sum up, he passed away two years ago. The clips you showed, I mean, summed up how he was appealing to so many different generations of people, to people who are older, younger. And I think he really deserves, he's at the, to me anyway, on the Mount Rushmore of comedians and TV stars. And I really wanted to give people a glimpse into what What made him tick and recount. All the great appearances and his TV shows and just how terrific a performer he was and how he appealed to so many different types of people and different types of comedy, if you will. And I really think hopefully this book will give people an insight into what made Bob Newhart and the kind of career he had from a person who started out wanting to be an accountant, of all things. And through a series of events, ended up in comedy, and we're all thankful for that because he gave the world so much. Well, you said it. Different generations know him for different reasons, and he just resonated for so many people. What do you think was the special sauce there? What made his comedy so timeless? I think Bob really resonated with, he was the everyman who was sort of reacting to the craziness that was going on around him. And I think people could relate to that. We've all been in situations where we take a step back and say, whoa, what's going on? Bob handled that in a very comedic way. He was very deadpan as he had a stammering delivery, which he was saying like, I can't believe what's going on. But his reactions were so humorous and on point that I think people really look to him as a sort of a mirror of themselves if they were put in those situations. Almost like a Seinfeld thing, right? Like a Larry David. Yeah, it's kind of like- Maybe a little bit less quirky and neurotic but- Like, what's going on here? Yeah, right, relate- I think that's- I think that's a terrific comparison. And like Seinfeld, Bob surrounded himself, especially in his two hit TV shows, the Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. He surrounded himself with a cast of zany characters, and he was confident enough in his ability to sort of step back at times and let his supporting cast take over. They had great chemistry, and Bob would just react. To the zaniness that was going on around him, and people really liked that. Yeah, he was married to his wife, Ginny, for 60 years, which in Hollywood is unfathomable. How important was she to his career? Jenny was very important to Bob's career and his life. She was his sounding board. She was his support. She traveled with him frequently when he was on the road doing his live act. And actually one interesting facet of their marriage was that Jenny was the one who proposed that unbelievable series finale of Newhart, which you showed in your clips before. When Dick Loudon in Newhart wakes up and finds out that it was all a dream, And he's really back to being Bob Hartley from the Bob Newhart Show with Suzanne Plachette as his wife, Emily. That was Jenny's idea, and Bob loved it, the producers loved it, the writers loved it, and they worked it in to that finale of Newhart, which is considered probably the greatest, if not one of the greatest, finales in series history. When you think about all the comedians through history, and you think of just how these wild stories of how they live their lives, and sometimes tragically and things and things like that. Here's someone who was in the spotlight for decades, and you never heard of a scandal- You really didn't. With Bob Newhart. Bob was scandal free. He lived a very, quote unquote, clean life. What you saw on screen was sort of what you got off screen. I had the chance to interview Bob many times, and he was a really approachable, nice guy. And he had a very happy marriage, which helped. He raised four good kids. He wasn't one who needed to be in the spotlight and be seen at parties. He lived in Hollywood, but he was very grounded. And I think a lot of that had to do with his Midwestern roots. He was born and raised outside of Chicago. And I think his values growing up lent themselves to, he adapted very well when he Hit the big time in show business, and he remained grounded throughout his entire life and his career. Yeah, never forgot who he was. Okay, so what in your estimation would be the biggest surprise about Bob Newhart that even his devoted fans would be surprised to hear? I think it was the fact that Bob, you know, we talk about overnight sensations. Bob was literally an overnight sensation. He was in 1959, excuse me, he was working as an accountant, you know, a couple of dead-end accounting jobs. He was not a very good accountant, which he discovered himself. And he segued into doing comedy bits with a partner over the telephone. And those comedy bits morphed into his first comedy album for Warner Brothers Records. And within the span He had sold over a million comedy albums and was hosting his own network sketch comedy show, which was called The Bob Newhart Show, not the one everybody remembers. This one was on NBC. But within a year and a half, he was a household name. He had gone from sort of a nameless accountant in Chicago to the guy everybody was imitating in the comedy world, especially when they were recording comedy albums. That's just remarkable. Last question, because I know we're running out of time. Who was that one person to tell him, hey, you should really explore comedy? I think it was Bob. Bob had a lot of confidence in his ability, and I should mention that. He was very understated, and he was very ambitious. Even when he was working as an accountant, he thought, he knew in his bones that he was He was funny, and he knew that his approach to comedy. This every man approach would work with, would resonate with a large audience. Interesting. And so that's what fed into his life and his career and his success. Well, we're all glad. Yeah, we're all glad he followed his gut, right? Yeah. And that came out in his comedy that he wasn't arrogant and he was a humble guy and it really played off in the way he, his persona as a comedian as well. Just great to hear all of these stories and of course you can hear more. Bob Newhart, the life and laughter of an American treasure, is out. It's out now where books are sold. Michael Starr, thank you so much. Michael, thank you. Thank you, take care.