American comedian Bob Newhart dead at 94, publicist says

American stand-up comedy legend Bob Newhart, whose deadpan delivery style earned him numerous awards, has died at the age of 94.

The star of TV series The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart passed away after a series of short illnesses, his publicist said in a statement provided to the BBC on Thursday.

Newhart became a stand-up comic after starting his career as an accountant in Chicago. He went on to guest-host Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show 87 times.

More recently, he starred in classic Christmas film Elf and The Big Bang Theory.

The son of a plumber in a suburb of Chicago, Newhart graduated with a business degree from Loyola University in 1952.

He served in the Army for two years during the Korean War then enrolled in a graduate law school before dropping out.

He and a friend began recording improvised comedy routines shortly after. In 1959, he was discovered by a local DJ who recommended him to the newly formed Warner Bros Records.

His live recording from a Houston comedy club, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, went on to become the first comedy album to top the charts.

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