George Robert "Bob" Newhart was an American actor, voice actor, and stand-up comedian, noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering speech delivery. He is probably best known for starring in his self-titled NBC variety show The Bob Newhart Show. He also voiced Leonard the polar bear in 1998's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie and portrayed Papa Elf in Jon Favreau's 2003 Christmas comedy film Elf (in which he also served as the narrator).
For Disney, he voiced Bernard in The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under.
Newhart was born in 1929 at West Suburban Hospital in Oak Park, Illinois. His parents were Julia Pauline (née Burns; 1901–1994), a housewife, and George David Newhart (1899–1987), a part-owner of a plumbing and heating supply business. His mother was of Irish descent, whilst his father was of mixed German and Irish descent. He had three sisters. The family name, Newhart, is of German origins (Neuhart). One of his grandmothers was from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Newhart was educated at Roman Catholic schools in the Chicago area, including St. Catherine of Siena Grammar School in Oak Park, and attended St. Ignatius College Prep (high school), graduating in 1947. He then enrolled at Loyola University Chicago from which he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor's degree in business management. Newhart was drafted into the United States Army and served in the United States during the Korean War as a personnel manager until being discharged in 1954. He briefly attended Loyola University Chicago School of Law, but did not complete a degree, in part, he says, because he was asked to behave unethically during an internship.
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- In 1992, Newhart hosted Holiday Greetings from The Ed Sullivan Show, a Christmas special that featured guest appearances by Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and several other Muppets. Newhart tells Miss Piggy that he admires her karate chops, and Piggy offers a demonstration, using Kermit as a target. Kermit ducks for the final exercise, however, and Piggy hits Newhart instead.
- He was considered to voice Roquefort in The Aristocats.
