Fans flock to Bob’s live performances to hear such Newhart standards as The Driving Instructor, Sir Walter Raleigh, and The Submarine Commander. These timeless classics are enjoyed by young and old alike in sold-out concert halls across America.

And yet, Bob’s career began, in a quite unassuming fashion while working as an accountant in Chicago. Bob, being bored with his accounting work, would call Ed Gallagher, a friend from a suburban Chicago Stock Company and improvise comedy routines. It was suggested that they record and syndicate them. They did and were imminently unsuccessful. Ed, an advertising xecutive, was offered a job in New York and accepted it, leaving Bob with the difficult job of going it alone. He knocked around Chicago finding occasional work in voiceovers and commercials while still writing additional material. Through a friendship with disc jockey Dan Sorkin, Bob met with the head of Warner Brother’s Records, who upon hearing Bob’s material offered him a recording contract.

And so, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” came into being, which became the first comedy album to go to #1 on the charts. He was an immediate sell-out in nightclubs and theater stages all over America. Seven more albums followed, each extremely
successful multi-platinum projects. In fact, Bob’s cumulative recording career earned him three Grammys. As proof of this, his record for holding the number 1 & 2 Billboard chart positions was not broken until recently. It is still ranked as the 20th Best Selling album of all time, according to Billboard.

Bob has enjoyed tremendous success in television and films as well. He earned an Emmy and a Peabody Award for his work on the “Bob Newhart Variety Show” which was quickly followed by the phenomenal success of “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972 – 1978) and “Newhart” (1982 – 1990). He has appeared in over 14 feature films and has starred with the likes of Steve McQueen, Bobby Darin, Barbara Streisand, Kevin Kline, Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell and Tom Selleck. Most recently in 2004 Bob starred with Noah Wyle in the TNT original movie “The Librarian” and finished shooting its sequel, “The Librarian II” in South Africa in 2005. It is slotted for a 2006 release on TNT. Also in 2005, Bob began his recurring role in the primetime TV hit, “Desperate Housewives”. He was also honored with the distinction of being heralded as an “American Master” by the PBS documentary of the same name. And in 2006, Bob released his highly anticipated book through Hyperion Publishing entitled “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This”, which became a New York Times bestseller.

And yet, with his successful run in television and feature films, Bob has never strayed far from his first love of performing stand-up. He has consistently performed to sell-out crowds across the country and abroad. His infamous routines have stood the test of time and are still enjoyed by millions of Bob’s fans.