{"id":33813,"date":"2024-07-29T14:52:09","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T20:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/?p=33813"},"modified":"2024-07-29T14:52:09","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T20:52:09","slug":"remembering-bob-newhart-and-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/remembering-bob-newhart-and-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Bob Newhart and Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

To modern audiences Bob Newhart was Papa Elf<\/a>. He passed away recently at the age of 94.<\/p>\n

But for anyone who has followed comedy Bob Newhart has been a steady name for more than 60 years.<\/p>\n

In 1959 Newhart was just 30 years old, working as an accountant in his native Chicago. He gave himself a year to make it in comedy and if it didn\u2019t work out it would be back to bean counting.<\/p>\n

Newhart\u2019s accountant imagery was just the kind of thing that made his comedy work.<\/p>\n

He was a regular guy, prematurely balding and he stammered. His comedy wasn\u2019t of the radio<\/a> satire variety so popular in the late 1950s. It was observational, ironic, and timed to perfection.<\/p>\n

Frankly, America had never seen a comedian like him.<\/p>\n

His debut album won a Grammy and overnight it seemed Bob Newhart was on his way.<\/p>\n

Newhart worked the comedy circuit and launched best-selling albums in the sixties before moving on to hit television series in the 1970s and 1980s.
\nFor Christmas<\/a> fans, Bob Newhart provided regular glimpses into the modern Christmas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a good example of Newhart\u2019s comedic delivery as a Christmas<\/a> shopper trying to return a toupee in a sketch on Dean Martin\u2019s 1968 Christmas<\/a> television special:<\/p>\n