BOB Newhart went from working in accounting and advertising to winning Grammy and Emmy Awards seemingly overnight.
After the comedy legend died on July 18, 2024, both longtime and new fans were interested to learn more about Newhart’s personal life, including his relationship with his wife, Ginnie.
Who was Bob Newhart’s wife, Ginnie?
Virginia Lillian “Ginnie” Quinn was born on December 9, 1940.
She was the daughter of Mary Catherine Roden and William “Bill” Tyrell Quinn.
Before his death, Bill was a well-known character actor who appeared in over 150 movies and TV shows in his career, which spanned over seven decades.
In 1962, Ginnie and Newhart were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend, comedian and actor Buddy Hackett.
“Well, we’re both Catholic. She’s three quarters Irish. I’m three quarters Irish,” Newhart told People during an October 2019 interview.
“Buddy said, ‘I’ve got a girl for you. She’s going with another guy, but I don’t think he’s right for her, so I’m going to fix you up on a blind date.'”
“He said, ‘You’ll meet her and you’ll date and you’ll get married. Then you’ll have kids and you’ll call one of the kids Buddy,'” he added.
“Which we did — one of our daughters, we called her Buddy,” Newhart joked.
The couple married in 1963, and were together for sixty years, until Ginnie’s death.
She often collaborated with her husband behind the scenes, and was his biggest supporter.
“She’d be in the dressing room,” Newhart recalled, adding: “She’d say, ‘Something’s wrong with the sound system. I couldn’t hear anything,’.
“I said, ‘Honey, nothing was wrong with the sound system. They didn’t laugh!’”
She is also credited with coming up “with the innovative idea for how to conclude his Vermont-based sitcom by combining it with his earlier Chicago-based show,” as reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Newhart actress Julia Duffy called her “funny” and “candid,” adding that she had a “huge heart.”
“[Ginnie] gave me the best advice in everything from decorating to childbirth and children and yes, husbands,” Duffy wrote.
On April 23, 2023, Ginnie died at the couple’s Century City home after a long illness, leaving behind her husband, children, grandchildren, and countless fans and friends.
Who was Bob Newhart?
Bob Newhart was a comedian and actor, best known for his deadpan and stammering delivery style.
Newhart was born on September 5, 1929, in Oak Park, Illinois.
After graduating from Loyola University Chicago in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in business management, he was drafted into the US Army.
Newhart served in the US during the Korean War as a personnel manager.
After being discharged in 1954, he attended the Loyola University Chicago School of Law but reportedly failed to get his law degree after a law internship asked him to behave unethically.
Before beginning his comedy career, Newhart worked for United States Gypsum as an accountant, and later as an advertising copywriter for Fred A. Niles.
In the early 1960s, his comedy career catapulted him to stardom, beginning with his 1960 comedy album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, winning two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
He later appeared and starred in several successful sitcoms and variety shows, including:
- The Ed Sullivan Show
- The Bob Newhart Show (variety series)
- The Bob Newhart Show (sitcom)
- Newhart
- Bob
Younger viewers may remember him best as Morty Flickman from Desperate Housewives, or for his portrayal of Professor Proton on The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon.
He is also best known for his roles as Sid Post in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, and Papa Elf in the 2004 holiday comedy, Elf.
One of his last major roles was in a 2023 short documentary film titled Bob & Don: A Love Story.
Directed by Judd Apatow, the documentary short featured interviews and home movies of Newhart and one of his closest friends, the late stand-up comedian and actor, Don Rickles, along with the duo’s respective families.
Bob Newhart died on July 18, 2024, in Los Angeles, California.
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Did Bob and Ginnie Newhart have children?
Bob and Virginia “Ginnie” Newhart had four children throughout their decades-long marriage.
The couple’s first son, Robert, was born in 1963, while their second child, another son, Timothy, followed in 1966.
Newhart and his wife Ginnie also had two daughters, Jennifer, born in 1970, and Courtney, born in 1977.
The couple, both raised in the Roman Catholic faith, brought up their four children in the same faith.
Despite none of Newhart’s children following in his footsteps, they did dabble their toes in the entertainment industry.
Robert, his eldest son, has an acting credit for Heart and Souls in 1993, while Timothy worked as a crew member on several TV shows, including Get a Life, Newhart, and Ferris Bueller.
Courtney also appeared in Newhart in 1986, and later served as a production assistant on George & Leo, one of her father’s shows, in 1997.
Before their respective deaths – Ginnie on April 23, 2023, and Newhart on July 18, 2024 – they were also grandparents, leaving behind ten grandchildren.
When asked whether he had learned any “life lessons” on the eve of his 90th birthday, Newhart gave a heartwarming answer.
“It’s probably trite, but it’s also true: When all is said and done, and all the accolades and honors you receive, it’s all about friends and family,” he said, as reported by Closer.