Better late than never!
Fifty-one years after receiving his first Emmy nomination, comedy icon Bob Newhart finally took home one of the gold statues during this weekend’s Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony.
Newhart won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, honouring his guest spot in the past season of The Big Bang Theory, in which he played Professor Proton, former host of a TV science program that inspired Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki) to become scientists.
Although the televised main ceremony doesn’t take place until Sunday, Sept. 22, this weekend’s non-televised ceremony honoured TV’s behind-the-scenes contributions, as well as guest actors on series, in advance of the main ceremony.
Newhart, who has received seven nominations (his first in 1962) but never before won, was greeted with a standing ovation from the crowd in L.A.’s Nokia Theatre when he went onstage to accept his Emmy, and he admitted to ET Canada that this was an emotional win.
“Seven tries,”; Newhart said. “This was the seventh time I was nominated. I’ll tell you what…first of all, my wife being there. Being married 50 years. And the standing ovation. That really threw me. I wasn’t prepared for that…so it was emotional.”;
In addition, Newhart revealed this may not be the last we see of Professor Proton, and he said he’s in discussions with The Big Bang Theory about reprising the role “in October…and then possibly another one after that.”;
Although Newhart admitted he’s not seeking a full-time gig on a TV series, he enjoyed working on The Big Bang Theory so much that he’d love to continue as a guest star. “I mean, I’m not looking to go back on television on a regular series,”; he said. “That’s for younger people than me, but however many [appearances] they want. They couldn’t have been nicer. [Big Bang Theory studio] Warner Brothers, [executive producer] Chuck [Lorre]…they’ve made me feel really at home.”;
Newhart received his first Emmy nomination in 1962 in the writing category for his variety show, The Bob Newhart Show. He subsequently received nominations for his CBS sitcom Newhart, a guest-starring role on ER and for best supporting actor in the TV movie The Librarian: The Curse of the Judas Chalice.