Bob Newhart’s wife Ginnie Newhart has died at 82: Was wed to comedy icon for 60 years
Bob Newhart’s wife Ginnie Newhart has died aged 82: was married to comedy icon for 60 years
Ginnie Newhart, the longtime wife of comedian Bob Newhart, died on Sunday at the age of 82, just three months after the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
“We lost our beloved Ginnie Quinn Newhart – wife, mother and grandmother on April 23, 2023 after a long battle with illness,” read a statement on behalf of the family on Newhart’s Twitter page. “She was our rock and we miss her terribly.”
Family publicist Jerry Digney confirmed Ginnie’s death in a statement to People Monday.
Bob told the outlet in 2019 how he got patched up with his longtime love by the late actor Buddy Hackett, who was a friend of both.
“Buddy said, ‘I got you a girl,'” Bob said. “She’s dating another guy, but I don’t think he’s right for her, so I’m going to set you up on a blind date. You’ll meet her and you’ll date and you’ll get married. Then you’ll have kids and name one of the Buddy kids.” What we did.’
The latest: Ginnie Newhart, the longtime wife of comedian Bob Newhart, passed away on Sunday at the age of 82, just three months after the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. The longtime couple snapped in LA in March 2014
The family confirmed the death of the matriarch in a statement posted on social media on Monday
The couple ended up exchanging vows the following year and would go on to have four children.
Bob, talking to Procession last year, said keeping things light and funny had been a driving factor in their six-decade union.
“Comedian marriages, however stormy, seem to last a long time, and I blame it on the laughter,” Bob told the publication. No matter how intense the fight you have, you can find a line, and then you two look at each other and start laughing. It’s over, you know?
“I think a sense of humor is very important to the longevity of a marriage.”
Ginnie expressed the same idea when speaking to PBS in 2005 about why marriage between funny people has its benefits.
“Comedians are just fun to hang out with,” Ginnie said. “They seem to have longevity in their marriage.”
bob chat with CBS Sunday morning in 2020 about how supportive of a husband Ginnie had been throughout his show business career.
“She’d be in the locker room,” he said. “She’d say, ‘There’s something wrong with the sound system. I couldn’t hear anything.’ I said, “Honey, there was nothing wrong with the sound system. They weren’t laughing!”‘
The pair were spotted at the 1983 Golden Globes in LA at the Beverly Hilton Hotel
The couple was seen in Las Vegas in May 2013 with the late Don Rickles and his late wife Barbara