Ginnie Newhart, wife of iconic comedian Bob Newhart, dead at 82

LOS ANGELES — Ginnie Newhart, who was married to comedy legend Bob Newhart for 60 years, died Sunday. She was 82.

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Her death was confirmed by publicist Jerry Digney in a statement, People reported. She died in Los Angeles, Digney said.

“Ginnie Newhart, 82, beloved wife of 60 years to comedy legend Bob Newhart, passed away Sunday, April 23rd, after a long illness,” Digney said.

Bob Newhart also posted the news on his Twitter account. The couple celebrated their 60th anniversary three months ago, People reported.

“She was our rock and we will miss her terribly,” the 93-year-old comedian tweeted.

Bob Newhart, as comedian known as the “Button Down Mind,” starred as clinical psychologist Bob Hartley on “The Bob Newhart Show” from 1972 to 1978 opposite Suzanne Pleshette, who played his wife. He later played Dick Loudon, a Vermont innkeeper, on “Newhart” from 1982 to 1990,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mary Frann played his wife on “Newhart.”

Ginnie Newhart is credited with providing the idea for the “Newhart” finale that included a callback to the original television series, according to The Associated Press.

The series ends with Dick Loudon waking up in Chicago next to Pleshette, revealing the second series was only a dream.

The idea for the ending came to Ginnie Newhart during a Christmas party that Pleshette was also attending, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Newhart” actress Julia Duffy tweeted that Ginnie Newhart “gave me the best advice in everything from decorating to childbirth and children and yes, husbands. I loved her.”

The Newharts met on a blind date set up by comedian Buddy Hackett, Digney told the AP.

“Buddy came back one day and said in his own inimitable way, ‘I met this young guy and his name is Bobby Newhart, and he’s a comic and he’s Catholic and you’re Catholic and I think maybe you should marry each other,’ " Ginnie Newhart said in a 2013 interview.

They married on Jan. 12, 1963, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Virginia Lillian Quinn was born in New York on Dec. 9, 1940, according to the entertainment news website.

Her father, Bill Quinn, was a character actor who played Mary Richards’ father on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” the blind bar patron on “Archie Bunker’s Place” and the father of Leonard “Bones” McCoy in the 1989 movie, “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. He also had roles in “The Birds” and had more than 230 television and film credits, according to the AP.

The Newharts were close friends with comedian Don Rickles and his wife, Barbara, the news organization reported.

Bob Newhart revealed his secret to a long marriage in a 2022 interview with Parade magazine.

“The marriages of comedians, no matter how stormy, seem to last a long time, and I attribute it to laughter,” Bob Newhart said. “No matter how intense the argument you’re having, you can find a line, and then you both look at each other and start laughing. It’s over, you know?”

In addition to her husband, Ginnie Newhart’s survivors include their children -- Robert Jr., Timothy, Courtney and Jennifer -- and 10 grandchildren, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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