Bob Newhart’s Wife Of 60 Years Ginnie Newhart Passes Away At 82

Ginnie Newhart, who was married to the comedic legend Bob Newhart for 60 years, died on Sunday “after a long illness.” She was 82 years-old.

Ginnie Newhart Passes Away

Ginnie’s death was confirmed to the media by the publicist Jerry Digney.

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

The Newhart family issued a statement addressing Ginnie’s death on Bob’s Twitter page.

“We lost our beloved Ginnie Quinn Newhart – Wife, Mother and Grandmother on April 23rd, 2023 after a long battle with illness,” the statement read. “She was our rock and we miss her terribly.”

Bob, 93, and Ginnie had just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary back in January.

“Sixty years ago today, after being set up on a blind date by Buddy Hackett, Bob Newhart married Virginia Quinn on January 12, 1963,” a post on Bob’s Twitter page read at the time. “In honor of this amazing milestone, we wanted to share some of our favorite photos.”

Related: Bob Newhart Defiantly Refuses to Retire as He Turns 90

Bob Recalls Meeting Ginnie

Bob opened up about how he met Ginnie in a 2019 interview, revealing it was their mutual friend, the comedic actor Buddy Hackett, who set them up on a blind date.

“Buddy said, ‘I’ve got a girl for you,'” Bob recounted. “‘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. 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.’ Which we did.”

Bob and Ginnie hit it off right away and married the very next year, going on to welcome four children together. The couple have often credited the longevity of their marriage to laughter.

“The marriages of comedians, no matter how stormy, seem to last a long time, and I attribute it to laughter,” Bob told Parade last year. “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? I think that sense of humor is very important to the longevity of a marriage.”

Ginnie made similar comments in a 2005 interview.

“Comedians are just fun to be with,” she said at the time. “They seem to have longevity in their marriages.”

In 2020, Bob praised Ginnie for always being there for him through the good times and the bad.

“She’d be in the dressing room. She’d say, ‘Something’s wrong with the sound system. I couldn’t hear anything,'” he recalled. “I said, ‘Honey, nothing was wrong with the sound system. They didn’t laugh!'”

Related: Bob Newhart Reminds Ben Stiller He’s Still Alive During Emmy Awards

Ginnie Came Up With ‘Newhart’ Finale

That same year, Bob credited Ginnie with coming up with the iconic finale of his show “Newhart” in 1990 in which his character Dick wakes up as Bob Hartley, his character from “The Bob Newhart Show,” who suggests the second CBS series was a dream.

“Ginny knew I was unhappy with CBS,” Bob told Yahoo Entertainment. “She told me, ‘You know what the final show should be? You wake up in bed with Suzie and you describe this dream you had about owning an inn in Vermont.’ I said, ‘Honey, that’s a great idea!'”

She was referring to Suzanne Pleshette, who played Newhart’s wife on “The Bob Newhart Show.”

“Suzanne was actually at the same party, and we told her about it when we saw her. She said, ‘I’ll be there in a New York minute,'” he added. “I gave the idea to the writers, and they filled out the rest.”

Bob and Ginnie seem to have had a truly beautiful marriage, so we cannot imagine the grief that he is feeling right now. Please join us in saying a prayer for Bob and the entire Newhart family during this extremely difficult time.