FILE - Bob Newhart poses for a photo in Beverly Hills, Calif., on July 13, 2005. Newhart, the deadpan master of sitcoms and telephone monologues, died in Los Angeles on Thursday, July 18, 2024. He was 94. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Newhart has died at age 94. Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses. The accountant-turned-comedian gained fame with a smash album and became one of the most popular TV stars of his time. Newhart was a Chicago psychologist in “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s and a Vermont innkeeper on “Newhart” in the 1980s. Both shows featured a low-key Newhart surrounded by eccentric characters. The second had a twist ending in its final show — the whole series was revealed to have been a dream by the psychologist he played in the other show.