Chicago honors Bob Newhart with street renaming on his birthday

CHICAGO – If you’re of a certain age, you know who lived in one particular Edgewater condo building – at least on TV in the 1970s.

On Friday, the family of the late comedian Bob Newhart came to visit for a very special ceremony. A one block stretch of Sheridan Road just south of Thorndale is now known as Bob Newhart Way.

What we know:

Three of Newhart’s four children were on hand for the renaming ceremony in the shadow of the Thorndale Beach North condo building. That’s the building that was home to Newhart’s psychiatrist character in his iconic 1970s sitcom “The Bob Newhart Show” set in Chicago.

“It’s very emotional,” said his daughter Jennifer Newhart. “I looked at the building. I wasn’t anticipating quite the reaction that I had. Holding back the tears.”

Newhart insisted that Chicago be the setting for the show because it was also his hometown.

“The Bob Newhart Show” was the first network sitcom set in Chicago, showing it off to tens of millions of people every week.

Newhart was born and raised in the Austin neighborhood, graduated from Saint Ignatius High School and Loyola University, and was working in the city as an accountant in the late 1950s when he found fame as a stand-up comic.

Even though he lived in Los Angeles for most of his life, Newhart’s children say his heart was always in Chicago.

“His hero wasn’t any movie star or TV star,” said Tim Newhart. “It was Ernie Banks. And Jack Brickhouse and things like that. He lived in L.A. for 65 years. But he was always Chicago.”

Courtney Newhart-Albertini, Newhart’s daughter, said her father frequently took trips back to his hometown.

“I think he always had a soft spot whenever he came back here. I don’t think if it wasn’t for the television shows he never would have left.”

Newhart died in 2024, and Friday’s ceremony took place on what would have been Newhart’s 96th birthday.

“Today, we mark this corner in Edgewater not just with a sign, but a reminder that Bob Newhart was ours,” said Dave Plier, president of the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. “He was Chicago. And though the world called him a legend, he always called the city home.”

Jim Strong first met Newhart at a party in Chicago in 1959. He said his longtime friend helped project a positive image of Chicago for decades.

“It’s wonderful,” said Strong. “Especially these times when we’re being criticized, being called a terrible city, crime-infested. If they ever watched ‘The Bob Newhart Show,’ they’d have a heck of a different opinion of this city.”

It’s not the only tribute to Newhart in Chicago. A sculpture showing Newhart sitting on his TV show psychiatrist’s couch is a popular tourist attraction at the east end of Navy Pier.