Latest / Arroe Collins Like It's Live / Actor Bob Newhart An American Treasure And Accountant From Michael Seth Starr

Transcript

Actor Bob Newhart An American Treasure And Accountant From Michael Seth Starr · Arroe Collins Like It's Live

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: There's a little party in the box that we've created
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: called Arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net, 21 different podcasts.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, not just one.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: This is a total network of every place that you
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: are or could be, from musicians to sports superstars, professional wrestlers,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: all the way up to what? Whatever you think that
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: you want to listen to today. It's all about just entertainment. Arrow.net, A-R-R-O-E.net.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Enjoy your exploration. Michael, I got to tell you something.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: You've written a book here about somebody that I feel
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: like is my best friend. And that's the one thing
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: that I've always loved about Bob Newhart is that he
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: made me feel like I was part of a family
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: and it included him.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that explains a lot about his appeal.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: He was the everyman. People could relate to him. He
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: was generally soft spoken and you felt like he could
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: be your pal if you ran into him in a
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: restaurant or wherever. And that explains a large part of
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: his success in show business. He was a nice guy.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: He didn't offend. And I think that really stood him
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: in good stead and really helped him. fashion quite a
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: remarkable career.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I was blessed to have a conversation with him back
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: in the middle of the COVID lockdown. And the way
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: that he spoke so peacefully with me, it just gave
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: me hope. And I could just feel his transformation in life, period.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, his inspiration in life. I mean,
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: there was so much going on, but he found his peace.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I felt the same way, Arrow. I had a
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: chance to speak to him many times when I was
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: for other books and for when I was working at
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: the New York Post for television stories. He was always
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: very nice. He was very, you felt like he was
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: actually listening to what you were saying. He gave very
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: thoughtful answers. And I think that that stood him as
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: far as when you were watching him in one of
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: his sitcoms, he was sort of that, he was that
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: same person. I mean, he was obviously very funny, but
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: he would listen to the person talking to him. He
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: would think about it for a second, deliver his line,
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: which were usually very funny, but had relevance and had
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: relevance to what the person speaking to him had said. So,
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: and that transferred over into real life. And he was
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: a very beloved show business figure, both on screen and
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: off screen for the people that his colleagues who worked
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: with him very closely.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Speaking of transforming, how were you able to take his cadence,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: his pace, and his view of the world and put
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: it in a book? Because, I mean, what you've done
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: here is it's like you've planted him inside your paragraphs.
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: You know, he made it easy because I used a
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: lot of quotes from Bob. It was the same. I
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: had written a book previously about Don Rickles and included
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: a lot of his quotes. act and a lot of
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: his lines so it really makes the page come alive
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: because you feel like he's talking to you or you
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: feel like when you read a quote from him in
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: your own mind you can picture him saying it and
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: I really think that helps people relate to Bob not
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: only as a fictional character in his sitcoms but in
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: real life because he really was almost the same person
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: I mean obviously he wasn't The sitcom sort of magnified
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: his quirkiness. But in real life, he was just a
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: very nice man. And when you read the lines or
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: his quotes from him, very thoughtful also. And that translated
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: into both parts of his career and his life.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: Do you think his one-on-oneness with his viewers as well
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: as listeners came from that 1961 album in the way
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: that he understood there was somebody on the other end
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: of that microphone and that somebody was us. It was
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: us he was talking with.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's a terrific point, Arrow. I mean, he was
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: talking to us and ironically enough, when he cut that
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: first comedy album, which was called The Button Down Mind
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: of Bob Newhart, featured Bob you know, as a Madison
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: Avenue salesman talking to Abe Lincoln about the Gettysburg Address or,
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: you know, the captain of a submarine talking to his crew,
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: we had to imagine the other end of the conversation.
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: And Bob had to make us or hope that we
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: imagine the other end. So he was very well trained
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: and well versed in the art of physically speaking to
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: somebody and listening. And I think that that was evident
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: in his sitcom career and his live performances and in
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: the comedy albums that he wrote and produced and was
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: featured on.
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: Well, I had program directors that had me listen to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: his work and they would always tell me, go listen
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: to it and figure out Theater of the Mind. When
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: you figure out Theater of the Mind, then you will
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: understand Bob Newhart and then you will have a connection
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: to your listeners.
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's almost like listening to a radio show or
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: a radio play or something dramatic where you have to
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: fill in the blanks with your own mind. Painting the
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: word picture, as an announcer here in New York used
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: to say. And Bob did a very good job painting
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: that word picture on his comedy albums. And then when
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: he became successful and segued into a sitcom career, we
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: could see that. So we didn't have to rely as
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: much on the word picture, but we had to know
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: that he was reacting and that was part of his
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: comic persona. In the old days where we had to
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: sort of imagine it on his record albums, now we
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: could see it. And it was a bonus. It was
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: a great payoff to his recording career, seeing him live
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: or taped on a sitcom. where he could react to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: people physically and verbally and emotionally. We can see it
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: with our own eyes as to sort of only having
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: to picture it in the audio sense.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: We're talking Bob Newhart. We're going to be right back
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: with Michael Seth Starr. The name of the book, Bob Newhart,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: The Life and Laughter of an American Treasurer. We are
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: back with Michael Seth Star talking about Bob Newhart. Speaking
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: of verbally, I love the idea that you were so
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: transparent with us when it came to filming or using videotape.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: I mean, I love that he had the chutzpah to say,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: we're going to do it my way here when it
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: comes to preserving this show.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, Bob, he was nice about it, but
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: he was firm about it. He knew what worked for him,
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: and he knew... especially after the Bob Newhart show that
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: aired on CBS in the 70s, which was a resounding success.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: He knew that going into his next sitcom starring vehicle,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: that he had to incorporate a lot of the elements
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: that had worked so successfully with him on the Bob
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: Newhart show. Yes, he was the star of the show,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: but he had an ego that allowed him to surround
• 7:32
  Speaker 2: himself with a stellar supporting cast, giving them a lot
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: of the funny lines and reacting to those funny lines
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: in his own way. So I think he had the
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: confidence of that, and he did get his point across.
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: We knew he was the star, but it wasn't in
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: that overbearing way of, hey, look at me, or even
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes, he was never nasty about it. He
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: was He was outspoken about what he wanted, and he
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: expected people to adhere to that, but he did it
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: in a very nice, gentlemanly sort of way that I
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: think people reacted very, very nicely to that.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: He was such the master of the pregnant pause. I mean,
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: because of antenna TV and we TV, I get to
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: go in there and watch those old shows. And I
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: always sit there and I'm so inspired by the pregnant
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: pause because he knew when to pause and then come
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: back and get them.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Like Jack Benny. And I think Bob's, his, especially
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: his first two comedy albums, the button down mind of
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: Bob Newhart and the button down mind strikes back. He,
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: had to have those pauses because we weren't hearing what
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: the other person on the other end of the phone
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: was saying. He had to, in his own imagination, react
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: to that. And, you know, the pauses there really paid
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: off because you can sort of see the wheels spinning
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: and you could imagine what the person on the other
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: end of the phone was saying. And he carried that
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: over in such a great way to his television work
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: where he would, Now we can visually see him with
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: those double takes and with those pauses. And it worked
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: just as well as it had worked in his recordings.
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that I always picked
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: up on, Bob, and please correct me if I'm wrong here.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: He wasn't trying to get the applause. He was just
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: trying to share a story. He knew how we would react.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: So therefore, he didn't really rely on, hey, I'm going
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: to get the applause. You're going to love me. You're
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: going to love me. I never got that vibe from
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: him at all.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Exactly. It wasn't like Rodney Dangerfield where, you know, Rat-Tat-Tat
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: with the jokes or Don Rickles, you know, Rat-Tat-Tat with
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: the insults where he could insult you or Dangerfield could
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: say a joke and then he was on to the
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: next one if that one didn't work. Bob just laid
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: it out there, was very complimentary. about it um soft-spoken
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: diffident you know with the with the stammer thrown in
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: and very confident in in his ability to uh to
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: get to to say those lines and confident that he
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: would get people to laugh because the writing was so good. Um,
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: you know, either when he was writing his own material
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: or he had writers on his sitcoms who knew his
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: personality and knew his, uh, his onstage persona and they
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: wrote to that and it worked. Wow.
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: Where can people go to find out more about what
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: you're doing with all of your projects, including this one
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: right here with Bob Newhart?
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: Well, they can go to my website, which is michaelsethstar.com.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: All my previous books are available on Barnes & Noble,
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: on Amazon, and all your major bookstores. This book is
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: out November 3rd, Bob Newhart, The Life and Laughter of
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: an American Treasure. And I hope people pick it up,
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: and I hope they enjoy reading about a very, very
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: special performer.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: You've got to come back to this show any time
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: in the future, dude. The door's always going to be
• 11:06
  Speaker 1: open for you.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: Thanks, Saro. I appreciate it. Always great to talk to you.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Well, you be brilliant, okay, sir?
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: Okay, thank you.