Bob Newhart to Guest on CBS's BIG BANG THEORY

TVLine reports that Bob Newhart will soon be stopping by the CBS hit comedy THE BIG BANG THEORY. The guest spot will mark his first half-hour sitcom appearance in almost a decade. The episode is set to air on Thursday, May 2.

The legendary comedian will portray "Professor Proton," described as "the former host of Sheldon's favorite science show as a kid," and viewers will quickly find out that he played a significant role in Sheldon and Leonard's pasts. According to a BBT source, "Sheldon tracks his idol down online and discovers that he can be hired out for parties and events. Naturally, Sheldon books him to come to their house."

Newhart is a six-time Emmy nominee. Noted for his deadpan and slightly stammering delivery, Newhart came to prominence in the 1960s when his album of comedic monologues The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart was a worldwide bestseller and reached #1 on the Billboard pop album chart-it remains the 20th best-selling comedy album in history.[8] The follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back! was also a massive success, and the two albums held the Billboard #1 and #2 spots simultaneously.

Newhart later went into acting, starring in two long-running and prize-winning situation comedies, first as psychologist Dr. Robert "Bob" Hartley on the 1970s sitcom The Bob Newhart Show and then as innkeeper Dick Loudon on the 1980s sitcom Newhart. He also had a third, short-lived sitcom in the nineties titled Bob. Newhart also appeared in film roles such as Major Major in Catch-22, and Papa Elf in Elf. He provided The Voice of Bernard in the Walt Disney animated films The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under. One of his most recent roles is the library head Judson in The Librarian. In 2011, Newhart made a cameo in the film Horrible Bosses.