Bob Newhart as Dr. Bob Hartley


Bob Newhart as Dr. Bob Hartley, 2004
Ivan and Elliot Schwartz
Navy Pier
600 East Grand Avenue, in the park west of the main entrance

Actor Bob Newhart, a native of Oak Park (a suburb just west of Chicago), starred in the hit CBS television sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972-1978). The show’s opening credits showed Newhart commuting from an apartment in Lincoln Park to his office on Michigan Avenue. The cable television channel TV Land, which airs reruns of the show, commissioned this life-size bronze sculpture as part of their “TV Land Landmark” project commemorating iconic TV characters.
The piece was originally placed in front of 430 North Michigan Avenue, outside the building where Dr. Hartley’s practice was fictitiously set. It was moved to Navy Pier three months later. Other statues from the “TV Land Landmark” project were installed around the country, including: Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore Show) in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Ralph Kramden (The Honeymooners) at New York City’s Port Authority, and Samantha Stephens (Bewitched) in Salem, Massachusetts.

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