‘Elf’ star Bob Newhart wanted The Rock to play him in a biopic: “I get mistaken for him a lot”

nme.com:

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as an unlikely candidate to portray him in a biopic.The iconic comedian and actor, who passed away yesterday (July 18) at the age of 94, shared the joke casting suggestion during an interview on Conan in 2021.When host Conan O’Brien asked who Newhart would like to play him in a movie about his life and career, the Elf star quipped: “I think The Rock.

I get mistaken for him a lot. People will say ‘Hey Dwayne and I’ll say ‘No, I’m not Dwayne!’ But there should be quite a fight over it.”When O’Brien joked that The Rock would do a great job portraying his “early football career,” Newhart smiled and added: “Brad Pitt is supposed to be very interested.”On Thursday (July 18), Newhart’s longtime publicist Jerry Digney confirmed the news of his death, stating that the comedian’s passing is “an end of an era in comedy”, per CNN.

Newhart died at home in Los Angeles yesterday after a series of short illnesses.A comedian best known for his deadpan and endearingly stammered delivery, Newhart spent decades in entertainment as a presence on television and film after first launching his career as a stand-up comic.He made his debut with the comedy album ‘The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart’ at age 30.

It went on to become the first comedy album to reach Number One on the Billboard charts – an especially notable feat for the relatively inexperienced Newhart, who had been an accountant prior to his stand-up career.The comedian was later a mainstay on television for decades – from 1972 to 1978, Newhart hosted The Bob Newhart Show before starring in Newhart from 1982 to 1990 and Bob from 1992 to 1993.