GRAND FORKS — David Waronker answered his office phone in Florida last month.

He was asked about a man he crossed paths with 20 years ago named Max Chambers.

“He in jail?” Waronker asked.

No, he’s not.

Chambers is again surfacing in the hockey world — just as he has every few years for the last two decades — as someone who claims to have big money and big plans.

Chambers has come forward several times as a prospective buyer of hockey teams — two minor league teams in Florida, the St. Louis Blues and Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL, and the Victoria Grizzlies of the British Columbia Hockey League.

His method of operation is similar. He says he has foreign money coming in. He promises a major influx of cash to the organization. His name lands in media reports.

But in the end, he doesn’t come up with the money.

Every time, Chambers eventually fades away without a sale and without proof he even has any significant financial means. He lies low for a couple of years, then pops back up again.

His latest venture into the hockey world has been his most ambitious and widespread.

Since January, Chambers has been telling people he’s the chief executive officer of Major League Hockey, a supposed big-money startup three-on-three hockey league set to launch this fall. He says there will be a single-entity owner for 16 teams across North America. Each will have local general managers, coaches and a $30 million salary cap.

The league, he says, will have more than $10 billion Canadian invested into a bank account to cover the first five years.

Chambers has been pursuing general managers and coaches with six-figure, multi-year offers. Some prospective personnel have been told the investment money is coming from Saudi Arabia. Others have been told the source is not Middle Eastern.

The big-money promises have drawn the attention of hockey personnel from across North America. Chambers has connected with people from junior hockey to the NCAA to NHL front-office personnel and even one former prominent NHL general manager.

He’s contacted players, too, some of whom have considered passing on other pro opportunities. Contact also was made with at least one active college player, who would lose his NCAA eligibility if he signed.

Much of it has remained behind the scenes, because Chambers frequently asks those requesting info from the league to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Some have declined to speak publicly because they’re hoping the league will happen, and they don’t want to upset Chambers and potentially miss out on a big pay day. Others don’t want to close doors with other opportunities if Major League Hockey falls through.

Major League Hockey has made its way into media reports.

It was first publicly revealed by hockey YouTuber Steve “Dangle” Glynn on the evening of May 9 through a video posted on Twitter/X, where he has more than 230,000 followers.

That same evening, agent Allan Walsh, who has more than 69,000 followers on X, posted: “This is going to surprise a lot of people with its popularity and ability to generate revenue. I’m hearing this venture has significant financial backing.”

But within 24 hours, Glynn announced he was deleting his video about the proposed Major League Hockey because of concerns about its legitimacy. Walsh also deleted his tweet.

That did not end the publicity, though.

Two weeks later, Manitoba-based agent Darryl Wolski first revealed the league’s website was live with a post on X, saying “Big things on the horizon.” Wolski pinned it on his X account. More than 375,000 people have seen the tweet.

Four days after that, hockey’s most prominent insider, Elliotte Friedman, discussed Major League Hockey on one of the sport’s most popular podcasts, 32 Thoughts, with Jeff Marek.

Friedman and Marek offered skepticism the league would happen, but Friedman said he was told by sources the league is being funded by an entity in Europe, not Saudi Arabia, and that a player in the final four of the Stanley Cup Playoffs inquired about joining it.

Despite all of this, when Chambers or those connected to him were asked by the Herald if they could provide any evidence he has the money, nobody has even attempted to.

There’s little public information about Chambers.

What’s known is that he’s Canadian. He’s been listed as a Calgary resident. He now appears to live near Victoria in British Columbia. But there’s nothing online about his business operations or even his line of work.

When you track down people who have dealt with Chambers in the hockey world, they offer warnings.

David Waronker is one.

A failed attempt in Florida

As the NHL appeared headed for a lengthy lockout in 2004, an idea surfaced from Ontario-based businessmen to restart the World Hockey Association, a one-time competitor of the NHL in the 1970s.

Chambers came forward as a potential owner. He planned to buy minor league hockey teams based in Orlando and Jacksonville from Waronker and move them into the WHA.

Chambers even held a press conference to announce NHL great Butch Goring would be the coach of the Orlando franchise.

But the sale never happened.

Waronker called it off after Chambers failed to pay the deposit.

“He’s always wanted to be a big-money guy,” Waronker said. “I’m talking back in 2004, 20 years ago, he would say, ‘I’ve got gas leases, minerals in Canada.’ There’s nothing. Back then, it was much harder to find anyone on the internet. He turned out to be a big (fabricator) with nothing.”

When reached by the Herald last month, Goring said he doesn’t recall ever meeting or talking to Chambers, nor does he remember Chambers’ announcement he would be the head coach in Orlando.

“I would have been coaching in Europe at the time,” Goring said, adding that he wouldn’t have considered a job like the Orlando one.

After Waronker called off the sale, Chambers disappeared from the public radar for a few years.

“He’s an elusive, strange guy that keeps poking his head out for God knows why,” Waronker said. “I don’t know who would believe him. He doesn’t have any credibility. He’s never been able to prove he’s got a dollar in his pocket.”

Waronker was told about Major League Hockey and that people were considering leaving jobs for Chambers’ newest venture.

“Absolutely don’t do it,” Waronker said. “Don’t do anything. Let him show you the money first. I’m talking real money, not hypothetical money.”

NHL franchise sales

Chambers briefly reappeared in the news in 2009 when he was listed in the Toronto Globe and Mail as an “oil tycoon” who inquired about purchasing the Phoenix Coyotes. But he was quickly dismissed by a lawyer representing the Coyotes’ owner and no formal bid was submitted.

Two years later, Chambers came forward as a potential buyer of the St. Louis Blues.

He was the subject of a story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which listed Chambers as the CEO of Sonoma Equities and Great Northern Capital Partners. Chambers told the Post-Dispatch he planned to sink $8-10 million more into the Blues’ payroll and make them into a Stanley Cup contender.

But the Blues rejected his offer of $167 million without consideration and instead sold to Tom Stillman for substantially less money — about $120 million, according to Forbes.

A source close to the Blues said Chambers was known within the organization as an “international man of mystery,” and his bid became a punchline.

Months later, the Globe and Mail published a piece looking into Chambers, saying “next to no information on either of Chambers’ alleged companies can be found.”

The report also said: “Someone whose business involves checking out potential buyers of professional sports teams said he asked several people in Calgary, including some bankers, about Chambers. No one had ever heard of him.”

After that, Chambers again appeared to fade into the background for a few years.

BCHL involvement

In 2020, Chambers came forward as a potential buyer of the Victoria Grizzlies, a junior team in the British Columbia Hockey League.

He told then-owner Ron Walchuk he had a mechanism for obtaining millions from a foreign source to fund the purchase.

Chambers requested, before a sale went through, that the Grizzlies name his 17-year-old son, Auzzie Chambers, assistant general manager. It was a position the Grizzlies did not have, so they agreed. Auzzie previously had brief stints as a scout with other hockey teams in British Columbia.

The Grizzlies announced Auzzie’s hire in May 2020.

Max Chambers immediately began telling people in the organization that an influx of money was coming once he owned the team.

“Everybody was going to get big raises,” said Craig Didmon, Victoria’s head coach at the time. “The budget was going big. But pretty quick, you realize there was no money.”

Even so, the elder Chambers began to be active within the organization. He brought prospective players on visits without Didmon’s knowledge.

Didmon said Chambers’ presence began to cause rifts within the organization. After a while, Didmon asked Chambers to stay out of the arena until he bought the team.

“I didn’t believe there ever was going to be a deal,” Didmon said.

Didmon was correct. Chambers never paid.

The Grizzlies eventually moved on from Chambers as a potential owner and his son as the assistant general manager.

The fallout continued into the next year, though.

Max Chambers had communicated with prospective players about joining the Grizzlies, unbeknownst to Didmon.

“They thought they were signed to play for the Grizzlies,” Didmon said. “They were decent players, but they weren’t on my radar and I didn’t have room. I had my own team. I felt bad for them. He certainly put them in a predicament.”

Walchuk declined to publicly comment on what transpired, but he confirmed that Chambers never paid any money. Walchuk eventually sold the team to another party.

The following year, the BCHL’s Cowichan Valley Capitals hired Auzzie Chambers to be a scout and help with administrative tasks.

But within two months, the Capitals’ owner saw that Auzzie had listed himself as the assistant general manager and scouting director on Elite Prospects — titles he did not have — and immediately cut ties with him. Auzzie’s LinkedIn page still lists those titles.

“I never had any problems with him and appreciated the help,” said Brian Passmore, the Capitals’ coach at the time. “But when he started self-proclaiming titles, our owner said, ‘That’s enough.’ ”

By then, the idea for Major League Hockey had already started percolating.

Major League Hockey push

Chambers first registered a business called Major League Hockey Corp., in Alberta in 2009. He registered Major League Hockey Investment Group Inc., on June 17, 2022.

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But it appears his big break into making connections came when he enlisted the help of Peter Young, a longtime, well-known broadcasting figure in Manitoba.

Chambers and Young go back more than 20 years.

Young was the director of operations for the reboot of the WHA in 2004 when Chambers said he was going to buy the Orlando and Jacksonville franchises from Waronker. They both attended the press conference prematurely announcing Goring as the coach, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Young connected Chambers with people on both the business and hockey fronts.

In business, Young is part of Liberty Sports Group, which agreed to help Chambers with the launch of Major League Hockey.

Two members of Liberty Sports Group, CEO Nicholas Desrosiers and Twin Cities-based architect Nick Sperides, confirmed they did not sign a contract with Major League Hockey nor were they paid by Chambers to help get the league off the ground. The work was done on a volunteer basis.

Desrosiers said he connected Chambers with “his website guy” to build the website for Major League Hockey. Desrosiers declined to identify who built it but said the person was paid.

Young also helped connect Chambers to hockey personnel. One of them was Wolski, an agent for 2112 Hockey Agency. Wolski contacted some in his sphere, according to multiple sources. That, in turn, helped the proliferation of the idea across the hockey world.

To try to recruit people to join Major League Hockey, Chambers distributed a 27-page brochure.

The brochure said arena deals were in place or pending in 16 markets. It listed the markets as Vancouver; Victoria, B.C.; Fraser Valley, B.C.; Los Angeles; West Valley, Ariz.; Saskatoon; Fort Worth; San Antonio; Minneapolis; Kansas City; New England; New York City; Quebec City; Greater Toronto; Moncton, N.B.; and Nova Scotia.

But within three months, those markets were already changing, and claims that arena deals were either in place or pending turned out to be false. The Herald contacted every hockey arena in Minnesota that seats more than 5,000 people. Nobody had heard of Chambers or Major League Hockey.

Potential recruits were told about arenas in other markets, including Omaha and Saskatoon. When contacted, those arenas said they had no agreements in place.

While the promise of big money piqued the interest of many who were contacted, some had reservations about the outlandish claims in the 27-page document.

For starters, it says Major League Hockey will have $10 billion Canadian in a bank account when the league begins. It’s such a staggering figure that you could buy nearly a third of the NHL’s franchises for that money. For reference, The New York Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund invested “more than $2 billion” to fund LIV Golf.

The Major League Hockey document said the value of each franchise is $2.5 billion. That’s more than double the Detroit Red Wings’ valuation, according to Forbes ($1.2 billion).

It said each team’s budget will be $150 million. According to a 2021 article in The Athletic, the Tampa Bay Lightning had an operating budget of around $100 million.

As the spring hit, Chambers sent an email to prospective staffers with more eyebrow-raising claims.

He said the league’s start date was being pushed back a month because of “supply chain issues.”

He also said all 16 teams would be individually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and that he was flying to Europe on May 11 to “sign off on the first round of financing totaling in excess of $2,500,000,000.”

Despite that supposed influx of astronomical capital, nobody working on behalf of Chambers and the league — outside of a webmaster — said they were paid anything.

The brochure lists just three people involved: Chambers as the CEO, his now 22-year-old son Auzzie as the senior vice president and director of player personnel, and Young as the executive vice president for strategy and league development.

Young, who is battling cancer, confirmed to the Herald both he and his group, Liberty Sports, strictly served as volunteers and were never paid by Chambers. Young declined to comment on any other specifics, citing a non-disclosure agreement he had signed.

Auzzie’s involvement is unclear. Nobody contacted by the Herald for this story said they had spoken to Auzzie.

Bizarre method of operation

The league’s communication with prospective players also has been bizarre.

Major League Hockey’s website posted it held a draft of 880 players. But it hasn’t posted any results nor has it said who was part of selecting players.

Major League Hockey has sent unsigned emails to players with scant details. They’ve instructed some to sign non-disclosure agreements to learn more about the league and negotiate deals.

Chambers has drawn up and sent written, multi-year contracts to some players and coaches.

The Herald has learned the identity of several players who have been in contact with Chambers or others within Major League Hockey. Most are American Hockey League/ECHL tweeners who have been on minor-league contracts. The money being offered by Chambers is potentially life-changing for them, so many have pursued deals.

Some players have shared details with their agents. Those from the most prominent agencies are skeptical due to the amateur nature of the operation.

While most leagues covet media coverage and attention, Major League Hockey has tried to operate from the shadows, avoiding coverage and scrutiny.

Chambers initially told people there would be a public announcement in mid-March. That turned into May, then June and now July. There still has not been a public announcement with any key details, and those involved have ducked questions.

When Young was asked via email if he has any proof that Chambers has the money he claims, Young responded that he’s been instructed by an attorney not to make any more comments.

When the Herald reached Chambers by phone Friday, he hung up immediately. Chambers did not respond to a follow-up email inquiring about his attempts to get involved in hockey.

“It’s a pattern,” Waronker said. “He’ll say, ‘I’m waiting for overseas money.’ There’s nothing there. There’s zero history except (lies). It is scummier than can be.”

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William O’Connor | (TNS) Bloomberg News

If you’ve planned a vacation of late, you’ll have no trouble believing the eye-watering figure from Virtuoso—a consortia of some 20,000 luxury travel agents—that luxury hotels are 85% more expensive this summer than they were in 2019. In Paris alone, prices have gone stratospheric, up 300 percent over last summer’s rates, as hoteliers try to capitalize on the Olympic Games.

This new world order has normalized spending $1,000 a night for an entry-level room in most major cities — never mind the cost of a five-star stay in a seasonal resort destination like the Amalfi Coast or the south of France. At the former, iconic spots such as Belmond’s Caruso can command last-minute rates of $3,250 for a standard, 452-square-foot room.

To that, we say: The most expensive resorts may often be the most luxurious ones, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best choices.

If what you’re after is a great value — a stay that offers appropriate pampering, exquisite décor and a sense of seclusion from the general public, and even some bragging rights — the answer may be to avoid the top spots entirely.

In most major destinations, boutique hotels now offer style and sophistication comparable to their more luxurious counterparts — albeit usually with a less favorable staff-to-guest ratio — at a fraction of the cost and to an oftentimes cooler crowd. If you’ve already come to terms with spending upward of $1,000 per night, getting a large suite at one of these more intimate venues will likely make you feel more like royalty than taking up residence in an entry-level room at a larger and more recognizable resort. And even if there are fewer staff to cater to your whims, you’ll be a big fish in a small pond.

Here are four case studies of just how well this strategy can play out, supersizing your lodging without adding a penny to your budget.

A flaneur’s fantasy in Paris

The fanciest hotels in town carry the government-given “palace” status. There are 12 of these, including Le Bristol, the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Hotel Lutetia and Cheval Blanc.

They’re fabulous. But in the middle of the week in June, an entry-level superior room at the Plaza Athénée will run you $2,986 a night. For that price, you’ll get 325 square feet and a view of the landscaped inner courtyard.

At the LVMH-owned Cheval Blanc, which sits on the Seine overlooking the Pont Neuf, the prices are similar: $2,823 a night for a starter “deluxe” room, clocking in at 485 square feet.

You’ll spend half that amount — $1,400 — on a corner suite at the new and already buzzy Château des Fleurs, around the corner from the Plaza Athénée in the 8th arrondissement. The vibe, both in its common spaces and its 37 rooms, is art nouveau with a splash of surrealism: think trippy curvy doors in the hallways and elongated silverware in its Korean-French restaurant, Oma, where a mirrored ceiling is crisscrossed with playful spherical molding.

Further along in the 16th is the St. James, which lays claim to being the only “château hotel” in Paris. Rooms in this majestic mansion start at $2,500 a night—less than the palaces, if not by much. But for that sum you get your own small villa facing the estate’s manicured gardens, with with a private hot tub and sauna. It’s a taste of the French countryside, but within a 20-minute walk of the Arc de Triomphe.

A selective sanctuary in Madrid

For all the fuss over the Olympics in Paris, it’s Madrid that has emerged as the hottest city this summer. (See here for our obsessively curated guide to the city.) At the edge of its preppy Salamanca neighborhood you could sleep off the tapas and tintos at the Rosewood Villa Magna, where the least expensive Deluxe Room offers 323 square feet for $1,500 a night. It’s the same price you’d pay just south on the Paseo del Prado, at the recently refurbished Mandarin Oriental Ritz, which bears the Midas touch in its opulence.

Alternatively, you could book into the Hotel Santo Mauro, which is exclusive for different reasons. One of Madrid’s more discreet properties, it’s the former palace of the Duke of Santo Mauro and part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection. Its 49 opulent rooms in the elegant but low-key neighborhood of Almagro, near the Museo Sorolla, feel like urban oases, and king suites that are nearly twice the size of Rosewood’s entry-level rooms go for around $1,340.

All its rooms have been recently redone by famed Spanish interior designer Lorenzo Castillo, who added rich textiles and vibrant wallpapers so that it feels like you’re the guest of a duke. No two suites look alike, but they all come with a well-curated minibar with Spanish wines and snacks, marble bathrooms, and have a turndown service that includes treats from La Pajarita, a nearly 200-year-old candymaker.

Lording over London

London has long been known for hotels with staggering nightly rates, and the new Raffles London at the OWO continues that tradition. Here, rooms measuring a mere 333 square feet start in the low $1,000s. Few spots worldwide have the stature of The Connaught, but a Contemporary Deluxe Room with dimensions of 377 square feet commands $1,992 a night in mid-June. Starting prices are even higher at The Emory, which just opened, though there at least you’re guaranteed to get a suite (and lots of extras) for the $2,000-and-up price tags.

Further east on a cobble street in Shoreditch is one of the city’s more eccentric and adored boutique properties – Batty Langley’s. The whole experience in this 18th century mansion feels like something out of a maximalist period drama with its tapestries, velvet upholstery, and antique furnishings. Modernity is often hidden in its 29 rooms–televisions and minibars are tucked away in wardrobes and some bathrooms behind bookcases.

In the deep blue 710-square-foot Earl of Bolingbroke suite, you can sleep in an immense gold-accented canopy bed originally built for a bishop and decompress in an antique tub from Tuscany carved from a single block of marble. The two-story suite can be found for $896 in July, a bargain when you discover its terrace with views that stretch all the way east to Olympic Park.

Wheeling and dealing in Manhattan

Across the pond in New York City, hotel prices have soared, in part due to a crackdown on short-term rentals. At the brand-new Fifth Avenue Hotel, a kaleidoscopic perch by hotshot designer Martin Brudnizki, a 285 square-feet King room in mid-June was going for $1,045 a night. A room at the Aman New York, just below Central Park, is $2,475 per night. And a Premier King at the Carlyle easily tops $1,000.

In lower Manhattan, one of the coolest hotels of the last few years is Nine Orchard. A former bank, its Swan Room cocktail lounge is a good bet for people watching later in the week. The 400-square-feet Supreme View King Suites, named for the skyline views from the hotel’s top floors, have summer rates of $850. A rare perk for New York, this type of room has a soaking tub inset in a marble-arched alcove that’s decked out with pricey Takamichi hair products. And all guests gain access to the East Room, a stunning urban oasis with a fireplace and coffered ceiling.

A breezy break in the Balearics

Ever since United Airlines introduced direct flights from New York last summer, Mallorca has perfected the one-two punch of glamour and convenience. Paradisiacal Deia on its northern shores remains one of the most magical places in the Med. For the A-list, it’s also known as home to La Residencia, part of the Belmond group. Here at this complex of golden ochre stone accented with pale green shutters, a 376-square-foot double room with a queen-size bed starts at $2,214 a night. Up in the hills southwest of Deia in a restored 16th century estate is Son Bunyola, a new jewel in the crown of Richard Branson’s Virgin Hotels. Here, a charmingly rustic 330-square-foot Mountain View room will set you back $1,200 a night.

But a quick ferry ride away – or by a connecting flight from almost any major European airport – is the much more under-the-radar island of Menorca. On its south shore, not far from its ancient city of Ciutadella, is Vestige Son Vell, which opened last fall. Set in a neoclassical country villa on hundreds of acres, it features multiple pools, extensive flower-filled gardens, and 34 elegantly restored rooms.

Most importantly in this era of overcrowding, at the end of its long southern drive is a secluded sandy cove, a unique asset on an island where the luxury stays tend to be in the countryside. Here, a 500-square-foot Garden Junior suite carved out of a former outbuilding comes with an enormous Balinese bed, a private walled-off garden, and temperature-controlled wide-brick floors. The price tag? $1,100.

___

Memorial Blood Centers has issued an urgent call for type O+ and O- blood donations. A shortage has been affecting local hospitals, according to officials with Memorial Blood Centers, with Type O blood shortages being reported across the nation. Currently, inventory of Type O blood is the lowest it’s been since the Covid-19 pandemic.

There also has been a recent surge in blood usage. In the past several days, seven massive transfusion protocols — which includes administering 10 or more units of blood to a patient within 24 hours — has occurred across the region. The local Memorial Blood Centers serve Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin.

Nearly 40% of the U.S. population has Type O+ blood — the most common blood type. Type O- is a universal blood type and is commonly used in emergency situations.

During the summer months, more blood supply is needed due to seasonal travel, school breaks and a general rise in traumatic accidents.

Donors can give every 56 days, and platelet donors can give twice per month. To view donation eligibility or to make an appointment, visit mbc.org or call 1-888-448-3253.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bob Newhart, the deadpan accountant-turned-comedian who became one of the most popular TV stars of his time after striking gold with a classic comedy album, has died at 94.

Jerry Digney, Newhart’s publicist, says the actor died Thursday in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses.

Newhart, best remembered now as the star of two hit television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, launched his career as a standup comic in the late 1950s. He gained nationwide fame when his routine was captured on vinyl in 1960 as “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” which went on to win a Grammy Award as album of the year.

While other comedians of the time, including Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Alan King, and Mike Nichols and Elaine May, frequently got laughs with their aggressive attacks on modern mores, Newhart was an anomaly. His outlook was modern, but he rarely raised his voice above a hesitant, almost stammering delivery. His only prop was a telephone, used to pretend to hold a conversation with someone on the other end of the line.

In one memorable skit, he portrayed a Madison Avenue image-maker trying to instruct Abraham Lincoln on how to improve the Gettysburg Address: “Say 87 years ago instead of fourscore and seven,” he advised.

Another favorite was “Merchandising the Wright Brothers,” in which he tried to persuade the aviation pioneers to start an airline, although he acknowledged the distance of their maiden flight could limit them.

“Well, see, that’s going to hurt our time to the Coast if we’ve got to land every 105 feet.”

Newhart was initially wary of signing on to a weekly TV series, fearing it would overexpose his material. Nevertheless, he accepted an attractive offer from NBC, and “The Bob Newhart Show” premiered on Oct. 11, 1961. Despite Emmy and Peabody awards, the half-hour variety show was canceled after one season, a source for jokes by Newhart for decades after.

He waited 10 years before undertaking another “Bob Newhart Show” in 1972. This one was a situation comedy with Newhart playing a Chicago psychologist living in a penthouse with his schoolteacher wife, Suzanne Pleshette. Their neighbors and his patients, notably Bill Daily as an airline navigator, were a wacky, neurotic bunch who provided an ideal counterpoint to Newhart’s deadpan commentary.

The series, one of the most acclaimed of the 1970s, ran through 1978.

Four years later, the comedian launched another show, simply called “Newhart.” This time he was a successful New York writer who decides to reopen a long-closed Vermont inn. Again Newhart was the calm, reasonable man surrounded by a group of eccentric locals. Again the show was a huge hit, lasting eight seasons on CBS.

It bowed out in memorable style in 1990 with Newhart — in his old Chicago psychologist character — waking up in bed with Pleshette, cringing as he tells her about the strange dream he had: “I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont. … The handyman kept missing the point of things, and then there were these three woodsmen, but only one of them talked!”

The stunt parodied a “Dallas” episode where a key character was killed off, then revived when the death was revealed to have been in a dream.

Two later series were comparative duds: “Bob,” in 1992-93, and “George & Leo,” 1997-98. Though nominated several times, he never won an Emmy for his sitcom work. “I guess they think I’m not acting. That it’s just Bob being Bob,” he sighed.

Over the years, Newhart also appeared in several movies, usually in comedic roles. Among them: “Catch 22,” “In and Out,” “Legally Blonde 2” and “Elf,” as the diminutive dad of adopted full-size son Will Ferrell. More recent work included “Horrible Bosses” and the TV series “The Librarians,” “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon.

Newhart married Virginia Quinn, known to friends as Ginny, in 1964, and remained with her until her death in 2023. They had four children: Robert, Timothy, Jennifer and Courtney. Newhart was a frequent guest of Johnny Carson’s and liked to tease the thrice-divorced “Tonight” host that at least some comedians enjoyed long-term marriages. He was especially close with fellow comedian and family man Don Rickles, whose raucous insult humor clashed memorably with Newhart’s droll understatement.

“We’re apples and oranges. I’m a Jew, he’s a Catholic. He’s low-key, I’m a yeller,” Rickles told Variety in 2012. A decade later, Judd Apatow would pay tribute to their friendship in the short documentary “Bob and Don: A Love Story.”

A master of the gently sarcastic remark, Newhart got into comedy after he became bored with his $5-an-hour accounting job in Chicago. To pass the time, he and a friend, Ed Gallagher, began making funny phone calls to each other. Eventually, they decided to record them as comedy routines and sell them to radio stations.

Their efforts failed, but the records came to the attention of Warner Bros., which signed Newhart to a record contract and booked him into a Houston club in February 1960.

“A terrified 30-year-old man walked out on the stage and played his first nightclub,” he recalled in 2003.

Six of his routines were recorded during his two-week date, and the album, “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart,” was released on April Fools’ Day 1960. It sold 750,000 copies and was followed by “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!” At one point the albums ranked No. 1 and 2 on the sales charts. The New York Times in 1960 said he was “the first comedian in history to come to prominence through a recording.”

Besides winning Grammy’s album of the year for his debut, Newhart won as best new artist of 1960, and the sequel “The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back!” won as best comedy spoken word album.

Newhart was booked for several appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and at nightclubs, concert halls and college campuses across the country. He hated the clubs, however, because of the heckling drunks they attracted.

“Every time I have to step out of a scene and put one of those birds in his place, it kills the routine,” he said in 1960.

In 2004, he received another Emmy nomination, this time as guest actor in a drama series, for a role in “E.R.” Another honor came his way in 2007, when the Library of Congress announced it had added “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart” to its registry of historically significant sound recordings. Just 25 recordings are added each year to the registry, which was created in 2000.

Newhart made the best-seller lists in 2006 with his memoir, “I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This!” He was nominated for another Grammy for best spoken word album (a category that includes audio books) for his reading of the book.

“I’ve always likened what I do to the man who is convinced that he is the last sane man on Earth … the Paul Revere of psychotics running through the town and yelling `This is crazy.′ But no one pays attention to him,” Newhart wrote.

Born George Robert Newhart in Chicago to a German-Irish family, he was called Bob to avoid confusion with his father, who was also named George.

At St. Ignatius High School and Loyola University in Chicago, he amused fellow students with imitations of James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, Jimmy Durante and other stars. After receiving a degree in commerce, Newhart served two years in the Army. Returning to Chicago after his military service, he entered law school at Loyola, but flunked out. He eventually landed a job as an accountant for the state unemployment department. Bored with the work, he spent his free hours acting at a stock company in suburban Oak Park, an experience that led to the phone bits.

“I wasn’t part of some comic cabal,” Newhart wrote in his memoir. “Mike (Nichols) and Elaine (May), Shelley (Berman), Lenny Bruce, Johnny Winters, Mort Sahl — we didn’t all get together and say, `Let’s change comedy and slow it down.′ It was just our way of finding humor. The college kids would hear mother-in-law jokes and say, `What the hell is a mother-in-law?′ What we did reflected our lives and related to theirs.”

Newhart continued appearing on television occasionally after his fourth sitcom ended and vowed in 2003 that he would work as long as he could.

“It’s been so much, 43 years of my life; (to quit) would be like something was missing,” he said.

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Former Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report.