Stand-Up Guy

Friday, July 2, 2004 | 2:56 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 3 - 4, 2004

Who: Bob Newhart.

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Where: The Stardust's Wayne Newton Theater.

Tickets: $43.95, $54.95.

Information: 732-6325.

One of the classic endings to a TV series happened in the final episode of "Newhart," which ran on CBS from 1982-1990.

In the last scene, series star Bob Newhart, who had played the role of an innkeeper in Vermont, woke up in bed with his wife from his previous long-running series, "The Bob Newhart Show" (CBS, 1972-'78), in which he was a psychologist.

"Honey," he said to Suzanne Pleshette, his co-star in the earlier series, "I had the strangest dream."

Entertainment Weekly Magazine named it one of the best surprise endings of all time.

Newhart's career, to some, might be a surprise.

He is a soft-spoken, low-key performer who looks and acts more like an accountant (his profession before he turned to comedy) than a star of television, film, records and stage.

Yet, in addition to starring in two of the most successful television series of all-time, he has appeared in such motion pictures as "Hell Is For Heroes" (1962) and "Elf" (2003).

His first record, 1961's "The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart," was the first comedy album to go to No. 1 on the charts.

Billboard magazine calls it one of the most popular albums of the past 40 years.

During a recent telephone interview from his home in Los Angeles, Newhart (who laughs easily and clears his throat often before speaking) talked about his career and his first love -- stand-up comedy.

He will bring his act to the Stardust Wednesday through Saturday.

Las Vegas Sun: How did you come up with that clever ending to "Newhart?"

Bob Newhart: Actually, it was my wife, Virginia's, idea. Of course we had the advantage of the earlier series.

Sun: You've been entertaining fans for more than 40 years. Why do you continue to do stand-up?

BN: It's my first love. It's where I started out, in 1960. I can't ever imagine, barring health problems, not doing stand-up. Why would you want to stop making people laugh?

My first hit series was in '72, so I did 12 years of primarily being a stand-up comedian.

So many comedians drop stand-up when they become successful, and that's a shame. The guys that can do it, we have an obligation. Some comedians say they're glad that they don't have to do that anymore -- but to me, it's a privilege.

Sun: Did you continue doing stand-up even during the days of your hit TV shows?

BN: I never stopped doing the stand-up. When I was doing the TV series, we would do three shows in a row and take two weeks off. I'd run to Vegas to perform for a couple of weeks then go back and do three more weeks of shows. And during the Friday night taping in front of a live audience I'd come out and do five minutes to warm them up.

I never lost the edge. That's what you have to work at. You have to keep that edge.

Sun: How many engagements do you have each year?

BN: This year I will do 35 stand-up appearances, which is about all I want to do.

Sun: When was the last time you performed in Las Vegas?

BN: I haven't played Vegas in seven or eight years. The last time was at the Desert Inn. Mel Carter was my opening act. The DI was one of the first places I performed in Vegas. The very first place was the Sahara, in '63. Then I went to The DI, then to the Sands and the Frontier and the Riviera. I played Caesars and the MGM Grand.

One of the saddest sights was the implosion of the Sands. It was an end to an era.

Sun: Why did you wait so long to come back to Vegas?

BN: No reason in particular. I wasn't approached. Vegas went through the era of Siegfried & Roy and all of the extravaganzas. But now it seems to be getting back to the old Vegas.

It's a good place to go back to. Some of my greatest memories were at the DI and the Sands and the Frontier.

Sun: There are so many large showrooms today. What's a good size for you?

BN: The showroom at the Stardust is perfect. Generally I don't like a room to seat much over 1,000. It loses some of the intimacy.

Sun: You're a very clean comedian. What do you think of the vulgar comics making the rounds these days?

BN: I don't like to put down any comedian. If someone's willing to pay to see them, more power to them. But this is the way I prefer to perform. I don't go in for the shock. Basically, I do one or two of the old record routines, and the rest is observations of life. New things come up all the time.

Sun: Which comedians had the greatest influence on you?

BN: Richard Pryor influenced me a lot. We don't work alike, but he was brilliant.

Sun: You performed in Vegas when Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were leading the Rat Pack. Were you part of the group?

BN: Not hardly. Of course, I knew Dean and Frank when they were playing at the Sands, back in the Rat Pack days. You could feel it in the air when they were in town. There was an electricity you could feel no matter where you were playing.