SUBMITTED BY Timbo

November 5, 2003 — When casting "Elf", director Jon Favreau had his eyes on a variety of actors, one of whom was Bob Newhart.

What the studio wanted were actors who could "put bums in seats." What Favreau had in mind were smart people who brought with them, as he put it, a little "cultural cachet."

Among the few celebrity names that belongs in the same sentence as 'smart' and 'cultural cachet' is Bob Newhart, and the comedy icon is indeed in the cast of Elf.

Newhart plays papa elf, a diminutive adoptive father to the much, much larger human child who is raised at the North Pole ... and grows up to be Will Ferrell. Newhart's presence in the story really does have an immediate and positive 'cultural cachet' effect on an audience. It's called hope.

You see Bob Newhart, you figure intelligent fare will follow. It doesn't always work that way (Legally Blonde 2) but more often than not, it does. He knows from funny.

At 74, the man with the button-down mind is going strong. Newhart does about 30 concerts a year, many for charity. He says he always looks at the writing before taking on any film project, "Because even the greats, even Marlon Brando or George C. Scott couldn't make something good if it's not on the page."

Read the rest of the article at the link below.