No one ever listened funnier than Bob Newhart. Any acting coach will tell you, of course, that an ability to really, fully listen to what another actor is saying is one of the trade's essential tools. It's one thing to do so when someone is actually speaking to you " but to appear to listen when nothing is being said? Newhart, who died Thursday at 94, turned that into an art. The comedian and actor died at home in Los Angeles after a series of short illnesses, his longtime publicist Jerry Digney confirmed.