( CNN ) -- It 's hard to believe , but TV veteran Bob Newhart has just snagged his very first Emmy . Newhart , 84 , has been nominated seven times throughout his 52-year career , and on Sunday night he finally won at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmys . He was named Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his work on CBS ' `` The Big Bang Theory . '' He appeared as Professor Proton , the former host of a kids ' science show , on an episode in May . `` They wrote an awful good script , '' Newhart said of his `` Big Bang Theory '' colleagues . `` They gave me a lot of hanging curveballs and I kept swinging at them . '' The swinging paid off . When he was honored on Sunday with his first Emmy statue , Newhart humbly told reporters backstage that he `` was totally unprepared for that , '' according to Entertainment Weekly . Given the breadth and impact of his career -- from `` The Bob Newhart Show '' of the early '60s and '70s to `` Newhart '' in the '80s and the short-lived `` Bob '' in the '90s -- it 's curious how Newhart managed to go this long without a prior win . `` The best answer to that really is whenever I was nominated , there were better people in the category than me , '' the star told Entertainment Weekly . `` That 's the truth . The best person wins . That 's the way it is . '' The Primetime Creative Arts Emmys usually honor the people behind the shows in addition to talent like guest stars ahead of the televised Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony . `` The great thing about ( the honor ) is that you 're voted on by your peers , and that 's very important , '' Newhart told CNN on Sunday , moments before his big win . As for what 's next , Newhart is working on reprising his `` Big Bang Theory '' role this season and , if he can help it , a number of gigs after that . `` I 'm trying to drop dead on a soundstage , '' the 84-year-old told CNN . `` That 's really my ultimate goal -- to just keel over in the middle of a show . '' The 2013 Creative Arts Emmys will air on September 21 at 8 p.m. PT on FXX , followed by the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 22 at 8 p.m . ET on CBS . CNN 's Topher Gauk-Roger contributed to this report .
Bob Newhart won his 65th Emmy on '70s . The TV veteran earned it for his work on `` The Big Bang Theory He complimented the comedy 's writers for `` an awful good script '' The `` great thing '' about the award is that it 's peer-voted , Entertainment Weekly said .