Tim Conway, Comedian and ‘Carol Burnett Show’ Star, Dies at 85
One of the biggest names in American comedy has died. Tim Conway, the beloved star of The Carol Burnett Show and McHale’s Navy, passed away today. He was 85 years old.
More, from the Associated Press:
Conway died Tuesday morning in a Los Angeles care facility, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media. Conway’s wife, Charlene Fusco, and a daughter, Jackie, were at his side. The cause was a disorder in which there is an excess of fluid on the brain, Bragman said.
Conway won five Emmys over his career, including four for his brilliant work on The Carol Burnett Show. Upon the news of Conway’s passing, Burnett released a statement calling her former co-star “one in a million, not only as a brilliant comedian but as a loving human being. I cherish the times we had together both on the screen and off. He’ll be in my heart forever.”
Conway was technically a guest star through most of The Carol Burnett Show’s 11-year run, although he joined the cast full-time in its final seasons on CBS. Here’s one of his famous sketches from the show with Harvey Korman, his frequent comic collaborator, playing his ideal foil:
Born in Ohio, Conway first got his start working in local Cleveland television. He moved to New York and joined the cast of The Steve Allen Show in 1961, then became a star on McHale’s Navy as Ensign Parker opposite Ernest Borgnine’s Commander McHale. Younger viewers might know him as Dorf, the character he played in a series of instructional video spoofs throughout the 1980s:
Conway continued working steadily into the 1990s and 2000s; in 2008 he won an Emmy for an appearance on 30 Rock. He also provided the voice of many animated characters, including Barnacle Boy on SpongeBob SquarePants, where he worked with his old McHale’s Navy co-star Ernest Borgnine as Mermaid Man, a spoof of Aquaman and his sidekick, Aqualad. Conway leaves behind an enormous body of work that will continue to be watched and enjoyed for decades to come.
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