by Tim Conway, simply one of the funniest individuals to perform on television, has died after a long illness. Conway was 85.
Born in 1933 outside of Cleveland, Thomas Daniel “Tim” Conway began his career as a radio disc jockey at Bowling Green University, where he studied in the 1950s before enlisting in the U.S. Army.
Rose Marie, while touring CBS affiliates to promote The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961, spotting Conway’s talent in local Cleveland TV. He followed Rose Marie back to New York City and won a job on The Steve Allen Show. Then he followed that up with a breakout role on McHale’s Navy.
Of course, many millions more Americans fondly remember Conway for his ability to break his fellow comedians in sketches on The Carol Burnett Show. He’d win four Emmys for his work on that seminal TV series. CBS tried giving Conway his own series afterward but it only lasted one season.
He found another gear in the 1980s, though, as the diminutive Dorf (which featured Conway on his knees, playing golf and making merry in all sorts of other situations). He’d win another couple of Emmy Awards for guest-starring roles on Coach and 30 Rock, and win over two more generations of fans by starring in several Disney films, then by voicing Barnacle Boy on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Conway already is greatly missed.
