Coordinates	55°45′06″N37°37′04″N
Name	Tim Conway
Birth name	Thomas Daniel Conway
Birth date	December 15, 1933
Birth place	Willoughby, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, writer, director, comedian
Years active	1956–present
Spouse	Mary Anne Dalton (1961–1978)Charlene Fusco (1984–present)
Website	http://www.timconway.com/ }}

Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (born December 15, 1933) is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best-known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt. Commander Quinton McHale (played by Ernest Borgnine), in the popular 1960s WWII sitcom ''McHale's Navy'', and for co-starring alongside Carol Burnett on ''The Carol Burnett Show''.

Early life

Conway was born in Willoughby, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland to an Irish father and a Romanian mother, and grew up in nearby Chagrin Falls. He attended Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, majoring in speech and radio, and was an active member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. After graduating, he joined the Army, and thereafter took a job answering mail for a Cleveland radio station, where he became a writer in the promotional department. Conway later changed his first name to "Tim" to avoid confusion with actor Tom Conway.

Career

''Ghoulardi''

Conway later moved back to Cleveland to work with the late television broadcasting legend Ernie Anderson on KYW-TV, an NBC affiliate, in 1958 and 1959 and later, from 1960 to 1962, on WJW TV, (then the CBS affiliate) on the weekday morning movie (under the ''Ernie's Place'' banner) where he also wrote material for the comedic skits shown in between movie intermissions. Conway also recorded a comedy album with Anderson.

However, WJW would dismiss Conway, in part because he (and Anderson) misled station management into thinking he was a director, whereas they found out he really wasn't able to do so. Because of this move, which deprived Anderson of his co-host and comic foil, the station asked Anderson if he could host a B-grade (and lower) horror movie show on Friday nights instead. Conway would continue to make many appearances alongside Anderson's massively popular alter ego ''Ghoulardi'', alongside "Big Chuck" Schodowski, a station engineer whom Anderson tapped to assume much of Conway's sidekick status (and who would ultimately succeed Anderson as co-host of the horror movie program).

After he became famous, Conway would later resurface periodically on Cleveland television TV through the years on the ''Hoolihan and Big Chuck'' and ''Big Chuck and Lil' John'' shows on WJW-TV in guest spots, and occasional skits. Conway has since made regular guest appearances at numerous ''"Ghoulardifest"'' functions held by WJW over the years, (along with former Cleveland TV personality Bob "Hoolihan" Wells) in tribute to Anderson, who died in 1997.

''The Steve Allen Show''

Comedic actress Rose Marie visited WJW in 1961, as part of CBS' practice of sending their major show stars directly to local affiliates for promotional purposes, in this case, it was for The Dick Van Dyke Show. She viewed film of some of Anderson and Conway's skits, proceeded to take Conway under her wing. Following his departure from WJW, Conway moved to New York City, where upon Marie's urging, he auditioned for, and gained a spot on ABC's ''The Steve Allen Show'' as a regular player. Conway (who by this point officially changed his first name to Tim) continued on the show for two seasons.

''McHale's Navy''

Conway gained a national following from his role as the bumbling, naive Ensign Charles Parker, Executive Officer of the PT-73 in the 1960s sitcom ''McHale's Navy'' with actors Ernest Borgnine, and the late Joe Flynn. In addition to Flynn, he also got along well with series' lead, Ernest Borgnine, and had a wonderful on- and off-screen chemistry. As of 2011, Conway is still best friends with Borgnine, in fact, Conway mentioned in an interview that he lives not too far away from his mentor.

Afterwards, he starred in a string of short-lived TV series, starting with 1967's ''Rango'' which starred Conway as an incompetent Texas Ranger.

''Turn-On''

Conway was part of one of the most infamous network TV flops ever: ''Turn-On'', a counter-cultural sketch comedy show on ABC derided as a ripoff of NBC's ''Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In''. Even though he was only listed as a guest star on the pilot, which ABC broadcast on February 5, 1969, it was the only episode that ever aired.

''Turn-On'' received such negative reaction that several ABC affiliates. TV station WEWS, in Conway's hometown Cleveland, refused to return to the program after the first commercial break, and WEWS management sent a angrily worded telegram to the network's headquarters. Many West Coast affiliates received advanced warning and refused to air it. Conway remarked that the show's premiere party he attended also marked the program's cancellation, however, ABC held off on officially canceling the program for several days.

''The Tim Conway Show''

In the 1970s, ''The Tim Conway Show'' paired Tim with Joe Flynn of ''McHale's Navy'' in a sitcom as owners-pilots of a one-plane airline operated by the pair (a Beechcraft 18). Having "nowhere to run", this pressurized situation was ideal for the fast repartee of the lead actors. Tim got his own hour-long variety show, oddly named "The Tim Conway Razzle Dazzle Hour," which, as his other series had, folded quickly. Typical of his self-effacing humor, he ordered his car's license plate to reflect the usual duration of a Conway TV series: "13 WEEKS."

Beginning in 1975 Conway was often paired with fellow funnyman Don Knotts in family films from Disney, including the popular ''The Apple Dumpling Gang'' and its 1979 sequel, ''The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again''. They also starred in two independent films, a boxing comedy called ''The Prize Fighter'' in 1979, and a comedy/mystery movie in 1981 called ''The Private Eyes''. In 1983, he starred in ''Ace Crawford, Private Eye'', a parody of detective shows; it only lasted five episodes.

''The Carol Burnett Show''

Conway is probably best known for his work on ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where his unscripted antics often caused his fellow players to fall out of character by bursting out in laughter. For example, in a sketch where Conway and Harvey Korman are having a sword fight duel in medieval garb, Korman appears to run him through. Conway pulls the thin sword "out", looks at it as if it were a dipstick, and remarks, "Hmm... down a quart!" causing Korman to convulse. Such guffaws became so common that whenever Conway did a sketch with Korman, cast members would place bets on how long it would take for Korman to break up.

On many episodes of the show, Conway would have Ernie Anderson (who served as the show's announcer from 1974 to 1978) in the audience and Carol would ask him to stand up and take a bow, without explanation, as if he were a famous celebrity beyond his Cleveland bailiwick.

Conway's work on the show earned him five Emmy Awards. Two of Conway's memorable characters on the Burnett Show were:

"The Old Man," whose shaggy white hair, slow speech, and shuffling gait ran counter to the much needed energy levels of the various occupations he was usually found in. His comic inability to get said jobs done — usually with slapstick results to himself, and with many an ad-lib — would both frustrate and 'break up' his fellow sketch performers.

"Mr. Tudball," a Swedish-American businessman whose intentions of running a 'ship-shape' office were usually sunk by the bored indifference of his secretary, "Mrs. Wiggins" (Burnett). Conway's stereotypical Swedish accent (especially when frustrated) added to the humor; for example, his attempts to pronounce his secretary's name came out as "Mrs. Ah-huh-wiggins". He would also use this accent for other characters, such as an inept dentist.

Conway could also get results with no dialogue, as in a sketch in which he played a tired businessman seeking restful sleep in his hotel — and pestered by a housefly, created only by a sound effect and Conway's gazing after it. After much struggle, he manages to get the fly out of the room through the window; after returning to bed, he hears a persistent knock on his door, gets up to answer it, and opens the door, letting the fly (who was doing the knocking) back in.

Another well-remembered skit, also without a word from Conway, featured him playing Simba, a lion raised by humans then released to the wild (based on the lioness Elsa in the film ''Born Free''). Conway, told of the upcoming eviction from the comfortable home, caused Burnett and Korman to break up with an interminable process of packing to leave.

A prime example of his ability to make his co-stars laugh uncontrollably involved Lyle Waggoner as a captured American airman, with Conway as a stereotypical blond-haired Gestapo agent charged with his interrogation. Stating that "the Fuhrer" had taken particular interest, Conway produces a small Hitler hand puppet. With Conway providing a falsetto voice, the puppet suggests that singing might relax Waggoner's character to the point he is willing to talk. In a long, drawn-out fashion, the Hitler puppet sings "I've Been Working on the Railroad", and with each passing verse, Waggoner loses more of his composure, finally laughing hysterically when puppet-Hitler screeches, "FEE-FI-Fiddely-I-O!"

Dorf

Conway's more recent work includes a series of satirical how-to videos in which he plays a diminutive, dark-haired Scandinavian known as Dorf (a variation on "dwarf"), reprising his goofy Mr. Tudball accent. The Dorf character first appeared in the 1987 film ''Dorf on Golf'' and has since appeared in eight other films on a variety of sports from baseball to auto racing. ''Dorf on Golf'' was remastered for DVD in 2007. In 2010, all of the Dorf films were remastered on a DVD Collection featuring all eight films, a behind the scenes with Dorf, and a commentary track by Tim Conway on "The Legend of the Paddle: The Oldie Hollis Story." Since 2009 Tim Conway's Dorf character has started "helping" Santa Claus on the family friendly website iSpotSanta, created by comedy filmmaker Pasquale Murena and Anything Goes Productions. Each year Dorf has three sketches, in 2009 he tried to give Santa his Christmas list failing and accidentally hitting Santa with a golf ball. Then in 2010 he tried to give all of the world's letters to Santa directly using jet rockets to fly to his sleigh, cannon balls and more.

Other roles

Conway has guest starred such programs as ABC's ''Coach'' and ''Channing'', the latter a drama about college life in the early 1960s. He starred in such films as ''The Apple Dumpling Gang'' (1975) as Gangster Amos Tucker. Conway continues to appear in movies and has cameo appearances in TV series; most of these appearances showcase his comedic talent. Currently, Tim voices the character "Barnacle Boy" in a recurring role on the popular Nickelodeon cartoon sictom ''SpongeBob SquarePants''; in this role, he is once again paired up as the sidekick to his old ''McHale's Navy'' series' star, Ernest Borgnine (who voices Mermaid Man, the "mentor" of Barnacle Boy). He appeared several times on the sitcom ''Married... With Children'' portraying Ephraim Wanker, the hillbilly father of Peg Bundy. Conway has also guest starred occasionally on the CBS sitcom ''Yes Dear'', playing Tom Warner, the father of Anthony Clark's stuffy character, Greg, with Conway's old ''Carol Burnett Show'' co-star Vicki Lawrence playing his wife, Greg's overbearing mother. Conway appeared in animated form in a guest shot in the October 6, 1973 episode of ''The New Scooby Doo Movies'', "The Spirited Spooked Sports Show." In 2003, he returned to television on the short-lived WB Network comedy, ''On The Spot''. For Max Lucado's animated cartoon ''Hermie and Friends'' he provides the voice of the title character in all eight episodes so far. He has also appeared in ''The Simpsons''. He also did several voices on ''Hercules'', ''The Wild Thornberrys'', ''Cybill'', ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'', ''The Proud Family'', ''Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy!'', ''Caillou'', and ''What's with Andy?''.

He also narrated ''The Secret Shortcut'' in ''Reading Rainbow'' and hosted ''The Flintstones' 25th Anniversary Celebration''.

During The Biography Channel's biography of Conway, Borgnine referred to Conway as "a credit to his profession" and Burnett said words to the effect that Conway's talent for comedy was only outstripped by his genuine kindness and good nature.

A fan of thoroughbred horse racing, and an occasional racehorse owner, Tim Conway is a co-founder, Vice President, and member of the Board of Directors of the Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund.

In 1996 Conway won an Emmy for his guest role as Kenny Montague on the sitcom ''Coach'' episode ''The Gardener''

In 1997, Tim Conway and Harvey Korman appeared in a Diagnosis Murder episode called "Comedy is Murder", playing former comedy partners called Tim Conrad and Harvey Huckaby. A clip of the well-known dentist sketch from The Carol Burnett Show was used to illustrate "Huckaby and Conrad"s former television partnership.

Conway and Harvey Korman created a Collector's Edition DVD of new comedy sketches, titled ''Together Again''; it is available on Conway's official website.

Conway won another Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Bucky Bright in the ''30 Rock'' episode "Subway Hero", which initially aired on April 17, 2008.

He voiced Freddy Frog and other characters in ''Garfield's Fun Fest''.

On his 75th birthday, Conway was interviewed as a guest on ''The Bonnie Hunt Show'' and given a surprise cake by Bob Newhart.

On February 1, 2010, Conway was awarded the PTC Integrity in Entertainment Award, which says that "recognizes those individuals and corporations who have demonstrated a longstanding commitment to creating, distributing and sponsoring quality entertainment that is free from graphic and gratuitous sex, violence and profanity."

On July 28, 2010, Tim appeared in an episode of ''Hot in Cleveland'' on TV Land.

In April 15, 2011, Tim guest-starred in an episode of ''Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', where he voiced the Weeper, a washed up former supervillain idolized by the Joker.

Tim played Cragmont in the ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' episode ''Justin's Back In''.

From 2003 through the present, Conway teamed up with good friend Don Knotts again to provide voices for the direct-to-video children's series, Hermie and Friends which would continue until Knotts death. Conway continues to do the series.

Personal life

Conway has been married twice. He was married to Mary Anne Dalton from 1961 until 1978. They had six children together. He has been married to Charlene Fusco since May 18, 1984. Among Tim Conway's children is the radio host Tim Conway Jr.

Charitable endeavors

On June 6, 7 and 8, 2010, Tim came back to his hometown of Chagrin Falls to put on a fund-raising performance at the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre to help kick off their capital campaign.

Tim is a spokesperson for the United Leukodystrophy Foundation.

References

External links

Interview, Archive of American Television, 20 April 2004 on Google Video

Disney Legends profile

Two takes on "The Elephant Story"

Q&A with Tim Conway

Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:People from Willoughby, Ohio Category:Actors from Ohio Category:American comedians Category:American film actors Category:American racehorse owners and breeders Category:American television actors Category:American voice actors Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American people of Romanian descent Category:Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Bowling Green State University alumni Category:Emmy Award winners Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area

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