R.I.P.: Tim Conway, Comedian and Actor

Tim Conway

Tim Conway, the agile comedian who was a core member of the “The Carol Burnett Show” troupe and starred in string of Disney film comedies in the 1970s, died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles.

He was 85, according to Variety.

A rep for Conway tells Variety he died from water on the brain.

In later years, Conway had success with his “Dorf” series of comic how-to videos in which he played a bumbling, diminutive Scandinavian character by standing on his knees. He also lent his versatile voice to a slew of animated productions ranging from “SpongeBob SquarePants” to “Scooby Doo” to the Christian video series “Hermie and Friends.”

Over his long career, Conway was nominated for 13 Emmys and won six. For “The Carol Burnett Show,” he was nominated six times as a supporting performer in a variety or comedy series, winning in 1973, 1977 and 1978. He was also nominated as part of the writing staff for the show, drawing three nominations and winning in 1978. In addition to those four Emmy wins, he won in 1996 for outstanding guest actor in a comedy, “Coach,” and in 2008 for guest actor in a comedy for “30 Rock.”

Conway was born in Willoughby, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and attended Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, where he majored in television and radio and was a disc jockey.  When he graduated, Conway enlisted in the United States Army in 1956–1958.

After his discharge from the Army, Conway returned to Cleveland and worked with Ernie Anderson on KYW-TV, an NBC affiliate, in 1958 and 1959. From 1960 to 1962, he was on WJW-TV (then a CBS affiliate, now a Fox affiliate) on a weekday morning film show (under the Ernie's Place banner), where he also wrote material for the comedic skits shown in between film intermissions. Conway also recorded a comedy album with Anderson, who himself gained national prominence as a voice over announcer for ABC Television in the 1970s.



Conway gained a national following from his role as the bumbling, naive Ensign Charles Parker, Executive Officer of the World War II PT-73, in the 1960s sitcom McHale's Navy, alongside Ernest Borgnine and Joe Flynn. Borgnine became a mentor and a good friend. Conway said, "Borgnine was 'like a big teddy bear' and 'a very pleasant person to be around'.

He is survived by second wife Charlene Conway, whom he married in 1984, and seven children by Dalton, including KFI 640 AM Los Angeles radio host Tim Conway Jr.