Funnyman TIM CONWAY has died

tim conway

Saw that he had been fighting dementia. Sure enjoyed his work. That was in the aol article I read and now this one said it wasn't.
 
Last edited:
He was hilarious. My Dad loved this man, especially when he did his "Mrs. Wiggins" skit. He was from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, which lies just east of Cleveland. It is a quaint, beautiful little town, or at least it was the last time that I was there, some 25 years ago.

I met him in a casino in Las Vegas about 10 years ago. I was walking through watching everyone pour their money into the slots and at first, I thought that my eyes were deceiving me. His side-kick, Harvey Korman was also there. They were fooling around and promoting their show that was playing there, which I just can't remember which casino it was.

RIP, Tim.
 

so sad. all our old heroes going to the rainbow bridge. The Carol Burnett show - the greatest comedy ever. Loved Carol, Tim, Harvey, Vicki so much.
 
The dentist routine with him and HK was one of thee funniest sketches I have ever seen. Conway wrote in one of his book HK peed his pants in that sketch. Tim Conway will make people laugh beyond his lifetime and that deserves praise.
 
His other TV roles were:
"Ensign Parker" in 'Mc Hales Navy' '62-'66 co starring with Ernest Borgine,Joe Flynn
voice of "Barnacle Boy' in cartoon 'SpongeBob Squarepants' '99-'12
Tim won 4 Emmys 2 for Carol Burnett Show,supp actor, '67,'73,'guest actor on ABC sitcom'Coach' in '89,guest actor onNBC comedy '30 Rock ''08
He received Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in '89
He will be missed,funny guy especially when he teamed up with Harvey Korman R.I.P
Carol,Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggonner are remaining cast members still with us
 
Dorf Had a Hell of a Swing

Tim Conway is one of the most naturally funny people I’ve ever met. Back in the 1990’s, I had the pleasure of working with him a couple of times on QVC, even once with the equally hilarious Harvey Korman. He and Harvey kept knocking on the door to the “Living Room Set.” The final time, they hit me with a bucket of water. It was one of the funniest moments ever on QVC.

The first time I worked with Tim, he was promoting a Dorf video. The Dorf character was just a few feet tall, achieved by Tim standing in a hole or on a platform with fake shoes attached to his knees. He spoke with a Swedish accent, a lot like the Mr. Tudball character he portrayed on The Carol Burnett Show.

He had just released “Dork Goes Fishing,” one of the 8 videos in the Dorf series. In this one, his character gave a hysterical overview of the right way to catch fish. The combination of Tim’s humor-of-the-absurd along with the ridiculous movements of the character created an extremely entertaining video.

Tim was busy on the West Coast and couldn’t make it to QVC, so we used a Satellite hookup. Half the screen would be Dorf with me on the other side. My immediate superior had already warned me to not let Tim get out-of-control. This advice reminded me of the network executives who made Robin Williams stop ad libbing on “Mork and Mindy.” Yeah, that worked out well so I decided to let Tim be Tim, or Dorf, in this case.

I spoke with Tim on the phone before the Saturday morning show. We came up with some great questions and bits of business to help sell as many videos as possible. I had one question that I didn’t discuss with him, as I wanted a really spontaneous response. Hey, I’d already been at QVC for 12 years at that time. If this went really wrong, it had been a good career.

The show started. Along with everyone watching, I had to laugh at the sight of the diminutive Dorf, wearing a gaudy golf sweater, hat and knickers. The interview went very well so I decided to throw in the secret question, “Dorf, what’s more fun, fishing or sex?” The producer immediately spoke in my ear, telling me he hoped I would indemnify him when the crap really hit the fan.

Tim’s answer came immediately in that wonderful fake Swedish accent. “Well, they’re kind of the same and kind of different. In fishing, you try to catch something. In sex…”

The pause was priceless. I lost it, so did everyone backstage and in the control room. Even the producer was laughing, although in QVC’s family-friendly universe, he still looked concerned. I couldn’t stop laughing. Now I know how Harvey Korman felt when he worked with Tim. Dorf carried the ball (pun intended) for a couple of minutes, riffing on my uncontrollable laughter while still getting in plugs for the video.

When I stopped laughing, the producer told me to say goodbye to Tim. We were supposed to have at least 12 minutes, but it had been less than 6. I figured I was fired and they were yanking me off the air. I did a quick final call to action for the video and said goodbye to Dorf, who was even funny saying farewell.

We went to a break after the presentation. The producer called me down to his control desk and showed me the phone activity screen. It was showing purple, which meant there were so many calls that people were getting a busy signal when they dialed in. There were thousands of people on the line. The viewers were having so much fun during the presentation that they really wanted the video. The producer told me the phones really spiked when I asked the forbidden question. QVC execs had called in and said I should tell people to hang up when I went back on.

When the cameras came up, I told people that we had enough copies for everyone and that they would have no wait on the phone if they hung up and called back in an hour or so. Almost no one hung up. The phones were pegged for over an hour and we would up selling tens of thousands of copies of the Dorf video, setting an all-time record for us.

I did get grief for my “racy” (their word) question and was told to never do it again. Good advice and, of course, I took it to heart. I would go and sin no more, until another opportunity to create a really fun and productive presentation came along.

I received a wonderful thank you note from Tim and he even thanked me in person the next time he was at QVC. I also received a brief note from Johnny Carson. He noted that the segment with Tim was “really funny television.” Seems he was in the LA Studio with Tim as they were going to play tennis after the segment. His note and Tim’s gratitude along with the success of the presentation made it all worthwhile.

Rest in Peace Tim Conway. I'm proud to be one of the millions of people you made laugh over and over again!
 
I wouldn't be surprised in the next few weeks, there will be a fight over his will between his adult children from his 1st marriage and his 2nd wife.His only daughter,Kelly took her to court about becoming his legal guardian,it was settled out of court.
It seems to me this always happens when the person has remarried,the kids from 1st marriage don't get along with 'step mom'.
The most recent case I can think of is Casey Kasem's kids weren't allowed to see him towards the end,thanks to his 2nd wife,Jean
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top