Career Tim Conway

1 career

1.1 cleveland years
1.2 steve allen show
1.3 mchale s navy
1.4 turn-on
1.5 tim conway show (1970)
1.6 carol burnett show
1.7 tim conway show (1980–1981)
1.8 dorf
1.9 other television
1.10 other film , video

career
the cleveland years

after discharge army, conway returned cleveland , worked ernie anderson on kyw-tv, nbc affiliate, in 1958 , 1959. 1960 1962, on wjw-tv (then cbs affiliate, fox affiliate) on weekday morning film (under ernie s place banner), wrote material comedic skits shown in between film intermissions. conway recorded comedy album anderson, himself gained national prominence voice on announcer abc television in 1970s.

wjw dismissed conway in 1962, in part because (and anderson) misled station management thinking had experience director. because of move, deprived anderson of co-host , comic foil, station asked anderson if host b-grade (and lower) horror film show on friday nights instead. conway continued make many appearances alongside anderson s alter ego ghoulardi, in addition big chuck schodowski, station engineer anderson got assume of conway s sidekick status (and succeeded anderson co-host of horror film program).

after became famous, conway resurfaced periodically on cleveland television on hoolihan , big chuck , big chuck , lil john shows on wjw-tv, in guest spots , occasional skits. conway has since made regular guest appearances @ numerous ghoulardifest functions held wjw on years, along former cleveland tv personality bob hoolihan wells, in tribute anderson, died in 1997.

the steve allen show

comedic actress rose marie visited wjw in 1961, part of cbs s promotional practice of sending major show stars directly local affiliates: in case, dick van dyke show. viewed tapes of of anderson , conway s skits , proceeded take conway under wing. following departure wjw, conway moved new york city; where, rose marie s assistance, auditioned for, , gained spot on, abc s steve allen show regular player. conway (who point had officially changed first name tim) continued on show through entire run.

mchale s navy

conway , ernest borgnine in photograph of mchale s navy, 1962

conway gained national following role bumbling, naive ensign charles parker, executive officer of world war ii pt-73, in 1960s sitcom mchale s navy, alongside ernest borgnine , joe flynn. borgnine became mentor , friend. conway appeared @ borgnine s 90th birthday celebration and, 4 years later, paid tribute friend @ 7th annual screen actors guild awards on tnt. conway said, borgnine big teddy bear , pleasant person around when worked him on world war 2 sitcom mchale s navy .

afterwards, starred in string of short-lived tv series, starting 1967 s rango starred conway incompetent texas ranger.

turn-on

conway part of 1 of infamous network tv programming catastrophes ever: turn-on, counter-cultural sketch comedy show on abc derided ripoff of nbc s rowan , martin s laugh-in. ironically, turn-on created , directed laugh-in s creator george schlatter. though conway listed guest star on pilot, abc broadcast on february 5, 1969, episode ever aired.

turn-on far ahead of time in terms of comedic treatment of sexuality show received enough immediate, negative reaction force several abc affiliates, including wews in conway s hometown of cleveland, refuse return program after first commercial break. wews management sent angrily-worded telegram network s headquarters. many west coast affiliates received advance warning , refused air show. conway remarked show s premiere party attended marked program s cancellation party, abc did not officially cancel program several days.

the tim conway show (1970)

conway , flynn pose in front of lucky linda in publicity photo tim conway show taken on january 9, 1970.

in 1970, tim conway show paired conway joe flynn of mchale s navy in sitcom owner-pilots of one-plane (a beechcraft model 18 named lucky linda) airline operated pair. having run , pressurized situation ideal fast repartee of lead actors. debuted in january 1970 , last new show aired in june 1970. in fall of same year, conway given own hour-long variety show, tim conway comedy hour, or tim conway comedy house, which, other series had, folded quickly, lasting 13 weeks. typical of self-effacing humor, ordered car s license plate reflect short duration of series: 13 wks . (conway given one-hour variety show ten years later, revived title tim conway show; see later section.)

beginning in 1975, conway paired don knotts in family films disney, including apple dumpling gang , 1979 sequel, apple dumpling gang rides again. starred in 2 independent films, boxing comedy called prize fighter in 1979, , 1980 mystery comedy film called private eyes. in 1983, starred in tv show, ace crawford, private eye, parody of detective series; lasted 5 episodes.

the carol burnett show

starting 1975–76 season, conway became regular on carol burnett show, after having been frequent guest show s first 8 seasons. conway s work on show earned him 5 emmy awards. 2 of conway s memorable characters on burnett show were:

the oldest man, shaggy white hair, slow speech, , shuffling gait ran counter much-needed energy levels of various occupations found in. comic inability said jobs done — slapstick results himself, , many ad-lib — both frustrated , broke fellow sketch performers.
mr. tudball, businessman intentions of running ship-shape office sunk bored indifference of secretary, mrs. wiggins (burnett). although character thought swedish, conway used romanian accent learned mother. example, attempts pronounce secretary s name came out mrs. ah-huh-wiggins . used accent other characters, such inept dentist.

conway results no dialogue, such in sketch in played tired businessman seeking restful sleep in hotel — , pestered housefly, created sound effect , conway s gazing after it. after struggle, manages fly out of room through window; after returning bed, hears persistent knock on door, gets answer it, , opens door, letting fly (who doing knocking) in.

another skit, without word conway, featured him playing simba, lion raised humans released wild (based on lioness elsa in film born free). conway, told of upcoming eviction comfortable home, caused burnett , harvey korman break interminable process of packing leave.

a prime example of ability make co-stars laugh uncontrollably involved lyle waggoner captured american airman, conway stereotypical blond-haired gestapo agent charged interrogation. stating fuhrer had taken particular interest, conway produces small hitler hand puppet. conway providing falsetto voice, puppet suggests singing might relax waggoner s character point willing talk. in long, drawn-out fashion, hitler puppet sings ve been working on railroad , , each passing verse, waggoner loses more of composure, laughing hysterically when puppet-hitler screeches, fee-fi-fiddely-i-o!

conway remained regular cast member of carol burnett show until program s run ended, in 1978.

the tim conway show (1980–1981)

in 1980, conway again given own one-hour variety program, titled tim conway show (the title used 1970 sitcom). aired on cbs, previous shows had, , debuted on march 22, 1980. full hour reduced half hour in summer 1980. lasted longer of earlier self-titled series, ending in august 1981. format similar of carol burnett show, several regular cast members performing in comedy sketches, interspersed occasional musical performance guest musician. among regulars in cast were, maggie roswell, miriam flynn, eric boardman, jack riley, , dick orkin. former burnett cast member harvey korman became tim conway show regular in late 1980, after having earlier made guest appearances on show, had carol burnett , vicki lawrence.

in spring of 1983, conway starred in situation comedy, ace crawford, private eye; spoof of detective shows, lasted month. in summer of 1990, starred in tim conway s funny america, playing pranks in disguise on unsuspecting passersby around united states while hidden cameras recorded results, conway presented studio audience; it, too, lasted few weeks.

dorf

conway s more recent work includes series of satirical how-to videos in plays diminutive, dark-haired scandinavian known dorf (a variation on dwarf ), reprising goofy mr. tudball accent. dorf character first appeared in 1987 film dorf on golf , has since appeared in 8 other films on variety of sports baseball auto racing. dorf on golf remastered dvd in 2007. in 2010, of dorf films remastered in dvd collection featuring 8 films, behind-the-scenes dorf, , commentary track tim conway on legend of paddle: oldie hollis story . dorf appeared on episode of tim conway s funny america in summer of 1990, leading aerobics class on impossibly short legs.

in 2009, conway s dorf character started helping santa claus on website ispotsanta, created comedy filmmaker pasquale murena , goes productions. each year, dorf has 3 sketches; in 2009, tried give santa christmas list, failing , accidentally hitting santa golf ball. then, in 2010, tried give of world s letters santa directly using jet rockets fly sleigh, cannonballs, , more.

other television

conway angel robert morse on s life, 1968

conway has made many guest appearances , other roles in television.

he guest-starred in abc s coach, received primetime emmy award outstanding guest actor in comedy series playing kenny montague in 1996 episode gardener . conway won emmy award outstanding guest actor in comedy series role bucky bright in 30 rock episode subway hero , aired on april 17, 2008.

his other tv roles include:

1963: channing, playing job applicant
1973: new scooby doo movies, voiced himself in episode spirited spooked sports show
1991: carol & company; cameo appearance audience member in episode little
1995–96: married... children ephraim wanker, hillbilly father of peg bundy in 4 episodes
1997/99: diagnosis: murder, appears in 2 episodes; in comedy murder , , harvey korman play former comedy partners tim conrad , harvey huckaby (a clip of well-known dentist sketch carol burnett show used illustrate partnership)
1999–present: spongebob squarepants, voicing character barnacle boy (14 episodes), recurring role pairing sidekick old mchale s navy co-star, ernest borgnine (as mermaid man) (now joe whyte july 9, 2012 – present because borgnine died of kidney failure on july 8, 2012.)
2001–05: yes dear, recurring role tom warner, father of greg, carol burnett show co-star vicki lawrence playing wife
2003: on spot, short-lived wb network comedy, mr. henderson
2003–10: hermie , friends, max lucado s animated video series, providing voice of title character in 8 episodes
2008: garfield s fun fest, voicing freddy frog , other characters
2008: 30 rock, bucky bright, washed star 1940s , 1950s
2010, 2013: hot in cleveland, in episodes s not complicated , canoga falls (in reunited carol burnett)
2010–11: wordgirl, voicing bampy botsford , museum security guard
2011: batman: brave , bold, voicing weeper in episode joker: vile , villainous!
2011: wizards of waverly place, cragmont in episode justin s in
2013: mike & molly, brian in episode school recital
2013: major crimes, tenant of shangri-la apartments in there s no place home
2014: 2 , half men, guest @ marty s stag party in bite me, supreme court
2014: glee, old man plays in peter pan in old dog new tricks

he has lent voice other tv shows including simpsons, disney spin-off hercules, lloyd in space, wild thornberrys, cybill, s new, scooby-doo?, proud family, scooby-doo! pirates ahoy!, caillou, , s andy?. narrated secret shortcut in reading rainbow , hosted flintstones 25th anniversary celebration.

in 2002, conway inducted television hall of fame.

on 75th birthday in 2008, conway interviewed guest on bonnie hunt show , given surprise cake bob newhart.

other film , video

he starred in disney films such world s greatest athlete (1973), apple dumpling gang (1975), gus (1976), , apple dumpling gang rides again (1979). starred in 1977 comedy film billion dollar hobo. conway co-starred don knotts in prize fighter (1979) , private eyes (1980). longshot horse race comedy starring tim conway (1986). conway appeared dick martin in air bud: golden receiver (1998) fred davis, main announcer timberwolves final game, martin co-announcer, phil phil. herman dooly in 1996 film, dear god.

conway , harvey korman created collector s edition dvd of new comedy sketches, titled again; sold through conway s official website , produced pasquale murena.

starting in 2003, conway teamed friend don knotts again provide voices direct-to-video children s series hermie , friends, continued until knotts death in 2006. conway continued series.

in 2007, hosted thou shalt laugh 2: deuce, collection of christian stand-up comedians.

in 2012-13, voiced character mulch in dreamworks dragons: riders of berk series.

in 2014, played professor vanvanguard, knowledgeable character of lives, characteristics , treating of zombies in award-winning feature film chip & bernie s zomance.