# Tim Conway Dead at 85 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [May 14, 2019, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957 "2019-05-14T16:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/41 "2019-05-15T01:19:04Z")
RIP, Tim. You made the world a funnier place to live in. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/42 "2019-05-15T01:42:23Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > [The world’s cheapest man on Newhart was the role that I first really remember him on. He literally kept teabags for reusing them.](https://youtu.be/pEUI8yE8nOk?t=938) > > Saw him in many, many things, but that one-off role really stood out for me. That bit was actually copied from Abbot & Costello. The duo were running a diner; a customer asked for tea; Lou asked the customer “One or two”, and the customer, assuming he meant lumps of sugar, said “Two” (IIRC). Lou took a teabag out of his apron and dunked it twice in the cop of hot water, then put the teabag back into his apron. Sorry; I have no idea which show it was and my “google-fu” is legendarily sparse. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/43 "2019-05-15T02:50:30Z")
He was so wonderful, I loved seeing him in action. We were lucky to have him. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/44 "2019-05-15T03:47:34Z")
I primarily remember him from the movies he did with Don Knotts like _The Apple Dumpling Gang_ and _The Private Eyes._ I don’t think I’ve seen those movies in more than 30 years but I remember enjoying them quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/45 "2019-05-15T05:03:11Z")
A couple of weeks ago, I saw the _Diagnosis: Murder_ episode, “Comedy is Murder.” Tim Conway tried to kill his former partner played by Harvey Korman, and they used some clips from “The Carol Burnett Show.” Man, he was funny. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/46 "2019-05-15T05:24:14Z")
I can’t believe I’m the only one here who’s referenced _ **McHale’s Navy** _. :eek: Yes, Tim’s work on \*\*\*Carol Burnett \*\*\*and elsewhere was hysterically funny, but he’ll always be Ensign Charles Parker to me! :o ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/47 "2019-05-15T10:31:36Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I can’t believe I’m the only one here who’s referenced _ **McHale’s Navy** _ No, you’re not. > [@cochrane](#): > > Godspeed, Mr. Parker. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/48 "2019-05-15T10:45:24Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No, you’re not. Good to know! :o ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/49 "2019-05-15T13:28:35Z")
In an interview clip I heard on the radio last night, Conway said “When I watch the old Carol Burnett shows, I think I should have been arrested for mugging the camera so much.” A true icon. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/50 "2019-05-15T13:47:33Z")
Very funny guy. I always enjoyed him on _The Carol Burnett Show_. May he rest in peace. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/51 "2019-05-15T15:37:15Z")
I showed the Dentist sketch to my kids last night and my daughter looked like she was about to cry during it. She thought it was funny but she also cringed every time Conway stabbed himself with the Novocain. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/52 "2019-05-15T15:54:39Z")
The **Siamese Elephants** and the **Dentist** were very fine indeed, but the one that always cracked me up the most is **Mister Bunny, Attorney-at-Law.** [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/p3eqWYGahgA/hqdefault.jpg "Carol Burnett Tim Conway Mr Bunny") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3eqWYGahgA) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/53 "2019-05-15T17:09:18Z")
A good comedian can take good material and make you laugh. Tim Conway could take good material and make you wet yourself. The elephant story is an example of something else that made him great. The story is, in a sense. an ensemble piece. I know that breaking character and cracking up was part of the schtick on The Carol Burnett Show. Sometimes that works, for other shows, sometimes it’s just the cast making a joke seem funnier than it is. But Tim Conway in the elephant story was able to use it to involve, not only the cast, but the audience, in the feeling that they were part of something. Not just watching, but watching along with the cast from the inside. And Tim knew that, and by using his absolutely perfect timing in delivering the story to make everyone else collapse helplessly and just watch him play with them and with the audience. Nobody was faking it that time - everyone was watching someone hitting an absolute peak, and letting him run with it because nobody wanted to miss a moment. And then Vicki Lawrence, in character (more or less) as Mama, delivering that perfect punchline. Not to upstage, to underline. And then Tim Conway cracks up too, and everyone - cast, audience, and performer - are drawn up together. Some moments are so perfect that they can’t be compared to anything else. Because only one person could have done that moment. Tim Conway gave us moments like that. RIP. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/54 "2019-05-15T19:46:18Z")
No mention of [Dorf](https://youtu.be/FR-EzL0tzKk) yet? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/55 "2019-05-15T21:05:57Z")
Shodan, that was perfectly put. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/56 "2019-05-15T22:22:15Z")
Back when you could still joke about Nazis, Tim Conway did an unforgettable bit with a Hitler hand puppet interrogating Lyle Waggoner as an American POW with the best rendition of _I’ve Been Working on the Railroad_ ever. “I am the most feared interrogator in the world…and part of Canada!” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2019, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/57 "2019-05-15T22:43:32Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Back when you could still joke about Nazis, Tim Conway did an unforgettable bit with a Hitler hand puppet interrogating Lyle Waggoner as an American POW with the best rendition of _I’ve Been Working on the Railroad_ ever. > > “I am the most feared interrogator in the world…and part of Canada!” Looks like that sketch is one of the ones linked to here: [Tim Conway’s Funniest Sketches from _The Carol Burnett Show_](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2019/05/tim-conways-funniest-comedy-sketches.html) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/58 "2019-05-16T12:46:08Z")
Regarding _McHale’s Navy_ cast members … Of the cast that appeared in at least 100 of the 138 episodes, only John Wright (Willy Moss) and Yoshio Yoda (Fuji Kobiaji) aren’t listed as deceased. For such minor actors, sometimes their deaths go by without notice. In terms of definitely being alive, you have to reach down to Gavin MacLeod (Happy) who is credited for 73 episodes before leaving the show. The show started in 1962, which just makes me feel old. Carl Ballantine (Lester Gruber) was my favorite character. I have a sibling that got a picture taken with Bob Hastings (Lt. Elroy Carpenter) in uniform during a studio tour well after the show went off the air. Regarding Conway: If you can make Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman crack up regularly, you are a top notch funny person. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2019, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957/59 "2019-05-16T14:14:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Regarding _McHale’s Navy_ cast members … > > Of the cast that appeared in at least 100 of the 138 episodes, only John Wright (Willy Moss) and Yoshio Yoda (Fuji Kobiaji) aren’t listed as deceased. For such minor actors, sometimes their deaths go by without notice. > > In terms of definitely being alive, you have to reach down to Gavin MacLeod (Happy) who is credited for 73 episodes before leaving the show. > > The show started in 1962, which just makes me feel old. > > Carl Ballantine (Lester Gruber) was my favorite character. I have a sibling that got a picture taken with Bob Hastings (Lt. Elroy Carpenter) in uniform during a studio tour well after the show went off the air. > > Regarding Conway: If you can make Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman crack up regularly, you are a top notch funny person. I was in second grade in 1962. My God, how I loved that show! My mother hated it, which made me love it even more. Tuesday night was the best one of the week: _ **Combat!** _ followed by _ **McHale’s Navy** _ (and I’d watch _ **Dobie Gillis** _ in the last half hour before the network took over Channel 9). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tim-conway-dead-at-85/833957.md?page=2)