Legendary comedian and actor Tim Conway died early Tuesday morning in the Los Angeles area, according to his rep Howard Bragman. He was 85.
Before his death, Conway suffered from complications from “Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) and had no signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s,” People magazine reported Tuesday. Another report simply stated that the comedic genius died from “a long illness.” (RELATED: Hollywood Reacts To Death Of Legendary Actress Doris Day)
Actor Ernest Borgnine (R), winner of the life achievement award, poses with his wife Tova (L) and presenters Morgan Freeman and Tim Conway… 30, 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
The star was a staple of the “The Carol Burnett” show which ran from 1967-1978. He was a guest on the show numerous times during its run and became a regular on the show in 1975. Every week, he made viewers laugh with some of his characters like Oldest Man and Mr. Tudball. (RELATED: Peter Mayhew, The Actor Behind Chewbacca In ‘Star Wars,’ Dies At 74)
But truly some of his best moments were when he would make fellow cast members like Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman break character and bust up laughing. (RELATED: Hollywood Reacts To Devastating News Of Carrie Fisher’s Heart Attack)
“Tim’s [Conway’s] goal in life was to destroy [costar] Harvey Korman,” Burnett shared in 2013, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Tim Conway. pic.twitter.com/7Yl9SmHsjr
— Beel (@tomservo10) May 14, 2019
RIP Tim Conway. Some of my biggest laughs as a kid came from watching him make Harvey Korman break character on the Carol Burnett Show. (It wasn’t funny when Jimmy Fallon broke character on SNL b/c, I mean, the person making him laugh was no Tim Conway.) https://t.co/7qb3pR2iYy pic.twitter.com/PZd9IgA3XV
— Christopher J. Scalia (@cjscalia) May 14, 2019
“They used to do 33 shows a year on Burnett,” the actor once told the L.A. Times. “She said why don’t you just be a regular on the show? I said I will tell you what. I will do 32 shows and leave one week open at the end, so I can guest on somebody’s show. I always guested on her show, but I did have the right to go somewhere else. My job on every show was to break everybody up.”
During his career he won several accolades, including taking home a Golden Globe award in 1976 and Emmy Awards in 1973, 1977 and 1978.
He also starred on the hit show “McHale’s Navy” and was the voice of Barnacle Boy on “Spongebob Squarepants.”
In lieu of flowers and or gifts, the family has requested people instead make a donation to The Lou Ruvo Brain Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, stepdaughter, six biological kids and two granddaughters.