Many of us, Old Schoolers, probably remember when the cast of The Carol Burnett Show had us crackin’ up back in the day. Before sketch comedies like In Living Color kicked off in the 90’s, there was Carroll Burnett Show, where legends like Tim Conway nailed every character he played -like ‘The Oldest Man’ and ‘Mr. Tudball’- to precision.
Well, we now have very sad news to report about the man who made America laugh throughout the 1970’s and early 80’s. Actor, Tim Conway has just passed away at the age of 85, following a long battle .
His rep,Howard Bragman, confirmed to People Magazine, that Conwy died at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, in Los Angeles, CA.
Via People: Prior to [Tim Conway’s] death, he suffered complications from Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) and had no signs of dementia or Alzheimer’s.
Conway is survived by his wife of 35 years, his stepdaughter, his six biological children and two granddaughters. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family would like donations to be made to The Lou Ruvo Brain Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Carole Burnett & Conway Spoke On How He Tricked The Cast On Set
At a prior event, in 2013, as Tim was promoting his autobiographical book, “What’s So Funny? My Hilarious Life,” Carol Burnett (86) recalled how Tim never stuck to the scripts on The Carol Burnett Show. As a result, he always caught them off guard with some type of hilarious line, forcing them to have to keep their composure while filming:
“Tim’s goal in life was to destroy [costar] Harvey Korman,” Burnett told the audience.
Conway later told recalled catching his Carol Burnett Show castmmates off guard in an interview with LA Times:
“Harvey never saw what I was going to do until he was actually doing the sketch,” he said. “As a matter of fact in the dentist sketch you can actually see Harvey wet his pants from laughing.”
Conway’s Daughter & Wife Beefed Over His Care Shortly Before His Passing
Conway’s passing comes after his wife and daughter recently battled over his care toward the end of his life. According to reports, in August 2018, Conway’s daughter, Kelly, filed legal docs, requesting that she be appointed conservator of her Dad so that she could take control of his health care. She accused his wife, Charlene, of “planning to move him out of the excellent skilled nursing facility he is currently at” to put Tim into a far lesser quality facility. At that time, Kelly noted that her Dad could not “properly provide for his personal needs for physical health, food, and clothing” and is “almost entirely unresponsive.”
In addition to her conservatorship request, Kelly also filed a restraining order to block Tim’s wife from facilitating the move. However, approximately 7 months later- in March 2019- Charlene was ultimately appointed as conservator of her husband, Tim Conway.
Conway is survived by his 7 children, whom he shares with his first wife, Mary Anne Dalton. May he rest peacefully.
