Biography for
Tim Conway More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

15 December 1933, Willoughby, Ohio, USA

Birth Name

Thomas Daniel Conway

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Spouse

Charlene Conway	(18 May 1984 - present)
Mary Anne Dalton	(1961 - 1978) (divorced) 6 children

Trivia

First name was changed to Tim to avoid confusion with Tom Conway

Comedienne Rose Marie discovered him and arranged for him to audition for "The Steve Allen Plymouth Show" (1956). He so impressed Allen that Conway wound up with a regular spot on the show.

Has been called "the best second-banana in the business".

He became notorious on "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967) for making the cast members - especially co-star Harvey Korman - break up with laughter during taping, while he remained in character. Unlike most shows, these bits were usually left in the routines when the episodes were aired.

His car's license plate reads "13 WKS", a reference to the fact that all of his solo television projects have been cancelled after 13 weeks.

Father of Tim Conway Jr., Corey Conway, Jackie Conway, Jaime Conway, Pat Conway, Shawn Conway and Kelly Conway.

Earned a degree in television and radio from Bowling Green State University.

He is a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 115-116. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Named a Disney Legend. [2004]

Is of Irish descent on his father's side.

Was local TV comedy team partner with Ernie Anderson (father of director Paul Thomas Anderson) until Conway moved away from Cleveland.

Father of Jamie "Jake" Conway.

In a guest appearance on "30 Rock", Tim Conway's character, "Bucky Bright", is escorted around the office. When he identifies himself in a picture, the image is an actual publicity photo of the McHale's Navy cast. Tim Conway starred in McHale's Navy and is the person in the picture at which he pointed.

Personal Quotes

People come up to me and start conversations. Dogs sniff me. It's quite an easy life, actually.

[About his childhood dyslexia]: People thought that I was kidding when I would read out loud in school, so they started laughing. For instance, the book 'They Were Expendable,' I read as 'They were expandable.' People were going, 'This guy is great! Expandable! What are you talking about, rubber people?' I thought, 'I must be funny, so I might as well continue with this.'

[Of the late Harvey Korman, who co-starred alongside him on "The Carol Burnett Show" (1967)]: Harvey was one of the brightest people I've ever met, but the man could not tie his own shoes. He looked at life from an entirely different angle. I would put him on constantly. We were on an airplane one time, coming back [to Los Angeles] from New York, and we had to land in Arizona to refuel. We were taxiing out to the next runway, and I said to Harvey, 'I don't know if the guy put the gas cap back on. It was on the wing and now it's not. Harvey got worried. So he got up and went to the pilot and said, 'your gas cap's not on.' And the pilot just looked at him. There is no gas cap!

It's been such a great ride because I've got to do all the great things I respect in comedy, and met the people I respect in comedy.

[on his favorite comic heroes of all time]: Gleason, Steve Allen, Tom Poston, Don Knotts. Don Knotts was a really big influence, especially on the Steve Allen show. I mean, look at the guy, his entire life is in his face. And you can't TV surf without coming across an Andy of Mayberry episode where you've just got to watch Don as Barney. And that's why I put Don in several of my movies.

[When asked if he approaches Ernest Borgnine, continuously]: I run into Ernie fairly frequently. He has a great feeling for seeing and being with people. He travels around the country in a trailer, stops at little towns, jumps in, speaks to people, and moves on. He loves to do that kind of thing.

[Of his on- and off-screen chemistry with Ernest Borgnine, who played Lt. Commander Quinton McHale]: And I went out and did it --- Ernie was sensational. I mean, here's an Oscar-winner, dealing with a guy who should be in Cleveland. And to go from Marty (1955) to From Here to Eternity (1953) and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), I mean, the Alpha-Omega of acting and here's me, who didn't know anything about this. So, one day I thought I would impress Ernie and see what I know what I'm doing, and I said 'Before we're doing a shot,' I said, 'Ernie, what is my motivation in this particular scene?' He said, 'If you don't get this shot by 5 P.M., I'm going to kick you in the ass.' So that was my acting lesson; and that's the only one I've ever had.

[Of Ernest Borgnine]: Yeah, I'm afraid - he's unbelievable. He lives not too far from us. And I also do a Sponge Bob with him and we do a couple of voice-overs on it. And he'll, you know, he comes running down the hall like a 12 year old, he grabs me, he gives me a hug, breaks a couple of ribs and I see him again in a couple of weeks. But he just is - it's wonderful, he's what 90 now and he just gets in his tractor - or a tractor - his trailer and drives around the country. He'll stop someplace for a week and just sit out in front of a store and talk to people. He loves people; he loves just, you know...being himself. And what a talent, I mean, to go from, you know, a (Marty) and an Oscar winner...to Fatso Judson.