Tim Conway
American actor Tim Conway was born in Willoughby, Ohio, but grew up
in the curiously named community Chagrin Falls, a fact that he'd later
incorporate for a quick laugh in many of his comedy routines, TV films and
movies. After majoring in speech and radio at Bowling Green State
University, Conway went into the Eighth Army Assignment Team, where,
much in the manner of his later bumbling screen characters, he managed to
"misplace" a boat load of 7500 replacement troops. Once the army was through
with him (and vice versa), Conway secured a job answering mail for a
Cleveland radio deejay; his letters were so amusing that he was given a job
as a writer in the promotional department, then went on to direct a TV
program called Ernie's Place. Whenever Ernie was short a guest,
Conway showed up as "Dag Hereford," a so-called authority on several
subjects who'd reveal himself to be a blithering simpleton. Comedienne Rose Marie happened
to be in Cleveland in 1961, and upon catching Conway's routine
recommended the young erstwhile comic to Steve Allen ; Conway
redid the Hereford bit for Allen's ABC variety series in the fall of
'61, fracturing the audiences (and Allen) in three memorable
appearances. Now that he was a full-fledged comic, he knew he couldn't
continue performing under his real name, Tom Conway, since that was
also the name of a well-known British actor; Allen advised Tom
to "dot the O," and thereafter he was known as Tim Conway. In 1962, Conway was engaged to play the Doug Hereford-like role of Ensign Doug
Parker on the wartime sitcom McHale's Navy, which lasted six seasons
and made Conway a star. The actor has made several attempts over the
last three decades to succeed as a solo TV star, but none of his post-McHale's
Navy series have been anything resembling hits. Still, Conway was
always welcome as a supporting comic, as witness his hysterically funny
appearances opposite Harvey Korman on The {$Carol Burnett Show}
in the 1970s; Conway also enjoyed a measure of success as star or
co-star of a number of Disney films and low-budget "regional" comedy
pictures like The Prize Fighter (1978) and The Private Eyes
(1980). More recently,
Conway has starred in a popular series of satirical "how-to" home
videos, playing a diminutive, dim-bulbed Scandinavian named Dorf. ~ Hal
Erickson, All Movie Guide
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