Tim Conway

Background

Tim Conway was in Willoughby, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. He was born Thomas Daniel Conway but later began going by Tim to avoid confusion with British actor Tom Conway. He was the only child of European immigrants whose father, Dan Conway, was from Ireland and worked as a horseman and his mom Sophie Murgoiu was from Romania. As a child, Conway’s family often moved, as his parents struggled to find work as a result of the Great Depression.

Conway attended Chagrin Falls High School. He later went to Bowling Green State University, where he majored in television and radio and worked as a disc jockey. While studying, he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. After graduation, he enlisted in the United States Army in 1956. Following his discharge in 1958 from the military, he returned to Cleveland and began working for several T.V. stations where he wrote several comedy skits that caught the attention of many. A year later, he landed his breakthrough role via “The Steve Allen Show” in 1961 followed by a part in “McHale’s Navy.” He then appeared in several other short-lived television series throughout the 1960s. Conway’s career rose in 1970 when he starred alongside Joe Flynn in “The Tim Conway Show.” The show was canceled after 13 episodes, but Conway was given the offer to host his comedy variety show, “The Tim Conway Comedy Hour,” which lasted for three months. In 1975, Conway became a regular on “The Carol Burnett Show,” after having often appeared in the previous eight seasons. His work on the show was well-received and he earned four Emmy Awards — one for writing and three for performing — and introduced him to a global audience.

Conway married two times during his lifetime. His first wife was Mary Anne Dalton, and they were together from 1961 to 1978. After his divorce from his first wife, he married his second wife, Charlene Fusco, in 1984. He and Charlene were separated by his death, after suffering complications from Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, in 2019.