All it took was one tiny smirk from Tim Conway to send the entire The Carol Burnett Show into total meltdown. Conway never needed loud punchlines—just a perfectly timed pause and one absurd line delivered with a straight face. Within seconds the script was useless and his co-stars were doomed, especially Harvey Korman, who could barely survive a scene without collapsing in laughter. From the legendary “Dentist Sketch,” where Conway slowly loses control after accidentally numbing himself, to the infamous elephant story that had the entire cast gasping for air, the formula was always the same: Conway waits… smirks… drops one ridiculous line—and the whole show explodes into uncontrollable comedy chaos.
Tim Conway, who passed away yesterday at the age of 85, used to feel ubiquitous. Between his long tenure on The Carol Burnett Show, his series of films with Don Knotts, and regular guest appearances all over the TV dial, he was one of the most recognizable comedians of the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. He was … Read more