Conway cut his teeth in local television in the Cleveland area collaborating with Ernie Anderson who would later become an announcer for ABC. Discovered by Rose Marie, Conway got national exposure on The Steve Allen Show in 1961. A year later, Conway would become a bonafide TV star when cast alongside Ernest Borgnine in McHale's Navy which ran from 1962 to 1966.
However, Conway's greatest success came with his long association with The Carol Burnett Show first as a frequent guest and eventual cast member. Conway will be forever remembered for his on screen chemistry with co-star Harvey Korman especially with his ability to make Korman crack up during inopportune moments during sketches as was the case with The Dentist.
During the 1980's and 1990's, Conway made a series of videos as Dorf - a Scandinavian dwarf who somehow managed to make instructional videos in baseball, basketball and golf. During most of the 2000's, Conway was the voice of Barnacle Boy on the animated series SpongeBob Square Pants which reunited him with his McHale's Navy co-star Ernest Borgnine.
Conway was a consummate joker both on an off-stage. When I saw Carol Burnett at Symphony Hall in Boston back in April 2015 she recounted a story about Conway accompanying his wife to a dinner of bridge players. While Conway's wife was a championship bridge player, he found the game utterly boring. When he went to the bathroom he saw a jar of Vaseline and a box of Q-Tips. Conway lathered his face with Vaseline, removed the cotton from the Q-tips and stuck them to his face. When Conway exited the bathroom, he exclaimed, "The Q-Tip box exploded."
Earth is a slightly less funny place tonight. The same cannot be said of Heaven. R.I.P.
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