Tim Conway, Comedian and "˜Carol Burnett Show' Star, Dies at 85

Tim Conway, Comedian and "˜Carol Burnett Show' Star, Dies at 85

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RIP to a comedy genius.  Heaven gained another funny & beautiful soul  â¤

Tim Conway was an American actor, writer, director, and comedian. He most memorably portrayed the inept Ensign Parker in the 1960s World War II situation comedy McHale's Navy, co-starred on the 1970s variety and sketch comedy program The Carol Burnett Show,  starred as the title character in the Dorf series of comedy films, and provided the voice of Barnacle Boy in the animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.

Conway is survived by his wife of 35 years, his stepdaughter, his six biological children and two granddaughters. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family would like donations to be made to The Lou Ruvo Brain Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Photo of Tim Conway and Ernest Borgnine from the television program McHale's Navy.ABC Television [Public domain]

Conway's rep, Howard Bragman, told TMZ that Tim was battling complications from normal pressure hydrocephalus -- an accumulation of spinal fluid on the brain. He had reportedly been suffering from dementia ... and had been under a conservatorship formed to make medical care decisions. The court appointed his wife, Charlene, his conservator.

"I've never been comfortable as the star," he told the Archive of American Television. "I don't feature myself as being the head man. I would much rather stand in the background and make small, funny things go, than be up at the head of the class."

Conway won multiple Emmy Awards, most recently in 2008 for his role as a guest star in the comedy show "30 Rock."

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