I was sad to learn that Tim Conway is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and is coming to the end of his life. His comedic timing was impeccable, and he gave me (and millions of others) a great deal of enjoyment in his acting career.
I can't think of any better way to honor him than his famous Elephant Sketch from the Carol Burnett Show.
A timeless comedy classic!
Peter
You could also check out 'the world's slowest man' videos from Burnett's shows.
ReplyDeleteThe very best Conway was during the last couple weeks of the old Carson show, when Conway, Winters, and Robin Williams were all guests--at the same time. Carson lost control of the show.
Can't find it on "free" YouTube, sadly.
Vicki Lawrence had some comments on that episode and provides insight on why Carol, Tim, and Dick van Dyke all totally lost after her comment... You can find her interview on youtube.
ReplyDeleteThat show had a comedy Dream Team and the luck and insight to let them fly high.
If I remember right, they rehearsed the skit with a different joke, then when it came time to shoot it, someone (producer, director?) told Tim to tell a different joke.
ReplyDeleteWatching them barely hold it together is as funny as Tim telling the joke.
Hey Peter;
ReplyDeleteI have that clip saved, and I can watch it over and over again and laugh just as heard the first time and the 10th time. He was that good. As I recall from a blog post I did a while back, the cast was told "Tim Conway, Elephant Joke". It was a total surprise and totally off the cuff. To Suffer Alzheimer the death of personality before the big sleep is he cruelest thing to me.
One of my favorites, along with the dentist sketch. So sad to hear about his Alzheimer's. That's what got Glen Campbell, too. And it is a very cruel way to go.
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