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Tim Conway
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===1960–1966: Rise to prominence === After his discharge from the Army, Conway returned to Cleveland and worked with [[Ernie Anderson]] on [[WKYC|KYW-TV]], an [[NBC]] affiliate, in 1958 and 1959. Early on, Conway and Anderson acted in TV commercials that built on their quirky brand of humor to supplement their income.<ref>See, for example, a series of six Christmas-themed TV commercials [[Cinécraft Productions, Inc.]] made with Conway and Anderson for [[Ohio Bell]] in 1960. https://digital.hagley.org/FILM_2019227_FC087</ref> From 1960 to 1962, Conway was on [[WJW (TV)|WJW-TV]] (then a [[CBS]] affiliate, now a [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] affiliate) on a weekday morning film show (under the ''Ernie's Place'' banner), where he also wrote material for the comedic skits shown during film intermissions. Conway also recorded a comedy album with Anderson, who gained national prominence as a voice-over announcer for [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC Television]] beginning in the 1970s.<ref>Gitlin, Bob. "Ghoulardi, Then and Now." Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 18, 1990.</ref> WJW-TV dismissed Conway in 1962, in part because he (and Anderson) misled station management into thinking he had experience as a director.<ref>{{Citation|last=EWTN|title=Tim Conway EXCLUSIVE on EWTN's World Over Live with Raymond Arroyo — 2013-01-09|date=January 10, 2014|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqCyx1EtVUE|access-date=May 14, 2019}}</ref> Because of this move, which deprived Anderson of his co-host and comic foil, the station asked Anderson if he could host a B-grade (and lower) horror film show on Friday nights instead. Conway continued to make many appearances alongside Anderson's alter ego ''[[Ghoulardi]]'', in addition to "Big Chuck" Schodowski, a station engineer who Anderson got to assume much of Conway's sidekick status (and who ultimately succeeded Anderson as co-host of the horror film program).{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} After he became famous, Conway resurfaced periodically on Cleveland television on the ''[[Big Chuck and Lil' John|Hoolihan and Big Chuck]]'' and ''[[Big Chuck and Lil' John]]'' shows on WJW-TV, in guest spots and occasional skits. Conway also made regular guest appearances at numerous "Ghoulardifest" functions held by WJW over the years, along with former Cleveland TV personality [[Bob "Hoolihan" Wells]], in tribute to Anderson, who died in 1997.{{Citation needed|date=May 2019}} Comedic actress [[Rose Marie]] visited [[WJW (TV)|WJW]] in 1961, as part of CBS's promotional practice of sending their major show stars directly to local affiliates: in this case, it was for ''[[The Dick Van Dyke Show]]''. She viewed tapes of some of Anderson and Conway's skits and proceeded to take Conway under her wing. Following his departure from WJW, Conway moved to New York City, where, with Rose Marie's assistance, he auditioned for, and gained a spot on, [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]'s ''[[The Steve Allen Show]]'' as a regular player.<ref name="ap19750706" /> During this time he also appeared on ''[[The Garry Moore Show]]'' and ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'', and ''[[That's Life (1968 TV series)|Thats Life]]''. ''' ''McHale's Navy'' ''' {{main|McHale's Navy}} [[File:Ernest Borgnine Tim Conway McHales Navy 1962.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Conway and Ernest Borgnine in a photograph of ''[[McHale's Navy]]'', 1962]] Conway gained a national following from his role as the bumbling, naive Ensign Charles Parker, Executive Officer of the World War II PT-73, in the 1960s sitcom ''[[McHale's Navy]]'', alongside [[Ernest Borgnine]] and [[Joe Flynn (American actor)|Joe Flynn]]. Borgnine became a mentor and a good friend. Conway appeared at Borgnine's 90th birthday celebration and, four years later, paid tribute to his friend at the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on [[TNT (U.S. TV network)|TNT]].<ref name="Dawidziak43">{{cite news|url=http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2011/01/tim_conway_to_introduce_ernest_borgnine_tribute.html|title=Tim Conway to introduce Ernest Borgnine tribute|date=January 28, 2011|work=[[The Plain Dealer#cleveland.com|Cleveland.com]]|first=Mark|last=Dawidziak|access-date=August 24, 2012}}</ref> Afterwards, he starred in a string of short-lived television series, starting with 1967's ''[[Rango (TV series)|Rango]]'' which starred Conway as an incompetent [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061288/ |title=Rango|work=IMDb|access-date=May 15, 2019 }}</ref> Conway was part of an infamous network TV programming catastrophe, ''[[Turn-On]]'', a [[counterculture|counter-cultural]] [[sketch comedy]] show on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] that was derided as a rip-off of NBC's ''[[Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In]]''. The show was in fact created and directed by ''Laugh-In''{{'}}s creator [[George Schlatter]]. Even though Conway was listed only as a guest star on the pilot, which ABC broadcast on February 5, 1969, it was the [[List of television series canceled after one episode|only episode that ever aired]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TuNKAAAAIBAJ&pg=2528,1721666 |title=Turn-On |work=[[The Daily Gazette]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=February 10, 1969 |pages=16 |access-date=May 15, 2019 }}</ref> [[File:Tim Conway and Robert Morse - 1968.jpg|thumb|right|Conway as an angel with [[Robert Morse]] on ''[[That's Life (1968 TV series)|That's Life]]'', 1968]] In 1963, Conway guest-starred in ''[[Channing (TV series)|Channing]]'' playing a job applicant. In 1968, he made two guest appearances on ''[[That's Life (1968 TV series)|That's Life]]''. From 1970 to 1971, Conway made four appearances on ''[[Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In]]''. ''Turn-On'' received enough immediate, negative reaction to force several ABC affiliates, including [[WEWS-TV]] in Conway's hometown of Cleveland, to refuse to return to the program after the first commercial break. WEWS management also sent an angrily-worded telegram to the network's headquarters. Many West Coast affiliates received advance warning and refused to air the show. Conway remarked that the show's premiere party he attended was also the program's cancellation party,<ref>{{Cite AV media |people= Conway, Tim |title=Pioneers of Television: Tim Conway on "Turn-On" (#104) |url= http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/1429/pitv_20080111_tim_conway_turn_on |medium= Web |publisher= [[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]] |access-date= February 23, 2009 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090308130751/http://www.iptv.org/video/detail.cfm/1429/pitv_20080111_tim_conway_turn_on |archive-date= March 8, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-11-26-0611260025-story.html|title=O.J. blunder hardly a first for television|last=Rosenthal|first=Phil|date=November 26, 2006|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|access-date=April 15, 2007|quote=Tim Conway ... has joked the cancellation of the 1969 ABC comedy program came during the cast's post-debut party.}}</ref> but ABC did not officially cancel the program until February 9.<ref>"ABC Cancels 'Turn-On' Hit----as Vulgar." Fresno [CA] Bee, February 10, 1969.</ref>
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