美国国家公共电台 NPR Tim Conway, Who Relished The Role Of Comedic Co-Star, Dies At 85

 

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Tim Conway, a comic actor whose career ranged from "The Carol Burnett Show" to "SpongeBob SquarePants," died today due to complications from a long illness. He was 85. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says Conway built a career playing bumbling goofballs who rarely took center stage.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE¹: Tim Conway often helped turn good television shows into TV classics. There was his breakout role in the 1960s sitcom² "McHale's Navy" as a bumbling ensign in World War II - Charles Parker...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "MCHALE'S NAVY")

TIM CONWAY: (As Charles Parker) Sir, Ensign Parker has a request.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) A request.

CONWAY: (As Charles Parker) Yes, sir - permission to faint.

DEGGANS: ...And "The Carol Burnett Show's" Mr. Tudball, a heavily accented boss perpetually annoyed by his slow-moving secretary.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW")

CONWAY: (As Mr. Tudball) Would it be more handy if I put a revolving³ door in here for you?

DEGGANS: He even popped up on the cartoon "SpongeBob SquarePants" as a frustrated⁴ superhero sidekick called Barnacle Boy, at least some of the time.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS")

CONWAY: (As Barnacle Boy) I'm tired of playing second banana to a man who wears a bra. From now on, I want to be called Barnacle Man.

DEGGANS: Conway also starred in many TV shows, but few lasted very long. As he told the Archive of American Television, he always felt more comfortable being the guy standing⁵ behind the star, making everyone laugh.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CONWAY: I've never been comfortable as the star. 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.

DEGGANS: Born Thomas Daniel Conway in Ohio, he served in the Army and knocked around in Cleveland's local TV scene before heading to New York to join "The Steve Allen Show" in the early 1960s. Because the show already had a staffer named Tom Conway, he adopted the stage name Tim. Conway told Weekend Edition host Scott Simon in 2010 during an interview before a live audience that a childhood disorder⁶ led him to consider comedy as a career.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CONWAY: Well, I was dyslexic - was, still am - 'cause I would see words that weren't there. And people just started laughing. And I thought, well, this is a good way to make a living. I'll just go downtown and read and have people laugh, you know?

(LAUGHTER)

SCOTT SIMON, BYLINE: But it was almost to cover up some embarrassment⁷.

CONWAY: That's a good idea - wish I'd have thought of that.

DEGGANS: Conway's role in "McHale's Navy" led to lots of guest appearances on variety shows. Eventually, he landed a regular role on CBS's popular "Carol Burnett Show," where he developed a reputation for side-splitting improvisations that would make his co-stars crack up laughing. In one sketch⁸, Conway played a young dentist working on his first patient. Departing from the script, he ad libbed the character accidently shooting himself with novocaine, making co-star Harvey Korman break out in laughter.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW")

HARVEY KORMAN: (As character) Take a firm hold of the hypodermic needle.

CONWAY: (As character) Right.

DEGGANS: In the 1970s and '80s, he appeared in films with "Andy Griffith Show" alum Don Knotts, including Disney's "The Apple Dumpling Gang." Conway and Harvey Korman also worked together on films and in stage productions until Korman died in 2008. Conway won six Emmy awards over his career, including four for his work on "The Carol Burnett Show." He also won an Emmy in 2008 for a guest appearance on the sitcom "30 Rock" as an aging comic remembering the old days while touring NBC's New York studios.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "30 ROCK")

CONWAY: (As Bucky) Men came to work - ties and hats.

JACK⁹ MCBRAYER: (As Kenneth) So elegant.

CONWAY: (As Bucky) And you had tailor-made suits and an inside monogrammed pocket, you know, for your opium¹⁰ pipe and your switchblade.

MCBRAYER: (As Kenneth) I'm sorry. What now?

CONWAY: (As Bucky) Say, why don't you show me around the old studio?

DEGGANS: In a career that spanned nearly six decades, he used a lightning-fast wit and impish improvisational¹¹ skill to turn hapless, bumbling roles into the most popular characters, who almost never got top billing.

I'm Eric Deggans.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

3 revolving   

adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The theatre has a revolving stage. 剧院有一个旋转舞台。
• The company became a revolving-door workplace. 这家公司成了工作的中转站。

4 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

7 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

8 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

10 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

11 improvisational   

adj. 即兴的

参考例句：

• I have never been at games like charades or improvisational acting. 您从来都唔擅长玩“有口难言”或者“即席表演”之类既游戏。
• I'm practicing self-control, those random and improvisational acts aren't allowed. 我在练习控制自己，那些随意的、即兴的举动是不允许的。