A Laugh a Minute: Tim Conway, funny man - TCM Presents The Family Classics

When you think of Tim Conway, what comes to mind? Maybe it's the "old man" shuffle. One hip out. Shuffle. Shuffle. Snap. Or maybe it's Amos Tucker in the 1975 Disney film The Apple Dumpling Gang. Maybe it's the gang at The Carol Burnett Show. The improv comedy between Harvey Kormak and Conway was just as funny as the skits, often dropping the star of the show to her knees, laughing so hard she cried.

Tim Conway celebrates 75 years of life on December 15th. He's been in show business for over 40 years. He's still laugh-out-loud funny, like when he tells the story of his mother coming to America from Ireland. She only knew two words of English, Conway says. They were "chocolate sundae". He holds out his arms and makes a phttth sound, showing how his Irish momma widened. (To see him tell it, click here.)

The tagline for the movie Apple Dumpling Gang says this: Wanted - for chicanery, skulduggary, tomfollowery and habitual bungling.

It seems appropriate for a comedian and actor that loves to make people laugh and went to great lengths to make the magic happen.

Conway says if he hadn't been an actor, he would have signed up for a very different career. "I considered being a jockey when I got out of high school and fell off so much and was terrified so much starting gate - the gate opened and I wasn’t on it."

Good thing for us.

You see, I've been a bit nostalgic as I prepared for the interview. I checked out the lineup for December. TCM (Turner Classic Movies) is blasting this special season with a gift: Every Sunday they are showing several Disney movies like The World's Greatest Athlete (1973), The Shaggy D.A. (1976), and The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979).

It's hilarious to see how a computer appeared in the 70's release of the Disney film, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.

Times have changed. Walt Disney once said, "I want to make movies that the kids will be proud to bring their parents to." It is one reason that Conway starred in so many.

"I love that I can sit down and watch the Disney films with them. With kids, it’s tough for them to see what’s going on nowadays, that’s why the Disney films on Turner Classic Movies is such a blessing to the family - they offer movies you can watch with the whole family."

Maybe the 70's and early 80's was pre-birth for you, but Tim Conway continues to entertain. Several generations so far -- Your grandma. People like me. You. If he keeps it up, he'll be entertaining another generation.

"I enjoy working with children and I have a site on the net that shows all the stuff we’re doing now. I'm also starting an hour show on Christian Network - like the old days. You don’t find that time available - commercials - that’s coming on. This is going to be a whole new family channel. You’d be surprised - Harvey and I would do 150 shows per year and there's a whole other world between Los Angeles and NY. TV is awful - I don’t know who is watching it. They’re getting ratings of 1 million. The Burnett show had 35 million people watching."

Call it old-fashioned, or maybe just call it a keen sense of what is truly funny.

Tim originated from the snowbelt of Cleveland. It's not clear whether that shaped his humor, though living close to Chagrin Falls seems ironic. He's traveled a long way from Willoughby, Ohio as the son of Irish immigrants. He may have earned Emmy's, lived in Movie land, and yes he even played the voice of Barnacle Boy on SpongeBob Square Pants, but he hasn't forgotten his roots.

He's still entertaining, and it seems like he's having the most fun of all.

To check out the entire TCM schedule of classic Disney films for the month of December, click here, go pop a few bowls of popcorn and get ready for a good, clean laugh.