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Tim Conway still hometown boy
(by Barbara Christian - June 16, 2010)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Tim Conway still hometown boy
A wise man once said, "Never meet someone you admire, because they will always disappoint." That is never the case with Tim Conway.
The Chagrin-raised funnyman came home last week to help the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre raise some money. There was no entourage, manager, publicity agent or gaggle of adoring groupies. There was just Tim, the hometown boy who never forgot where he came from.
This trip was the third time we were lucky enough to get to talk to him, and he remains consistently down to earth, even if one of our questions didn't get a straight answer.
What we hear from his former Chagrin Falls schoolmates and his favorite teacher, Elsa Jane Carroll, that is very much the way he was in school, when he was Tom, not Tim. He was forced to change his name, because there already was one Tom Conway working in Hollywood show business.
Miss Carroll recalled how he needed teachers who had a sense of humor, not so much a strong hand. It takes a village to raise a comedian. And he remained her student until she passed away in her 90s. Tim kept in touch, often calling her from his home in California, visited her on his returns home and continued to seek her encouragement.
He came home often after he got his big break on "McHale's Navy." His parents, Dan and Sophie, now both gone, lived in the same East Orange Street home where they raised their only child. Tim brought his six kids back home too. "I wanted them to see grass, cows and real people," he said.
The word went out around town that, when the now-famous favorite son came home, everyone was to act normally and not ask for a picture or an autograph. He was to be treated as Tom, not Tim.
Did anyone ask him for an autograph during his trip last week, we asked? "Just one woman," Tim said, sinking back into to class-clown mode. "I wrote my name, she looked at it and said she couldn't read it, so I told her I would send her a typewritten copy."
He continued to remember where home was after he became a bona-fide celebrity during his movie career and as a star of "The Carol Burnett Show."
Chagrin Valley Little Theatre actor Frank Mularo recalls Tim as a regular guy. He said he remembers the time he answered the pay phone in the theater lobby. "The guy on the other end said it was Tim Conway, he was visiting his folks and could he come down to the theater for awhile," Frank said. "A few minutes later, Tim Conway shows up. We sat around for what must have been two hours telling stories. It was great."
At 76, Tim Conway continues to honor his hometown by giving back. He donated three appearances at CVLT, did a luncheon, two pre-show receptions and three after-show meet and greets.
It's not the first time he has been a CVLT "angel." In the early 1960s, he appeared on the CVLT stage as Ensign Pulver in "Mr. Roberts."
In fact, Tim Conway could give seminars to celebrities about giving back to the communities that raised them up. They would learn a thing or two about how to be a human being, not just a brand. And we say that, knowing Tim Conway will never give a straight answer to any of our questions.
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