#VeteranOfTheDay Army Veteran Tim Conway

Thomas “Tim” Daniel Conway was born in December 1933 in Willoughby, Ohio. He attained his Bachelor of Arts in Radio and Television from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and, after graduation, enlisted into the Army. Conway attended basic training at Fort Chaffee Army Base in Arkansas, where he accidentally arrived a day early. An officer informed him of his early arrival, so he returned to his parents’ home that same morning in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. In his memoir, he recounted his mother saying in surprise, “You crazy? What you doing home?” She had cried over his departure just hours earlier. 

At Fort Chaffee, Conway underwent physical examinations, and the doctor found he had a birth defect in his left eye. He was given glasses and was then cleared for front-line duty. In basic training, he worked guard duty, fire duty and, as a punishment, was told to pick, paint and place rocks around pathways. He often played jokes on his superiors, which resulted in rock duty.

After basic training, Conway was sent to Fort Lewis in Washington (now known as Lewis-McChord Air Force Base), where he remained until the end of his service. The command office was based in Japan, and he was in charge of keeping track of and sending replacement troops. He also wrote in his memoir about his accidental misplacement of troops and, in one instance, sending 50 cooks to a unit in Korea who had only asked for two. 

In 1958, Conway was honorably discharged, and he returned to Ohio to begin a career in television. While acting as an ensign on the show “McHale’s Navy,” he incorporated some of his personal military experiences. He also worked on some of the most notable television series of his time, including “The Carol Burnett Show,” where he received four Emmys, as well as acting in “Coach” and “30 Rock,” where he received two Emmys for best actor. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2002.

Conway was married to his first wife, Mary Anne Dalton, from 1961-1978, and had seven children with her. He later married to Charlene Beatty, in 1984.

Conway died in May 2019 at the age of 85.

We honor his service.

Writers: Taryn Gehman, Tayler Rairigh

Editors: Vincent Tran, Pahal Ahuja, Cynthia Xu

Researcher: Vivian Hurney