This person needs no introduction, just the mention of his name brings forth smiles and laughter. For my first post for Faces of Dyslexia I chose Tim Conway, he always made me laugh. Tim Conway, credits his dyslexia for his success in life.
As a child he wanted to be a jockey but as he got a bit older that no longer was an option. In school he had difficulty reading and spelling. When it was his turn to read out loud there was laughter from his classmates because of the struggles he had in trying to read. Mr. Conway said he made the decision to keep the laughter going by becoming the class clown, to take control of the laughter. He found out he was good at making his peers laugh. Eventually, he decided to try and make a living through comedy. He turned something that could of beat him down in life into a success. He used his strengths, his ability to use his body, voice, and expressions to get a cross the smallest detail or to speak volumes without saying a word. Another one of his strength was the ability to ad lib, to think on his feet, as the old saying goes.
Tim Conway became a successful comedian, actor and producer in Hollywood. He was best known for his roles as Ensign Parker on the sit-come Mchale’s Navy in the 1960’s, The Carol Burnett comedy Show in the 1970’s, which he won 6 Prime Time Emmy awards, and several movies he co-started with Don Knotts in the 80’s and 90’s. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s he was the voice of Barnacle Boy on the hit kids show Sponge Bob Square Pants. These are just a few of his works. His career in Hollywood for making people laugh and forget about their troubles covered 5 decades. He not only had his audience in stitches from laughing but his fellow actors would often times break down and laugh during the live skits.
The world lost Mr.Conway just this year in May due to complications of hydrocephalus. This courageous man took one thing, dyslexia with the struggle to read and spell, and produced a world of laughter through his different charters he created for his many roles in Hollywood. For those of you who have never watch Mr. Conway in action here is a link to his dentist skit, https://youtu.be/nF_C3bO8WZ0, you will be rolling on the floor with laughter. If you would like to learn more about Tim Conway, his success in Hollywood and how dyslexia played the major role in his choosing that path for his life, read his book, What’s So Funny?: My Hilarious Life.
Thank you for your time.
Kathy Grant Dyslexia Tutor 