RIP

Even as a clueless kid glued to the tube, as we often were, we recognized the dichotomy that was Harvey Korman. How could someone so tall and elegant be so self-deprecating and goofy, we wondered.

And no one -- no one -- played the nearly-breaking-into-giggles-in-mid-dialogue gag better than he did.

That was quintessential Korman (pictured here clowning with Tim Conway a few years back), a four-time Emmy winner and foil to Carol Burnett on the seminal sketch comedy show that shaped a decade's worth of primetime TV and our budding sense of the absurd.

Sad news this afternoon that Korman, at 81, has died.

This, only a few days after Dick Martin's passing. So long, kings of comedy, and praise be DVD.

Comments

[Joey Nader]

As A kid I grew up watching the Carol Burnett Show. It was one of my favorite shows and I was always amazed / entertained by Harvey Korman's performances. The way he and Tim Conway worked off of each other was pure magic & when Harvey Korman got a case of the giggles due to Tim Conway's hilarious performance it was as funny as watching the actual skit. I couldn't wait to see him bust out giggling. He was the perfect straight man. Years later I saw him on an episode of ER/ NBC as a cantankerous patient and his performance was brilliant & heartwarming. He will truly be missed. They don't make them like that anymore.