Tim Conway wins Emmy for guest spot on '30 Rock'

by Mark Dawidziak/Plain Dealer Television Critic

Monday September 15, 2008, 4:04 PM

Willoughby native Tim Conway, who grew up in Chagrin Falls and got his start in Cleveland television, won his sixth Emmy last week. He was named outstanding guest actor in a comedy series, winning for his portrayal of aging comedian Bucky Bright on an April episode of NBC's "30 Rock."

The guest-actor awards were given at the creative arts Emmy ceremony, which recognized technical and other achievements and preceded the Sept. 21 main Emmy awards at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC coverage of the 60th annual prime-time Emmy awards will air live at 8 p.m. Sunday on WEWS Channel 5. A taped version of the creative arts Emmys, with Neil Patrick Harris and Sarah Chalke as hosts, will air at 8 p.m. Sept. 20 on E!

If the creative arts ceremony is any indication of trends for this Sunday, it should be a big night for the HBO miniseries "John Adams" and the AMC series "Mad Men." Already a big winner, "John Adams" claimed eight creative arts Emmys. "Mad Men" took home four.

Conway's competition in the guest-actor category was Shelley Berman for HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and three other actors nominated for appearances on "30 Rock": Rip Torn, Will Arnett and Steve Buscemi.

Conway, 74, majored in speech and radio at Bowling Green State University before landing jobs at WKYC Channel 3 and WJW Channel 8. It was while he was working with announcer Ernie Anderson (Ghoulardi) at Channel 8 that he was spotted by comedic actress Rose Marie. She brought Conway to the attention of Steve Allen, who hired him for his prime-time comedy variety show in 1961.

Conway's last Emmy also was for a guest appearance on a network sitcom. He won in 1996 for an episode of ABC's "Coach." The first four Emmys were for his work on the CBS variety series "The Carol Burnett Show."

This gives him the most prime-time Emmys for a performer from Northeast Ohio. Cleveland native Hal Holbrook is second with five. Phil Donahue is the area leader at the daytime Emmys, winning nine statuettes for outstanding talk-show host, a special recognition award in 1993 and a lifetime achievement award in 1996.