Harvey Korman - comédien du Carol Burnett Show

Comedian Harvey Korman, from 'The Carol Burnett Show,' dead at 81

08:12 AM CDT on Friday, May 30, 2008

FROM WIRE REPORTS The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES – Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian known for his outrageous contributions to The Carol Burnett Show and on the big screen in Blazing Saddles, died Thursday. He was 81.

The four-time Emmy Award winner died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said in a statement released by the hospital.

"He was a brilliant comedian and a brilliant father," daughter Kate Korman said Thursday.

A natural second banana, Mr. Korman first gained attention on The Danny Kaye Show. In 1967, he became a cast member in the first season of The Carol Burnett Show, joining an ensemble that included sketch comic Tim Conway.

The two developed an uncanny rapport that made them arguably one of television's most lethal comic teams; Mr. Conway's on-camera ad-libs often made Mr. Korman crack up, a highlight for many viewers.

"It's a 45-year friendship," Mr. Conway said. "It was a great ride; we worked together probably 30 years, plus the Burnett show, which was about as good as it gets."

Ms. Burnett was devastated by the news, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

"She loved Harvey very much," Ms. Horejsi said.

In a 2005 interview, Mr. Korman revealed his theory for the secret to the long-running show's success: "We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I've never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away."

After 10 successful seasons, he left in 1977 for his own series. The Burnett show was canceled two years later. The Harvey Korman Show also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in the 2005 interview. "Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine."

His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in director Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, Blazing Saddles.

Mr. Brooks, who also directed Mr. Korman in several other films, told the Los Angeles Times: "He could have very easily have done Shakespearean drama. That's how gifted and talented Harvey was."

He told The Associated Press: "It was very dangerous for me to work with him because if our eyes met we'd crash to floor in comic ecstasy. It was comedy heaven to make Harvey Korman laugh."

Mr. Korman's more than 30 films also include Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse of the Pink Panther, Gypsy and Bud and Lou (as legendary straight man Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett's Lou Costello).

On television, Mr. Korman guest starred in dozens of series including The Donna Reed Show, Perry Mason, The Muppet Show and Roseanne .

He and Mr. Conway worked together into their 70s, touring the country with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again. They did 120 shows a year, sometimes as many as six or eight in a weekend.

Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, he studied at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. Then he went to New York.

"For the next 13 years I tried to get on Broadway, on off-Broadway, under or beside Broadway," he said in 1971.

Moving on to Hollywood, he sold cars and worked as a doorman at a movie theater for three years. Then he landed the job with Mr. Kaye.

In 1960, Mr. Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher, before divorcing in 1977. Two more children, Katherine ("Kate") and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz.

He is survived by his wife, all four grown children and three grandchildren.

The Associated Press,

Los Angeles Times