He was the guy on “The Carol Burnett Show” who made my mom laugh the loudest. Harvey Kormen, the brilliant comedian, who won four Emmys for his hilarious contributions to TV, has died. He was 81.
According to reports, Korman died in Los Angeles earlier today after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago. For the last few months he had been in and out of the hospital undergoing major surgeries.
Before he got his award-winning gig on “The Carol Burnett Show” Korman gained notoriety on “The Danny Kaye Show,” appearing in skits with the star. After a decade of successful seasons, Korman left Burnett’s show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but he and Burnett never really clicked and the show was canceled two years later. “The Harvey Korman Show” also failed, as did other series starring the actor. Korman then went on to guest-star in dozens of TV series including “The Donna Reed Show,””Dr. Kildare,””Perry Mason,””The Wild Wild West,””The Muppet Show,””The Love Boat” and “Burke’s Law.”
On the big screen Korman’s most memorable role was as the crazy Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks’ 1974 Western satire, “Blazing Saddles.” Korman’s other films included two “Pink Panther” moves, “Trail of the Pink Panther” in 1982 and “Curse of the Pink Panther” in 1983; “Gypsy,””Huckleberry Finn” (as the King), “Herbie Goes Bananas” and “Bud and Lou” (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett’s Lou Costello).
Korman also teamed up with fellow “Carol Burnett” co-star Tim Conway for a while. The two funnymen toured the country with their show “Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again.” They did 120 shows a year, sometimes six to eight shows a week, despite the fact that they were well into their 70s.
Burnett is said to be devastated by Korman’s death, while Brooks called the comic’s passing “tragic” and a “major loss of a dazzling comic talent.”
Korman’s friends knew the actor was in bad health—-he had an operation in late January on a non-cancerous brain tumor and survived but was re-admitted to the hospital a couple months later because of the ruptured aneurysm. At that time doctors gave Korman only a few hours to live. But he survived for another four months. According to family members, Korman fought to the very end.
Korman is survived by his second wife and four children.
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