Harvey Korman was one of those performers who exuded funny with every fiber of his being.

Funny and tall -- that always stood out (up) when I saw him in person. The few times I had the chance to chat with Korman, who died Thursday at 81, he was always in character, or maybe his character was just who he was. Either way, it was always a pleasure. He was friendly and easily approached.

At one cocktail party on the roof of the Paley Center for Media, I distinctly remember Korman and Tim Conway holding court in one corner, doing an impromptu bit of business (a little bluer than they were allowed on air in the "Carol Burnett Show" days), to the delight of partygoers. I believe it when "Carol Burnett Show" alumni gush about how they became a close-knit family. Korman and Conway were in the audience last October for a Q&A I did with Burnett for a promo screening of her "American Masters" special at the Paley Center. They weren't on the panel, just there to show support for their leading lady.

Korman's wild physical comedy translated very well to the big screen, as fans of "Blazing Saddles," "High Anxiety" and "History of the World, Part 1" can attest. But even more than Hedley Lamaar, I'll remember him best in movies as the drug-addled sitcom star Monty Rushmore in "Americathon." That 1979 pic, a comedic look at the future (1998) where the country is so desperate that it mounts a telethon (hosted by Rushmore) to raise cash, was a B.O. bomb in its day and mostly savaged by critics. But it makes me laugh, thanks largely to Korman, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

R.I.P., Harvey Korman.

She got laughs just by looking at the stagehand who put on mike on her. She made a 40-minute Q&A fly by in about 15 seconds with funny and fond memories of "The Carol Burnett Show," her time in the hot seat on game shows, how she never really cared for her famous charwoman character and how all she really wanted to be when she grew up was Mary Martin or Ethel Merman.

Carol Burnett turned all of her natural charm at the Paley Center for Media on Thursday night at the premiere screening of the "American Masters" docu "Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character." On hand in the aud for the Q&A by yours truly and screening were "Burnett Show" alums Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, Phyliss Diller, Jon Cryer, Carl Reiner, Burnett couture-ist Bob Mackie and Kyra Thompson, producer of the spesh.

Thompson (pictured above with Burnett) noted that one of the most eye-opening aspects of researching the Burnett docu was just how much physical comedy she'd done over the years, and how it made her stand out among femme actresses. Thompson also described how excited she got when she laid her hands on a clip of the very first physical stunt Burnett did, as part of the Garry Moore variety show in the late 1950s. "Woman of Character" bows Nov. 5.

(Pics by Kevin Parry/Paley Center. Forgive the self-indulgence with the pic at right.)