| Ed McMahon |
|---|
McMahon in November 2005
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| Born | Edward Peter McMahon, Jr.
March 6, 1923
Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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| Died | June 23, 2009 (aged 86)
Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Nationality | American |
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| Education | Boston College |
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| Alma mater | The Catholic University of America |
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| Occupation | Comedian, actor, singer, game show host, announcer, spokesman |
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| Years active | 1957–2009 |
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| Notable work | The Tonight Show, Star Search, TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes |
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| Home town | Lowell, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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| Spouse(s) | Alyce Ferrill (1945–1974)
Victoria Valentine (1976–1989)
Pam Hurn (1992–2009) |
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| Military career |
| Allegiance |  United States |
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| Service/branch |  United States Marine Corps
USMC Reserves |
|---|
| Years of service | 1941–1966 |
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| Rank | Colonel |
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| Battles/wars | World War II
Korean War |
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| Signature |
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 |
Edward Leo Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American comedian, actor, singer, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as
Johnny Carson's
sidekick,
announcer, and
second banana on
The Tonight Show from 1962 through 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show
Star Search from 1983 to 1995. He co-hosted
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes with
Dick Clark from 1982 to 1998. He also presented sweepstakes for the direct marketing company
American Family Publishers (not, as is commonly believed, its main rival
Publishers Clearing House).
[1][2]
Early years[edit]
Military service[edit]
McMahon hoped to become a
United States Marine Corps fighter pilot. Prior to the US entry into
World War II, however, both the
Army and
Navy required two years of college for their pilots program. McMahon enrolled into classes at
Boston College and studied there from 1940–41. After
Pearl Harbor was attacked, the college requirement was dropped, and McMahon immediately applied for Marine flight training. His primary flight training was in Dallas, followed by fighter training in
Pensacola, where he also earned his carrier landing qualifications. He was a Marine Corps flight instructor for two years, finally being ordered to the Pacific fleet in 1945. However, his orders were canceled after the atomic bomb was dropped on
Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, forcing Japan's surrender unconditionally.
As an officer in the reserves, McMahon was recalled to active duty during the
Korean War. This time, he flew the OE-1 (the original Marine designation for the
Cessna O-1 Bird Dog), an unarmed single-engine spotter plane. He functioned as an artillery spotter for the Marine batteries on the ground and as a forward controller for the Navy and Marine fighter bombers. He flew a total of 85 combat missions, earning six
Air Medals. After the war, he stayed with the Marines, as a reserve officer, retiring in 1966 as a
colonel. In 1982 he received a state commission as a
brigadier general in the
California Air National Guard, an
honorary award to recognize his support for the National Guard and Reserves.
[6][7]
The Catholic University of America[edit]
While working as
Johnny Carson's sidekick during
The Tonight Show, McMahon served as the president of the national alumni association from 1967–1971 and would often return to campus, especially for homecoming.
[8] During the University's centennial celebration in 1987, McMahon and comedian
Bob Newhart performed.
[8] He received an honorary Doctor of Communication Arts in 1988. "I owe so much to CU," McMahon once said. "That's where my career got its start."
[8]
Today, the Ed McMahon Endowed Scholarship helps outstanding students and provides scholarship assistance to juniors and seniors who are pursuing a bachelor's degree in either the Department of Drama or the Department of Media Studies within the School of Arts and Sciences.
[8]
Entertainment career[edit]
The Tonight Show[edit]
McMahon and Johnny Carson first worked together as announcer and host on the ABC-TV daytime game show
Who Do You Trust? (1957–1962). McMahon and Carson left the show to join
The Tonight Show on October 1, 1962. He describes what happened when the pair first met, the whole meeting being "... about as exciting as watching a traffic light change".
[9] For almost 30 years, McMahon introduced the
The Tonight Show with a drawn-out "Heeere's Johnny!" His booming voice and constant laughter alongside the "King of Late Night" earned McMahon the
nickname the "Human
Laugh Track" and "Toymaker to the King". As part of the introductory patter to
The Tonight Show, McMahon would state his name out loud, pronouncing it as
, but neither long-time cohort
Johnny Carson nor anyone else who interviewed him ever seemed to
pick up on that subtlety, usually pronouncing his name
.
[citation needed]
Aside from his co-hosting duties, it also fell upon McMahon during the early years of Carson's tenure to host the first half hour of Tonight which did not air nationally. McMahon also served as guest host on at least one occasion, substituting for Carson during a week of programs that aired between July 29 and August 2, 1963, and again for two nights in October 1963.
McMahon served as a counter to the notoriously shy Carson. Nonetheless, McMahon once told an interviewer that after his many decades as an emcee, he would still get "butterflies" in his stomach every time he would walk onto a stage, and would use that nervousness as a source of energy.
[citation needed]
His famous opening line to each show "Heeere's Johnny!" was used in the 1980 Horror film
The Shining by the character
Jack Torrance (played by
Jack Nicholson) as he attacks his wife and child with an axe.
Star Search[edit]
He was also host of the successful weekly
syndicated series
Star Search, which began in 1983 and helped launch the careers of numerous actors, singers, choreographers, and comedians. He stayed with the show until it ended in 1995, and in 2003, he made a cameo appearance on the revival of the
CBS show, hosted by his successor,
Arsenio Hall.
Other roles[edit]
In 1967, McMahon had a role in the film
The Incident. From 1965 to 1969, McMahon was
communicator (host) of the Saturday afternoon segment of
Monitor, the weekend news, features and entertainment magazine on the NBC Radio Network. McMahon had a supporting role in the original 1970's version of the movie "Fun With Dick & Jane" and played himself in
Steven Spielberg's 1986
Amazing StoriesSeason 1: Episode 10 ("Remote Control Man").
[11] In 2004, he became the announcer and co-host of
Alf's Hit Talk Show on
TV Land. He has authored two memoirs,
Here's Johnny!: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship as well as
For Laughing Out Loud. Over the years, he
emceed the game shows
Missing Links,
Snap Judgment,
Concentration, and
Whodunnit!. McMahon hosted
Lifestyles Live, a weekend talk program aired on the
USA Radio Network. He also appeared in the feature documentary film,
Pitch People, the first motion picture to take an in-depth look at the history and evolution of pitching products to the public. In the early 2000s, McMahon made a series of
Neighborhood Watch public service announcements parodying the surprise appearances to contest winners that he was supposedly known for. (In fact, it is not clear whether the company McMahon fronted, American Family Publishers, regularly performed such unannounced visits, as opposed to Publishers Clearing House and its oft-promoted "prize patrol".)
Towards the end of the decade, McMahon took on other endorsement roles, playing a rapper for a
FreeCreditReport.com commercial
[12]and in a
Cash4Gold commercial alongside
MC Hammer. McMahon was also the spokesman for
Pride Mobility, a leading power wheelchair and scooter manufacturer. His final film appearance was in the independent John Hughes themed rom-com
Jelly as Mr. Closure alongside actress
Natasha Lyonne. Mostly in the 1980s through the 1990s, McMahon was the spokesperson for
Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company.
[citation needed]
Personal life[edit]
Marriage and children[edit]
McMahon married Alyce Ferrell on July 5, 1945, while he was serving as a flight instructor in the Marines.
[13] The couple had four children: Claudia (b. 1946), Michael Edward (1951–1995), Linda and Jeffrey.
[14] They separated in 1972 and divorced in 1974.
[15] McMahon married Victoria Valentine on March 6, 1976.
[16] They adopted a daughter in 1985, Katherine Mary. The couple divorced in 1989. McMahon paid $50,000 per month in spousal and child support.
[17] On February 22, 1992, three months before his
Tonight Show run came to a close, in a ceremony held near Las Vegas,
[17] McMahon married Pamela "Pam" Hurn, a 37-year-old mother of a son named Lex. McMahon's daughter Katherine served as best person at the wedding. McMahon adopted his wife's son, making his name Lex McMahon. Pam Hurn McMahon was widowed in 2009 at the death of Ed McMahon, and spoke at his funeral.
Financial problems[edit]
In June 2008, it was announced that McMahon was $644,000 behind on payments on $4.8 million in mortgage loans and was fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar
Beverly Hills home.
[19] McMahon was also sued by Citibank for $180,000. McMahon appeared on
Larry King Live on June 5, 2008 with his wife to talk about this situation. In the interview, McMahon's wife Pam said that people assumed that the McMahons had so much money because of his celebrity status. Pamela McMahon also commented that they do not have "millions" of dollars.
[20] On July 30, 2008, McMahon's financial status suffered another blow. According to Reuters, McMahon failed to pay divorce attorney Norman Solovay $275,168, according to a lawsuit filed in the Manhattan federal court. McMahon and his wife, Pamela, hired Solovay to represent Linda Schmerge, his daughter from another relationship, in a "matrimonial matter," said Solovay's lawyer, Michael Shanker.
[21]
On August 14, 2008, real estate mogul
Donald Trump announced that he would purchase McMahon's home from
Countrywide Financial and lease it to McMahon, so the home would not be foreclosed.
[22] McMahon agreed instead to a deal with a private buyer for his hilltop home, said Howard Bragman, McMahon's former spokesman. Bragman declined to name the buyer or the selling price, but he said it is not Trump. "For Mr. Trump, this acquisition was not business-related, but, as he has stated, was meant to help out an American icon," said
Michael Cohen, special counsel to Trump. "If another buyer should emerge who will create the benefit Mr. Trump sought for Ed McMahon, then he is clearly pleased." In early September, after the second buyer's offer fell through, Trump renewed his offer to purchase the home.
[23]
Health problems[edit]
On April 20, 2002, McMahon sued his insurance company for more than $20 million, alleging that he was sickened by
toxic mold that spread through his Beverly Hills house after contractors failed to properly clean up water damage from a broken pipe. McMahon and his wife, Pamela, became ill from the mold, as did members of their household staff, according to the
Los Angeles County Superior Court suit. The McMahons blamed the mold for the death of the family dog, Muffin. Their suit, the
latest of many in recent years over toxic mold, was filed against American Equity Insurance Co., a pair of insurance adjusters, and several environmental cleanup contractors. It sought monetary damages for alleged breach of contract, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On March 21, 2003, the long legal battle ended with McMahon being awarded $7.2 million from several companies who were negligent for allowing toxic mold into his home, sickening him and his wife and killing their dog.
[24]
McMahon was injured in 2007 in a fall and, in March 2008, it was announced he was recovering from a broken neck and two subsequent surgeries. He later sued
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and two doctors claiming fraud, battery,
elder abuse, and emotional distress, and accused them of discharging him with a broken neck after his fall in 2007 and later botching two neck surgeries.
On February 27, 2009 it was reported that McMahon had been in an undisclosed Los Angeles hospital (later confirmed as
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center) for almost a month. He was listed in serious condition and was in the intensive care unit. His publicist told reporters that he was admitted for pneumonia at the time, but could not confirm nor deny reports that McMahon had been diagnosed with bone cancer.
[25]
McMahon died on June 23, 2009, shortly after midnight at the
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles,
California. He was 86 years old. His nurse, Julie Koehne, RN, stated he went peacefully. No formal cause of death was given, but McMahon's publicist attributed his death to the many health problems he had suffered over his final months.
[26] McMahon had said that he still suffered from the injury to his neck in March 2007.
[27]
Conan O'Brien paid tribute to McMahon on
The Tonight Show later that night, saying "It is impossible, I think, for anyone to imagine 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson' without Ed McMahon. Ed's laugh was really the soundtrack to that show." O'Brien added that McMahon, with Carson, created "the most iconic two-shot in broadcasting history. There will never be anything like that again."
[28]
