Ed McMahon
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Ed McMahon | |
---|---|
Born | Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. March 6, 1923 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
Died | June 23, 2009 Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 86)
Education | Boston College |
Alma mater | Catholic University of America |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1957–2009 |
Notable work | The Tonight Show, Star Search, TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes |
Spouses | Alyce Ferrell
(m. 1945; div. 1974)Victoria Valentine
(m. 1976; div. 1989)Pam Hurn (m. 1992) |
Children | 5 |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Marine Corps USMC Reserve |
Years of service | 1941–1966 |
Rank | Colonel |
Battles/wars | World War II Korean War |
Signature | |
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game show Who Do You Trust?, running from 1957 to 1962. McMahon then made his famous thirty-year mark as Carson's sidekick, announcer and second banana on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992.
McMahon also hosted the original Star Search from 1983 to 1995, co-hosted TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes with Dick Clark from 1982 to 1998, presented sweepstakes for American Family Publishers,[1][2] annually co-hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from 1973 to 2008 and anchored the team of NBC personalities conducting the network's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade during the 1970s and 80s.
McMahon appeared in several films, including The Incident, Fun With Dick and Jane, Full Moon High and Butterfly, as well as briefly in the film version of the TV sitcom Bewitched and also performed in numerous television commercials. According to Entertainment Weekly, McMahon is considered one of the greatest "sidekicks".[3]
Early years
Ed McMahon was born on March 6, 1923, in
Military service
McMahon hoped to become a
After completing the college requirement, McMahon began his primary flight training in Dallas. This was followed by fighter training in
As an officer in the
The Catholic University of America
After World War II, McMahon studied at
"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
Who Do You Trust?
McMahon and Carson first worked together as announcer and host on the ABC daytime game show Who Do You Trust? running from 1957 to 1962. He describes what happened when the pair first met, the whole meeting being "about as exciting as watching a traffic light change".[9]
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
McMahon rejoined Carson for
Aside from his co-hosting duties, it also fell upon McMahon during the early years of Carson's tenure (when the show ran 105 minutes) to host the first fifteen minutes 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.[10]
His famous opening line "Heeere's Johnny!" was used in the 1980 horror film The Shining by the character Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) as he goes after his wife and child with an axe. McMahon did in-program commercials for many sponsors of The Tonight Show, most notably Budweiser beer and Alpo dog food, and also did commercials for them that ran on other programs.
Star Search
McMahon was also host of the successful weekly
Other roles
This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2018) |
His long association with brewer
In 1967, McMahon had a role in the film
He then played himself in "Remote Control Man", a season one episode of
.McMahon also hosted
McMahon was originally hired to appear in Happy Gilmore and do the infamous fight scene with Adam Sandler, but according to Sandler, McMahon changed his mind after finding out about the movie's crude humor and so McMahon was replaced by Bob Barker.
Towards the end of the decade, McMahon took on other endorsement roles, playing a rapper for a
Personal life
Marriage and children
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 their daughter Katherine Mary in 1985. 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 37-year-old Pamela "Pam" Hurn, who had a son named Alex. McMahon's daughter Katherine served as best person at the wedding. [citation needed] McMahon was a longtime summer resident of Avalon, New Jersey.[18]
Financial problems
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
On August 14, 2008, real estate mogul
Health problems
On April 20, 2002, McMahon sued his insurance company for more than $20 million, alleging that he was sickened by
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.[26] In March 2007, McMahon was injured 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 and botching two later 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.[27]
Death
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, 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.[28] McMahon had said that he still suffered from his neck injury the past two years.[29] His funeral was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.[30]
Tributes and legacy
The night of McMahon's death, Conan O'Brien paid him tribute on The Tonight Show:
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. He created the most iconic two-shot in broadcasting history. There will never be anything like that again.[31]
He received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television on March 20, 1986.[32]
The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia posthumously inducted McMahon into their Hall of Fame in 2010.[5]
Books
- Ed McMahon's Barside Companion. World Publishing Company. 1969. LCCN 70-94527.
- Slimming down (in German). New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 1972. OCLC 508303.
- Here's Ed: The Autobiography of Ed McMahon With Carroll Carroll (Putnam, 1976) ISBN 0399116915
- Ed McMahon's Superselling by Ed McMahon with Warren Jamison (Prentice Hall Press, 1989), ISBN 0-13-943366-X
- For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times (Warner Books, 1998), co-written with David Fisher ISBN 0446523704
- Here's Johnny! My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship (Berkley Publishing Group – Penguin Group, 2005) ISBN 0425212297
- Backstage at the Tonight Show by Don Sweeney, Ed McMahon (Foreword) (Taylor Trade Publishing), 2006 ISBN 978-1589793033
- When Television Was Young: The Inside Story with Memories by Legends of the Small Screen With David Fisher (Thomas Nelson 2007) ISBN 1401603270
References
- archive.org)
- ^ "The Curious Case of Ed McMahon and the Publishers Clearing House". Forbes.
- ^ Ben Schott, Schott's Mischellany Calendar 2009 (New York: Workman Publishing, 2008)
- ^ "Ed McMahon Biography (1923–2009)". Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ^ a b "Ed McMahon posthumously inducted into Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame". broadcastpioneers.com. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
- ^ Deseret News, "It's General Ed", February 24, 1982
- ^ Jerry Buck, Associated Press, Youngstown Vindicator, "Shows Keep McMahon Busy Despite Vows to 'Slow Down'", January 15, 1984
- ^ a b c d e "CUA Mourns the Passing of Alumnus Ed McMahon". The Catholic University of America. June 23, 2009. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
- ^ Ed McMahon Obituary Archived December 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Droganes, Constance (June 23, 2009). "Legendary TV host Ed McMahon dead at 86". CTVNews. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
- ^ a b "Longtime MDA Telethon Anchor Ed McMahon Dies". MDA. June 23, 2009. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015.
- ^ "Ed McMahon turns gangsta rapper". CNN. September 25, 2008. Archived from the original on September 29, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-55750-949-9.
- ^ "Ancestry® | Family Tree, Genealogy & Family History Records". www.ancestry.com.
- ^ Gliatto, Tom; Doris Bacon (September 9, 1991). "Ed Over Heels". People. Vol. 36, no. 9.
- ^ McMahon, Ed; Fisher, David (1999). For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times. p. 290.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4120-5335-8.
- ^ Browne, Greg. "Ed McMahon Dies; Had Strong Ties To Avalon", WMGM-TV, June 23, 2009; accessed August 23, 2015. "For 30 years, Ed McMahon was Johnny Carson's loyal sidekick and straight-man on 'The Tonight Show', but what many people may not know is that McMahon was also a loyal fan and summer resident of Avalon for nearly two decades. In the late 1960s McMahon built a summer beach house on 18th Street in which he and his family spent many summers, up until the early 80's."
- ^ "Ed McMahon fighting foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home however holds deposits in offshore accounts unaccounted for." AP News; accessed June 4, 2008.
- ^ Ed McMahon explains his mortgage mess, CNN.com, June 6, 2008.
- ^ Honan, Edith (July 30, 2008). "Ed McMahon sued over legal bills". Reuters.
- ^ Brenoff, Ann (August 14, 2008). "Donald Trump to buy Ed McMahon's house". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Ed McMahon finds home buyer, avoids foreclosure". Reuters. August 22, 2008.
- ^ Wells, Jane (September 3, 2008). "Donald Trump 'Still Here To Help' Ed McMahon Stay In House". CNBC.
- ^ 'The Carson Podcast' interview with Claudia McMahon 23 Oct 2018.
- ^ Guccione, Jean (May 9, 2003). "Ed McMahon Settles Suit Over Mold for $7.2 Million". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- ^ Ed McMahon ill with pneumonia, uk.reuters.com; accessed January 16, 2015.
- ^ "American TV star Ed McMahon dies". BBC News. June 24, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
- ^ Ed McMahon dead at 86, news.yahoo.com; accessed January 16, 2015.
- ^ "Friends, Family Gather For Ed McMahon Funeral". June 30, 2009.
- ^ Barrett, Liz (June 24, 2009). "Conan O'Brien pays tribute to Ed McMahon, dead at 86". Newsroom New Jersey. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
- ^ "Ed McMahon". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2021.