Ed McMahon

Ed McMahon remembered for unflagging humor, spirit LOS ANGELES -- At a tribute to the late sidekick of "The Tonight Show," Ed McMahon was remembered as a rare individual in the entertainment industry - a man whom "100 percent of the people liked," actor Tom Arnold said. Arnold, who worked with McMahon on the 1997 WB sitcom "The Tom Show," said he envisioned him greeting "Tonight" host Johnny Carson in heaven. "Hey, Johnny, great news: I brought Farrah (Fawcett) and Michael Jackson with me. We're gonna have a hell of a show tonight," Arnold said, drawing laughs from the audience of several hundred at the Wednesday night tribute. The ceremony at the Television Academy of Arts & Sciences featured performances of "My Way" and other songs, along with solemn salutes from Marines in dress uniforms who presented U.S. flags to McMahon's family. McMahon, 86, died June 23 after a long hospitalization for several health problems. He had broken his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working. The tribute focused on his unflagging humor and spirit. "For my dad, life was a festival, a celebratory experience," said son Jeff McMahon. "No occasion was ever mundane." Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Mike Lehnert said few knew of McMahon's military record because "he didn't flaunt it." Lehnert recounted McMahon's service in World War II as a flight instructor and test pilot, his time in the Marine Reserves and his return to active duty in the Korean War. He flew 85 missions and retired as a full colonel in 1966. "You lived your life at full throttle," Lehnert said. TV host Leeza Gibbons called McMahon a kind "big brother" and an inspiration. "He could host anything, he could sell anything. And he never ever lost his cool on camera," she said. Two oversized, framed images of McMahon decorated the stage in the auditorium. One showed the familiar business-suited TV entertainer. The other, a portrait, depicted McMahon in a flight suit with two military planes aloft behind him. Daughter Linda McMahon recalled him as a scholar, a poet, a reader of classics, a jazz fan and a generous, big-hearted man who "didn't know the meaning of the word 'no.'" "Until we meet again, Dad, rest now in peace. We love you forever," she said. Before the tribute, Pam McMahon choked back tears as she spoke about her husband. She stayed by his side during the five months he was hospitalized before his death. "He really was one of the most wonderful men I ever met in my entire life," she said. "He was such a good, good man. He was loving and kind to me and had such a pure heart." _________________________________________________________ Here's Ed: McMahon a second banana for the TV ages By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer LOS ANGELES -- When Johnny Carson ruled as king of late-night TV, Ed McMahon was the prince of second bananas. McMahon's great talent as Carson's "Tonight Show" sidekick was reacting to his every joke, every double-take and every skit as if he'd never heard or seen anything funnier. His implausibly hearty laugh buoyed Carson even when his comedy fell flat, which could happen to the best of talk show hosts, and encouraged the audience to believe they were always at the right party. Viewers wanted to do what Ed was doing: sit next to Johnny and be his good buddy, at least for an hour or so. Each night brought the familiar, booming introduction, rooted in McMahon's days as an eager young hawker at carnivals and state fairs. "And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" McMahon shouted out in his rich announcer's voice, followed by a slight but unmistakable bow toward Carson. Sure, he was kowtowing--but to a really cool boss. McMahon died shortly after midnight Tuesday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman. He was 86. Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months." McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working. Doc Severinsen, "Tonight" bandleader during the Carson era, remembered McMahon as a man "full of life and joy and celebration." "He will be sorely missed. He was one of the greats in show business, but most of all he was a gentleman. I miss my friend," Severinsen said in a statement. David Letterman paid tribute to McMahon as a "true broadcaster" and key part of Carson's show. "Ed McMahon's voice at 11:30 was a signal that something great was about to happen. Ed's introduction of Johnny was a classic broadcasting ritual--reassuring and exciting," Letterman said, adding, "We will miss him." McMahon became emblematic of his breed and a comedy favorite. The boisterous Hank "Hey Now!" Kingsley on the HBO comedy "The Larry Sanders Show" was clearly patterned on McMahon, while Phil Hartman channeled him opposite Dana Carvey's Johnny Carson on "Saturday Night Live." Carson knew he had picked the right sideman. He kept McMahon on board for all of his three decades on "Tonight" and the two worked together for nearly five years before that, on the game show "Who Do You Trust?" The contrast between the men worked for comedy. Carson was drolly sophisticated, while McMahon had a good-humored everyman air. McMahon's solid 6-foot-4 frame gave him size advantage over the slender, shorter Carson, making McMahon's guffaws seem more a gift than a duty. That regular-guy persona helped as McMahon vigorously marketed himself and secured his place in pop culture beyond "Tonight." He bounced from one TV genre to the next, appearing on game shows, variety shows, sitcoms and more. There he was, on "The Hollywood Squares," on "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," on "Hee Haw," on "Full House." There were even a handful of movie roles--supporting ones, of course. McMahon probably came closest to center stage as host of "Star Search," which debuted in the early '80s--well before the current age of the acidic talent show judge--and his trademark bonhomie held the spotlight. The commercials he and Dick Clark made for the American Family Publishers' sweepstakes, with their smiling faces on contest entry forms, added to McMahon's ubiquity. He also was a longtime co-host of Jerry Lewis' annual muscular dystrophy telethon. His final years brought unhappier attention. McMahon took a fall in 2007 and suffered a broken neck. His health prevented him from working when he was beset by financial woes and his Beverly Hills house was on the brink of foreclosure. The situation was dire, but McMahon tried to turn it around. He spoofed himself with a 2008 Super Bowl ad for a cash-for-gold business ("H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's money!") and online rap videos for a credit report Web site. McMahon, the ever-stalwart second banana, kept the laughter going. Original Associated Press Article LOS ANGELES — Ed McMahon, the loyal "Tonight Show" sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, died early Tuesday. He was 86. McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist, Howard Bragman. Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months." McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries prevented him from working. McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game show "Who Do You Trust?" when Carson took over NBC's late-night show from Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on "Tonight" until Carson retired in 1992. "You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson," McMahon said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "There's the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star." McMahon, who never failed to laugh at his Carson's quips, kept his supporting role in perspective. "It's like a pitcher who has a favorite catcher," he said. "The pitcher gets a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher's got to throw the ball. Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little help." "And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" was McMahon's trademark opener for each "Tonight" show, followed by a small, respectful bow toward the star. McMahon's style was honed during his youthful days as a carnival hawker. The highlight for McMahon came just after the monologue, when he and Carson would chat before the guests took the stage. "We would just have a free-for-all," he said in the AP interview. "Now to sit there, with one of the brightest, most well-read men I've ever met, the funniest, and just to hold your own in that conversation. ... I loved that." When Carson died in 2005, McMahon said he was "like a brother to me," and recalled bantering with him on the phone a few months earlier. "We could have gone on (television) that night and done a 'Carnac' skit. We were that crisp and hot." McMahon's medical and financial problems kept him in the headlines in his last years. It was reported in June 2008 that he was facing possible foreclosure on his Beverly Hills home. By year's end, a deal was worked out allowing him to stay in his home, but legal action involving other alleged debts continued. Among those who had stepped up with offers of help was Donald Trump. "When I was at the Wharton School of Business I'd watch him every night," Trump told the Los Angeles Times in August. "How could this happen?" McMahon even spoofed his own problems with a spot that aired during the 2009 Super Bowl promoting a cash-for-gold business. Pairing up with rap artist MC Hammer, he explained how easy it is to turn gold items into cash, jokingly saying "Goodbye, old friend" to a gold toilet and rolling out a convincing "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's money!" Born Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. on March 6, 1923, in Detroit, McMahon grew up in Lowell, Mass. He got his start on television playing a circus clown on the 1950-51 variety series "Big Top." But the World War II Marine veteran interrupted his career to serve as a fighter pilot in Korea. He joined "Who Do You Trust?" in 1958, its second year, the start of his long association with Carson. It was a partnership that outlasted their multiple marriages, which provided regular on-air fodder for jokes. While Carson built his career around "Tonight" and withdrew from the limelight after his retirement, McMahon took a different path. He was host of several shows over the years, including "The Kraft Music Hall" (1968) and the amateur talent contest "Star Search," whose competitors included over the years Justin Timberlake, Usher, LeAnn Rimes, Adam Sandler and Rosie O'Donnell. He was a longtime co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon, a Labor Day weekend institution, and was co-host with Dick Clark of "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes." McMahon and Clark also teamed up as pitchmen for American Family Publishers' sweepstakes, with their faces a familiar sight on contest entry forms and in TV commercials. McMahon was known for his ongoing commercials for Budweiser as well. He had supporting roles in several movies, including "Fun With Dick and Jane" (1977) and "Just Write" (1997). He took on his first regular TV series job in the 1997 WB sitcom "The Tom Show" with Tom Arnold. McMahon released his autobiography, "For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times," in 1998. In it, he recounts the birth of "Tonight." "Let's just go down there and entertain the hell out of them," Carson told him before the first show. Wrote McMahon: "That was the only advice I ever got from him." In 1993, he recalled his first meeting with Carson after they left "Tonight." "The first thing he said was, 'I really miss you. You know, it was fun, wasn't it?'" McMahon recalled. "I said, 'It was great.' And it was. It was just great." Besides his wife, Pam, McMahon is survived by children Claudia, Katherine, Linda, Jeffrey and Lex. Bragman said no funeral arrangements have been made.