Ed McMahon, The First-Rate Second Fiddle, Dies at 86

Quote:

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 had bone cancer, among other illnesses, according to a person close to the entertainer, and had been hospitalized for several weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to release the information.

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of financial problems as his injuries preventing 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.”

Nightly ‘free-for all’ with Carson
“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.

[ source ]

From Publisher's Clearing House to Carson, Ed McMahon's presence was consistent: A warm, fuzzy feeling from a gruff old guy. It sucks that his last year or so was so stressful for him, it was a really crappy way to go out, and he deserved better.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I thought this was going to be another wrestling thread.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Isn't he the guy that does the wrestling thing?

Dem McMahons...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Vemp

Isn't he the guy that does the wrestling thing?

Dem McMahons...

On topic though, it sucks to see him go but he was looking pretty bad off in those Scams4Gold... I mean Cash4Gold commercials.

How ya doing, buddy?