Ed McMahon(1923-2009)
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Ed McMahon's first appearance before a microphone was as a 15-year-old
"caller" at a bingo game in Maine. After that, he spent the next three
years touring the state fair and carnival circuit. A Marine fighter
pilot during World War II, McMahon sold vegetable slicers on Atlantic
City's boardwalk to put himself through Catholic University in
Washington, DC. In the 1950s, he hosted a late-night interview show in
Philadelphia before working as a clown on the show
Big Top (1950). His next assignment
was as a fighter pilot during the Korean War. After that, he resumed
his career in television. In 1959, he was hired as
Johnny Carson's straight man on
the daytime quiz show
Who Do You Trust? (1956).
When Carson succeeded Jack Paar on
NBC's
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957),
which became
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962),
he took McMahon with him. This job lasted for 30 years and made McMahon
wealthy and famous. On the big screen, he played straight roles in the
dramatic The Incident (1967) -- for
which he got very good reviews -- and in the comic
Fun with Dick and Jane (1977).
He also appeared in made-for-TV movies and hosted daytime game shows in
the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1980s, McMahon teamed with
Dick Clark on
Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes (1984)
and hosted his own long-running talent show,
Star Search (1983). He also made
commercial appearances for a multitude of products. In 1994, he was
cast as himself in Love Affair (1994)
with Warren Beatty and
Annette Bening.