Ed McMahon
Between his 12 years hosting the popular syndicated show,
Ed McMahon's Star Search, his 30 year network TV
appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny
Carson, numerous performances as host on specials and
telethons, and his activities in TV and radio commercials,
McMahon is more familiar to most Americans than their own
next-door-neighbor. McMahon's first professional stint as an announcer, at the
age of fifteen, was on the sound-track of a carnival,
ballyhooing the midway attractions around the state of
Massachusetts. By eighteen he'd had three summers as
announcer for a traveling bingo-parlor and had earned
enough money to enroll in Boston College. World War II interrupted both college and career, McMahon
joined the Marines, got his wings at Pensacola Navel Base,
and became Fighter-pilot instructor at various stations in
the southern U.S. He also test-piloted fighters, including
the sophisticated Corsair. After the war he returned to
school as a Speech and Drama major at Catholic University
in Washington, DC. Earning his Bachelor of Arts in 1949, he moved to
Philadelphia and into television, tackling his career in
earnest. Again war intervened. In Korea, and once more in
the Marines, McMahon flew 85 combat missions and rose to
the rank of full Colonel. He was commissioned with the rank
of Brigadier General in the California Air National Guard. During 1956, while preparing for a show one day, his
attention was distracted by a figure on the station's CBS
monitor, a wiry young man giving off some hilarious body
language. McMahon turned up the volume in time to hear the
tiny image say, "Hi, my name is Johnny Carson. Within a
year, McMahon got to meet Carson in-person when the latter,
then hosting a daytime quiz show called Who Do You Trust?
Was searching for a new announcer. McMahon got the job! After four years of polishing their interplay, the team of
Carson and McMahon took over The Tonight Show. All
day long before their first broadcast, McMahon mulled over
the problem of a suitable dramatic introduction for their
premiere appearance. Minutes before air-time he remembered
the success he'd had in radio with rolling his RRRs. A few
moments later the trademark "Heeeere's Johnny" was born,
and thirty years later, on May 22, 1992, history was made
when the legendary late night institution taped its
farewell show. Being the Man-for-all Seasons on The Tonight Show
was only part of McMahon's overflowing appointment book.
Over the years he moved more into acting, appearing in
theatrical and television features with such stars as Jane
Fonda, Martin Sheen, George Segal, Beau Bridges and Jim
Brown. He also appeared on Broadway in the comedy "The
Impossible Years." Ed has co-hosted with Dick Clark the NBC
specials TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. In 1991,
he returned to radio as host of How Do They Do That?
on the NBC radio network. McMahon was host on the game show
Whodunnit? and of countless special events such as
the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade; America's
Junior Miss Pageant; The Mother's Day Show From Las
Vegas; and the Night of Stars, also from Las
Vegas. McMahon acknowledges the duty involved with fame and puts
his popularity to work for good causes. He has co-hosted
the annual Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon
for 30 years, and is a vice-president of the Muscular
Dystrophy Association. He is also on the boards of The
Marine Corps Scholarship Fund and St. Jude's Ranch for
Children in Boulder City, Nevada. He was recently named
honorary chairman of the National Marine Corps Aviation
Museum to be built at Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was
President of the Catholic University Alumni Association for
four years. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the
Horatio Alger Association. He received their award in 1984.
Most recently, he starred along with Tom Arnold in his
first sitcom The Tom Show on the WB network.
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Series
Books:When Television Was Young, September 2007
Hardcover
Here's Johnny!, October 2005
My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years
Hardcover
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