Johnny Carson’s Sidekick Ed McMahon Remembered (Videos)

Posted on June 23, 2009

Ed McMahon, the longtime Tonight Show sidekick with Johnny Carson has died at the age of 86. Read what Ed McMahon’s celebrity friends remember about him below.

Ed McMahon died peacefully just after midnight at the Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center. Ed, 86, had been hospitalized in February with pneumonia and other medical issues.

Ed McMahon had other small parts but is most known for his role as sidekick and announcer on “The Tonight Show,” which Carson hosted from 1962 to 1992. McMahon reportedly met Johnny Carson when he started hosting the game show “Who Do You Trust?” in 1957.

“Johnny didn’t look as if he was dying to see me,” McMahon, who was hosting a show on a Philadelphia TV station, told People magazine in 1980 about the pair’s first meeting. “He was standing with his back to the door, staring at a couple of workmen putting letters on a theater marquee. I walked over and stood beside him. Finally the two guys finished, and Johnny asked, ‘What have you been doing?’ I told him. He said, ‘Good to meet you, Ed,’ shook my hand, and I was out of the office. The whole meeting was about as exciting as watching a traffic light change.”

McMahon was surprised to be offered the position of Carson’s sidekick, and the two had a great chemistry. Johnny Carson was a bit introverted and had a dry sense of humor. And of course Ed McMahon was boisterous and outgoing. They made for a great team.

Carson made jokes about McMahon’s weight, his drinking and the both of their trouble with divorce. McMahon was married three times; Carson, who died in 2005, had four wives.

McMahon was also the show’s designated pitchman, a talent he perfected during “Tonight’s” 30-year run with Carson.

For one of the show’s regular sponsors, Alpo dog food, McMahon usually extolled the virtues of the product while a dog eagerly gobbled down a bowl. But one day the show’s regular dog wasn’t available, and the substitute pooch wasn’t very hungry.

McMahon recalled the incident in his 1998 memoir, “For Laughing Out Loud.”

“Then I saw Johnny come into my little commercial area. He got down on his hands and knees and came over to me. … I started to pet Johnny. Nice boss, I was thinking as I pet him on the head, nice boss. By this point the audience was hysterical. … I just kept going. I was going to get my commercial done.

‘The next time you’re looking at the canned dog food …’ — he rubbed his cheek against my leg — … reach for the can that contains real beef.’ Johnny got up on his knees and started begging for more. I started petting him again … and then he licked my hand.”

McMahon also promoted Budweiser, American Family Insurance and — during the most recent Super Bowl — Cash4Gold.com. Entertainment Weekly named him No. 1 on its list of TV’s greatest sidekicks.

Ed McMahon’s bio:

Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March 6, 1923. His father was a promoter, and McMahon remembered moving a lot during his childhood.

“I changed towns more often than a pickpocket,” McMahon told People.

He later joined the Marines and served in World War II and Korea.

Though McMahon was well-rewarded by NBC — the 1980 People article listed his salary between $600,000 and $1 million — his divorces and some poor investments took their toll. In June 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon was $644,000 in arrears on a $4.8 million loan for a home in Beverly Hills, California, and his lender had filed a notice of default.

McMahon and his wife, Pamela, told CNN’s Larry King that McMahon had gotten caught in a spate of financial problems.

“If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that,” said McMahon, who added that he hadn’t worked much since the neck injury.

“He was a star in his own right. Being a sidekick didn’t mean he was any less,” Doc Severinsen, the longtime “Tonight” bandleader, told CNNRadio. “Johnny defined what the host should be and Ed defined what the sidekick was.”

David Letterman, whose “Late Night” followed Carson’s show on NBC from 1982 to 1993, said in a statement: “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. Ed was a true broadcaster, and an integral part of Johnny Carson’s ‘Tonight Show.’ We will miss him.”

Dick Clark — who really was McMahon’s neighbor in 1950s Philadelphia, when Clark hosted “American Bandstand” and McMahon was a local TV star — remembered his “Bloopers” co-host as a man with “a really big heart.”

“Ed was the best at what he did and will never be replaced,” said Don Rickles, a longtime friend, in a statement. “Another giant is gone.”

He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and five children. A sixth child, McMahon’s son Michael, died in 1995.

Our condolences to his family.

Tribute to Ed McMahon

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