NBC News announced this morning that Ed McMahon, 86, has died after a battle with cancer. Some of my earliest memories of television are of Ed McMahon and Johnny Carson. These lovable, funny men were in our living room 5 nights a week and they seemed like family somehow. They were right up there with Bozo and Huckleberry Hound! I can remember looking forward to “Heeeeeeere’s Johnny!” each night. I’d make sure I was back from the kitchen (with my snack of choice) and perched in my favorite chair in plenty of time for this infamous introduction.
Ed McMahon, who was born in Detroit, spent a great deal of his childhood moivng around. He once said, “I changed towns more often than a pickpocket. I went to some 15 schools before high school. Nobody ever knew my name, and I was painfully shy.”
He served in the Marines from 1941-1946 but dreamed of a career in radio broadcasting. In 1949, Ed McMahon worked at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia. Nine years later, after a second tour with the Marines in Korea, he hosted his own local show. It was during this time that he was invited to New York to meet Johnny Carson, then starring on ABC’s Who Do You Trust?
The rest, as they say, is history.
The video at the top is one of the funniest moments ever between Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon – Johnny’s reactions are absolutely priceless.
