Ed McMahon Dies In LA At 86
Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon, the “Tonight Show” sidekick who supported boss Johnny Carson with laughs and a resounding “H-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!” for 30 years, died early on Tuesday. He was 86-years-old.
He died after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, his publicist, Howard Bragman, said.
Bragman didn’t give a cause of death, all he said is that McMahon had a “multitude of health problems the last few months.”
According to a person close to the entertainer McMahon had bone cancer, among other illnesses, and he 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 of 2007. He also battled financial problems, but with his injuries he couldn’t work, so he had a hard time paying his bills.
McMahon and Carson had worked together for roughly five years on the game show “Who Do You Trust?”. Then Carson took over NBC’s late-night show in October of 1962. McMahon was the second banana on “Tonight” until Carson retired in 1992.
“You can’t imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson,” McMahon said to The Associated Press in 1993 in an interview. “There’s the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star.”
McMahon 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.”
“And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!” was McMahon’s trademark for the opening to each “Tonight” show, followed by a respectful bow toward the star.
Besides his wife, Pam, McMahon is survived by children Claudia, Katherine, Linda, Jeffrey and Lex.
