48 Facts About Ed McMahon

1.

Ed McMahon then made his famous thirty-year mark as Carson's sidekick, announcer and second banana on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992.

2.

Ed McMahon was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Edward Leo Peter Ed McMahon Sr.

3.

Ed McMahon was raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, often visiting his paternal Aunt Mary Brennan at her home on Chelmsford Street.

4.

Ed McMahon put himself through college as a pitchman for vegetable slicers on the Atlantic City boardwalk.

5.

Ed McMahon's first broadcasting job was at WLLH-AM in Lowell, and his television career launched in Philadelphia at WCAU-TV.

6.

Ed McMahon hoped to become a United States Marine Corps fighter pilot.

7.

Ed McMahon was a Marine Corps flight instructor in F4U Corsair fighters for two years, finally being ordered to the Pacific Fleet in 1945.

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8.

Ed McMahon flew an OE-1 spotter plane, serving as an artillery spotter for Marine artillery batteries and a forward air controller for Navy and Marine fighter bombers.

9.

Ed McMahon flew a total of 85 combat missions, earning six Air Medals.

10.

In 1982, Ed McMahon received a state commission as a brigadier general in the California Air National Guard, an honorary award to recognize his support for the National Guard and Reserves.

11.

Ed McMahon majored in speech and drama while studying under Gilbert Hartke and was a member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity.

12.

Ed McMahon received an honorary Doctor of Communication Arts in 1988.

13.

Ed McMahon describes what happened when the pair first met, the whole meeting being "about as exciting as watching a traffic light change".

14.

Ed McMahon rejoined Carson for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on October 1,1962, on NBC.

15.

Ed McMahon served as guest host on at least one occasion, substituting for Carson during a week of programs that aired between July 29 and August 2,1963, and again for two nights in October 1963.

16.

Ed McMahon served as a counter to the notoriously shy Carson.

17.

Nonetheless, Ed McMahon once told an interviewer that after his many decades as an emcee, he would still get "butterflies" in his stomach every time he would walk onto a stage and would use that nervousness as a source of energy.

18.

Ed McMahon did in-program commercials for many sponsors of The Tonight Show, most notably Budweiser beer and Alpo dog food, and did commercials for them that ran on other programs.

19.

Ed McMahon was host of the successful weekly syndicated series Star Search, which began in 1983 and helped launch the careers of numerous actors, singers, choreographers and comedians.

20.

Ed McMahon stayed with the show until it ended in 1995 and in 2003, he made a cameo appearance on the CBS revival of the series, hosted by his successor Arsenio Hall.

21.

In 1967, Ed McMahon had a role in the film The Incident and appeared as Santa Claus on The Mitzi Gaynor Christmas Show.

22.

From 1965 to 1969, Ed McMahon served as "communicator" of the Saturday afternoon segment of Monitor, the weekend news, features and entertainment magazine on the NBC Radio Network.

23.

The newer version, which had a voice over by Ed McMahon, still has music without dialogue, but with an added narration read by him.

24.

Ed McMahon then played himself in "Remote Control Man", a season one episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.

25.

In 2004, Ed McMahon became the announcer and co-host of Alf's Hit Talk Show on TV Land.

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26.

Ed McMahon hosted Lifestyles Live, a weekend talk program aired on the USA Radio Network.

27.

Towards the end of the decade, Ed McMahon took on other endorsement roles, playing a rapper for a FreeCreditReport.

28.

Ed McMahon was the spokesman for Pride Mobility, a leading power wheelchair and scooter manufacturer.

29.

Mostly in the 1980s through the 1990s, Ed McMahon was the spokesperson for Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company.

30.

Ed McMahon married Alyce Ferrell on July 5,1945, while he was serving as a flight instructor in the Marines.

31.

Ed McMahon paid $50,000 per month in spousal and child support.

32.

On February 22,1992, three months before his Tonight Show run came to a close, in a ceremony held near Las Vegas, Ed McMahon married 37-year-old Pamela "Pam" Hurn, who had a son named Alex.

33.

Ed McMahon was a longtime summer resident of Avalon, New Jersey.

34.

In June 2008, it was announced that Ed McMahon was $644,000 behind on payments on $4.8 million in mortgage loans and was fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills home.

35.

Ed McMahon appeared on Larry King Live on June 5,2008, with his wife to talk about this situation.

36.

Pamela Ed McMahon commented that they do not have "millions" of dollars.

37.

Ed McMahon failed to pay divorce attorney Norman Solovay $275,168, according to a lawsuit filed in the Manhattan federal court.

38.

Ed McMahon agreed instead to a deal with a private buyer for his hilltop home, said Howard Bragman, Ed McMahon's former spokesman.

39.

On March 21,2003, the long legal battle ended with Ed McMahon being awarded $7.2 million from several companies who were negligent for allowing toxic mold into his home, sickening him and his wife and killing their dog.

40.

In March 2007, Ed McMahon was injured in a fall and, in March 2008, it was announced he was recovering from a broken neck and two subsequent surgeries.

41.

Ed McMahon later sued Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and two doctors claiming fraud, battery, elder abuse, and emotional distress, and accused them of discharging him with a broken neck after his fall and botching two later neck surgeries.

42.

On February 27,2009, it was reported that Ed McMahon had been in an undisclosed Los Angeles hospital for almost a month.

43.

Ed McMahon was listed in serious condition and was in the intensive care unit.

44.

Ed McMahon's publicist told reporters that he was admitted for pneumonia at the time, but could not confirm nor deny reports that McMahon had been diagnosed with bone cancer.

45.

Ed McMahon died on June 23,2009, shortly after midnight at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

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46.

Ed McMahon had said that he still suffered from his neck injury the past two years.

47.

Ed McMahon created the most iconic two-shot in broadcasting history.

48.

Ed McMahon received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television on March 20,1986.