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Col. Ed McMahon, USMCR, RIP

June 25, 2009|Michael Broihier

You know you've really become famous when your name becomes an adjective, as in "an Ed McMahon check," but the big man with the big laugh was famous even before he began handing out giant checks for Publisher's Clearing House.

McMahon put his mark on America as the most recognized sidekick in television history, serving as the straight man to the Tonight Show's Johnny Carson for 30 years. His outsized voice was pitched perfectly for the show's iconic introduction, "Heeeere's Johnny!" and his deep, heartfelt laughter at Carson's clowning earned him the nickname "The Human Laugh Track."

Before he began his television career, McMahon was a Marine Corps fighter pilot. McMahon dropped out of Boston College in 1943, joined the Marine Corps and was trained to fly Corsairs. McMahon never made it to World War II; the Marines retained him after flight school to be an instructor. In 1945 he had just received orders to a carrier squadron in the Pacific when the war ended.

McMahon returned to television after the war and became a well-known host on a Philadelphia station. After good reviews, he was hired by CBS to come to New York to work with Carson in 1952, but it wasn't to be.

Shortly after he was hired by CBS, the Marine Corps recalled him to active duty like many reservists of his time, and sent him to Korea to fly Cessna OE- Bird Dogs. McMahon completed 86 combat missions, usually serving as an aerial observer for artillery fire, before the war ended and he returned home. McMahon stayed in the Marine Corps Reserve until 1966, attaining the rank of colonel.

McMahon and Carson were finally paired together in 1962 for the Tonight Show which would feature the two for more than 6,000 episodes.

After the Tonight Show, McMahon fell on some hard financial times and his Beverly Hills home had to be auctioned for back mortgage payments. Throughout, McMahon was forthcoming about his responsibility for his financial situation and he tried to serve as a model to those in financial difficulty.

In the last few years, McMahon suffered from ill health related to mold in his home, and in 2007 he fell and broke his neck. McMahon had been in the hospital for pneumonia and other health issues reportedly related to bone cancer for a month prior to his death.

Dead at 86, Ed McMahon, RIP.

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