Television personality Ed McMahon died 23 June 2009. Born Edward Peter Leo McMahon, Jr., on 6 March 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, he achieved fame as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show for 30 years (Carson, two years his junior, died in 2005).
Early in his life, McMahon was a Marine fighter pilot during World War II. He again served during the Korean War (he retired from the reserves in 1983, with the rank of Colonel). In between the wars, he’d tried his hand in show business. After returning from Asia, he landed the role of Johnny Carson’s straight man on the quiz show Do You Trust Your Wife?, and when Carson was tapped to succeed Jack Paar on the late-night talk show, he took McMahon with him. That gig ran from 1962 to 1992. McMahon also hosted Star Search, teamed up with Dick Clark on TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes, and was Jerry Lewis’s longtime co-host of the Labor Day weekend Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon.
McMahon also made television, film, and voice appearances, most often as himself or spoofing himself, but occasionally in other roles. His genre appearances include Bewitched (2005), Duck Dodgers (2003), Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1999), ALF (1988), Amazing Stories (1985), Full Moon High (1981), Legends of the Superheroes (1979), and Dementia (1955).
McMahon was married three times. He is survived by his third wife, Pam Hurn, and several children.