Ed McMahon dies at 86

Ed McMahon, the long pitchman and Johnny Carson Sidekick as "Heeeeeeerre's Johnny!" was part of the vernacular, is dead.

McMahon died peacefully shortly after noon on a Ronald Reagan / UCLA Medical Center, his publisher, Howard Bragman, said Tuesday

McMahon, 86, was hospitalized in February with pneumonia and other medical problems.
He had suffered a series of health problems in recent years, including a neck injury caused by autumn 2007. In 2002 he was accused of insurance companies and contractors over mold in his house, and later obtained a $ 7 million settlement.
Although he later hosted a variety show - including "Star Search" and "TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes," McMahon greatest fame came along Carson on "The Tonight Show, which Carson hosted from 1962 to 1992. The two met not long after Carson began to organize the game show "Who could you?" in 1957.
"Johnny does not look like he was dying to see me," McMahon, who hosted a show on Philadelphia TV station, told People Magazine in 1980 on the pair's first meeting. "He stood with their backs to the door, staring at a pair of workers put the lettering on a theater marquee. I went and stood beside him. End the two guys ready, and Johnny asked," What have you done? "I told him. He said:" Pleased to meet you, Ed "shook my hand and I was out of office. The whole meeting was about as exciting as watching a traffic light method change."
Although McMahon was surprised to be offered the job as Carson's Sidekick the two quickly proved to have a strong chemistry. Carson was, by nature, introverted and blow dry finish; McMahon was noisy and outgoing second banana, content to let Carson straight lines or laugh uproariously at his jokes (characteristic of much parodied Comedians).
Carson made cracks about McMahon's weight, he drinks, and men's problems with divorce. McMahon was married three times; Carson, who died in 2005, had four wives.
McMahon was also nominated show pitchman, a talent he honed perfectly in "Tonight's" 30-year run with Carson, although sometimes show commercial areas fell flat.
For one of the usual sponsors, Alpo dog food McMahon usually extolled the virtues of the product, while a dog eagerly gobbled down in a bowl. But one day show normal dogs were not available, and replacement Poocha was not very hungry.
McMahon recalled the incident in the 1998 memoir, "To laugh aloud."
"And I saw Johnny in my little commercial area. He came down on his hands and knees and came over to me. ... I started PET Johnny. Nice boss, I thought I pet him in the head, nice head . At this point the audience was hysterical. ... I just kept going. I wanted to get my commercial work.
"Next time you look at the canned dog food ..." - He rubbed his cheeks against my legs - ... Reach they can, which contains real beef. Johnny came up to his knees and began to beg for more. I started petting him again ... and when he licked my hand. "
McMahon also promoted Budweiser, American Family Insurance, and - in the last Super Bowl - Cash4Gold.com. Entertainment Weekly named him No. 1 on the list of television's greatest side kick.
Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan, 6 March 1923. His father was a promoter, and McMahon remembered to move a large part of his childhood.
"I have changed cities more often than a pickpocket" McMahon told the people.
He later joined the Marines and served in World War II and Korea.
Although McMahon was well rewarded with NBC - 1980 People article his salary between $ 600,000 and $ 1 million - his divorce and some bad investments took their toll. In June 2008, The Wall Street Journal reported that McMahon was $ 644,000 in arrears of $ 4.8 million loan for a home in Beverly Hills, California, and his lender had filed a notice of default.
McMahon and his wife, Pamela, told CNN's Larry King that McMahon had been caught in a wave of economic problems.
"If you spend more than you do, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple divorce threw in a couple of things like that," says McMahon, who added that he had not worked much since neck lesions.
McMahon later proposed an agreement to allow him to live in the house.
He survived with his wife, Pamela, and five children. A sixth child, son Michael McMahon, died in 1995.
Source: www.cnn.com