Press & broadcasting / Film & TV / Comedy
Ed McMahon
1923–2009 · announcer, TV host, actor
Johnny Carson's announcer and sidekick for thirty years on The Tonight Show, born in Detroit.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Los Angeles, California
aged 86- Birth name
- Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr.
- Also known as
- Heeere's Johnny
- Detroit years
- 1923
- Field
- Press & broadcasting, Film & TV, Comedy
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ed McMahon was born in Detroit in 1923, the son of Edward McMahon Sr., and grew up mostly in Lowell, Massachusetts, as the family moved around. He served as a Marine Corps aviator, and later as a combat pilot in Korea, before building a career in broadcasting. He first teamed up with Johnny Carson on the ABC game show Who Do You Trust? (1958–1962) and followed him to NBC, where for thirty years (1962–1992) he opened The Tonight Show with his booming 'Heeere's Johnny!' and played the laughing foil to Carson's monologues. He also hosted Star Search, co-hosted TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes with Dick Clark, and was a fixture of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon and of sweepstakes advertising. His Detroit connection is his birth in the city.
Highlights
- Announcer and sidekick on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992)
- Host of the original Star Search (1983–1995)
- Co-host of TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes with Dick Clark
- Marine Corps aviator in World War II and the Korean War
- Ranked first on Entertainment Weekly's list of the greatest sidekicks