Ed McMahon

Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. was born on March 6, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan, to Edward Leo Peter McMahon Sr., a fundraiser and entertainer, and Eleanor (née Russell) McMahon. He was raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, where he attended Lowell High School alongside Jack Kerouac. Before pursuing a broadcasting career, McMahon spent three years working as a carnival barker in Mexico, Maine, and also worked as a bingo caller in the state as a teenager. He financed his college education by working as a pitchman for vegetable slicers on the Atlantic City boardwalk. His first broadcasting position was at WLLH-AM in Lowell, and his television career began in Philadelphia at WCAU-TV.

McMahon studied at Boston College from 1940 to 1941 in pursuit of the college requirement then necessary for Marine Corps flight training. He completed primary flight training in Dallas and advanced fighter training in Pensacola, where he earned his carrier landing qualifications and was designated a Naval Aviator. He served as a Marine Corps flight instructor in F4U Corsair fighters for two years before receiving orders to the Pacific Fleet in 1945, orders that were canceled following the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Recalled to active duty during the Korean War as an officer in the Marine Corps Reserve, McMahon flew an OE-1 spotter plane, performing as an artillery spotter and forward air controller. He flew 85 combat missions and earned six Air Medals. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve in 1966 holding the rank of Colonel, and in 1982 received an honorary commission as a Brigadier General in the California Air National Guard in recognition of his support for the National Guard and Reserves.

Following World War II, McMahon studied at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on the GI Bill, majoring in speech and drama under Gilbert Hartke and graduating in 1949. He was a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity while there. After graduation, McMahon led fundraising efforts for a theater named in Hartke's honor and attended its dedication in 1970 alongside Helen Hayes and Sidney Poitier. He served as president of the university's national alumni association from 1967 to 1971 and returned to campus regularly, including for homecoming events. During the university's centennial celebration in 1987, McMahon performed alongside Bob Newhart. The university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Communication Arts in 1988, and the Ed McMahon Endowed Scholarship was established in his name to support students pursuing degrees in drama or media studies.

McMahon's professional partnership with Johnny Carson began on the ABC daytime game show Who Do You Trust?, on which the two worked together from 1957 to 1962. That collaboration continued when McMahon joined Carson on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson beginning October 1, 1962. For nearly three decades, McMahon opened each broadcast with his signature drawn-out introduction, "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" During the show's early years, when it ran 105 minutes, McMahon hosted the first fifteen minutes of the broadcast, which did not air nationally. He also substituted for Carson as guest host during a week of programs in late July and early August 1963, and again for two nights in October of that year. McMahon performed in-program commercials for Tonight Show sponsors including Budweiser beer and Alpo dog food. His opening line was later referenced in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining, spoken by Jack Nicholson's character Jack Torrance.

In 1965, McMahon appeared on Broadway in The Impossible Years. His stage work was one component of a wide-ranging performance career that also included film appearances in The Incident, Fun with Dick and Jane, Full Moon High, and Butterfly, as well as a brief appearance in the film version of Bewitched. McMahon hosted the original Star Search from 1983 to 1995, a syndicated weekly series that helped launch the careers of numerous actors, singers, comedians, and choreographers. He made a cameo on the CBS revival of the series in 2003, hosted by Arsenio Hall. McMahon co-hosted TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes with Dick Clark on NBC from 1982 to 1993. Beginning in 1973, he served as co-host of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon each Labor Day weekend, with his 41st and final appearance on the program occurring in 2008. His long association with Anheuser-Busch, which earned him the nickname "Mr. Budweiser," also led to the brewery becoming one of the largest corporate donors to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. McMahon anchored NBC's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade during the 1970s and 1980s and presented sweepstakes for American Family Publishers. He died on June 23, 2009.