Television personality Ed McMahon dead at 86

Ed McMahon died in Los Angeles Tuesday after suffering numerous health problems for several months. He was 86 years old.

McMahon was best known as Johnny Carson’s sidekick. For 30 years, he chatted with “The Tonight Show” host in front of millions of viewers five nights a week, and introduced Carson with his trademark opening: “H-e-e-e-e-e-ere’s Johnny!”

McMahon, a native of Detroit, Mich., started his television career in 1950, playing a circus clown on the variety series, “Big Top.”

He left show business soon after, serving as a fighter pilot in the Korean War. He flew 85 combat missions in 15 months and won six medals.

Back in the United States, he started working with Carson on the game show,

“Who Do You Trust?” In 1957, McMahon was hired to announce the show and read commercials.

When Carson moved to “The Tonight Show” in 1962, he took McMahon with him. In his 1998 autobiography, McMahon recounts the birth of the show. "Let’s just go down there and entertain the hell out of them," Carson told him before the first show. McMahon said that was the only advice he ever got from Carson.

When Carson left “The Tonight Show” in 1992, McMahon followed suit. He went on to appear in summer stock and he stayed active in television.

He also dabbled in radio and wrote some books, including, For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good Times (1998) and the best-selling, Here’s Johnny! My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship” (2005).

McMahon was beset by financial and medical problems in his final years. A year ago, media outlets reported that he was facing possible foreclosure on his Los Angeles home. He managed to keep the home but he continued to face legal action involving other alleged debts.

He was plagued by health problems as well, undergoing a series of operations after breaking his neck in a fall in 2007. In the past year, he suffered pneumonia and bone cancer.

McMahon appeared with comedian Jerry Lewis on the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon for 40 years.

McMahon married Alyce Ferrell during the Second World War and they were divorced in 1976. Later that year, he married Victoria Valentine. That union ended in 1989. McMahon was married to Pam Hurn from 1992 until his death.

His first marriage produced four children (Claudia, Michael, Linda and Jeffrey). Later, he and his second wife adopted a daughter.