Ed McMahon Edward Leo Peter " Ed " McMahon , Jr . ( March 6 , 1923 – June 23 , 2009 ) was an American comedian , game show host and announcer . He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson ' s sidekick , announcer , and second banana on " The Tonight Show " from 1962 to 1992 . He also hosted the original version of the talent show " Star Search " from 1983 to 1995 . He co - hosted " TV ' s Bloopers & Practical Jokes " with Dick Clark from 1982 to 1998 . He also presented sweepstakes for the direct marketing company American Family Publishers ( not , as is commonly believed , its main rival Publishers Clearing House ) . McMahon annually co - hosted the " Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon " . He performed in numerous television commercials , most notably for Budweiser . In the 1970s and 1980s , he anchored the team of NBC personalities conducting the network ' s coverage of the Macy ' s Thanksgiving Day Parade . McMahon appeared in several films , including " The Incident " , " Fun With Dick and Jane " , " Full Moon High " , and " Butterfly " , as well as briefly in the film version of " Bewitched " . According to " Entertainment Weekly " , McMahon is considered one of the greatest " sidekicks " . Early years . McMahon was born in Detroit , Michigan to Edward Leo Peter McMahon , Sr . a fund - raiser and entertainer , and his wife Eleanor ( Russell ) McMahon . He was raised in Lowell , Massachusetts . McMahon attended Boston College in 1940 - 41 and later graduated from the Catholic University of America , majoring in speech and drama on the GI Bill in 1949 . He was a member of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity . McMahon began his career as a bingo caller in Maine when he was fifteen . Prior to this , he worked as a carnival barker for three years in Mexico , Maine . He put himself through college as a pitchman for vegetable slicers on the Atlantic City boardwalk . His first broadcasting job was at WLLH - AM in his native Lowell and he began his television career in Philadelphia at WCAU - TV . Military service . McMahon hoped to become a US Marine Corps fighter pilot . Prior to the US entry into World War II , however , both the Army and Navy required two years of college for their pilots program . McMahon enrolled into classes at Boston College . After Pearl Harbor was attacked , the college requirement was dropped , and McMahon immediately applied for Marine flight training . His primary flight training was in Dallas , followed by fighter training in Pensacola , where he also earned his carrier landing qualifications . He was a Marine Corps flight instructor for two years , finally being ordered to the Pacific fleet in 1945 . However , his orders were canceled after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki forcing Japan ' s surrender . As an officer in the reserves , McMahon was recalled to active duty during the Korean War . This time , he flew the OE - 1 ( the original Marine designation for the Cessna O - 1 Bird Dog ) , an unarmed single - engine spotter plane . He functioned as an artillery spotter for the Marine batteries on the ground and as a forward controller for the Navy and Marine fighter bombers . He flew a total of 85 combat missions , earning six Air Medal s . After the war , he stayed with the Marines , as a reserve officer , retiring in 1966 as a colonel . In 1982 he received a state commission as a brigadier general in the California Air National Guard , an honorific awarded to recognize his support for the National Guard and Reserves . Entertainment career . " The Tonight Show " . McMahon and Johnny Carson first worked together as announcer and host on the daytime game show " Who Do You Trust ? " ( 1957 – 1962 ) . McMahon and Carson left the show to join " The Tonight Show " in 1962 . He describes what happened when the pair first met , the whole meeting being " . . . about as exciting as watching a traffic light change " . For almost 30 years , McMahon introduced the " The Tonight Show " with a drawn - out " Heeere ' s Johnny ! " His booming voice and constant laughter alongside the " King of Late Night " earned McMahon the nickname the " Human Laugh Track " and " Toymaker to the King " . As part of the introductory patter to " The Tonight Show " , McMahon would state his name out loud , pronouncing it as , but neither long - time cohort Johnny Carson nor anyone else who interviewed him ever seemed to pick up on that subtlety , usually pronouncing his name . The extroverted McMahon served as a counter to the notoriously shy Carson . Nonetheless , McMahon once told an interviewer that after his many decades as an emcee , he would still get " butterflies " in his stomach every time he would walk onto a stage , and would use that nervousness as a source of energy . " Star Search " . He was also host of the successful weekly syndicated series " Star Search " , which began in 1983 and helped launch the careers of numerous actors , singers , choreographers , and comedians . He stayed with the show until it ended in 1995 , and in 2003 , he made a cameo appearance on the revival of the CBS show , hosted by his successor , Arsenio Hall . Other roles . McMahon was the co - host of the long - running annual Labor Day weekend " MDA Jerry Lewis Telethon " . His 41st and last appearance was in 2008 , making him second only to Lewis himself in number of appearances . McMahon and Dick Clark hosted the television series ( and later special broadcasts of ) " TV ' s Bloopers and Practical Jokes " on NBC from 1982 – 98 , when Clark decided to move the production of the series to ABC . In 1967 , McMahon had a role in the film " The Incident " . From 1965 to 1969 , McMahon was " communicator " ( host ) of the Saturday afternoon segment of Monitor , the weekend news , features and entertainment magazine on NBC Radio . McMahon had a supporting role in the original 1970 ' s version of the movie " Fun With Dick & Jane " and played himself in Steven Spielberg ' s 1986 " Amazing Stories " Season 1 : Episode 10 ( " Remote Control Man " ) . In 2004 , he became the announcer and co - host of " Alf ' s Hit Talk Show " on TV Land . He has authored two memoirs , " Here ' s Johnny ! : My Memories of Johnny Carson , The Tonight Show , and 46 Years of Friendship " as well as " For Laughing Out Loud " . Over the years , he emcee d the game shows " Missing Links " , " Snap Judgment " , " Concentration " , and " Whodunnit ! " . McMahon hosted " Lifestyles Live " , a weekend talk program aired on the USA Radio Network . He also appeared in the feature documentary film , " Pitch People " , the first motion picture to take an in - depth look at the history and evolution of pitching products to the public . In the early 2000s , McMahon made a series of Neighborhood Watch public service announcement s parodying the surprise appearances to contest winners that he was supposedly known for . ( In fact , it is not clear whether the company McMahon fronted , American Family Publishers , regularly performed such unannounced visits , as opposed to Publishers Clearing House and its oft - promoted " prize patrol " . ) Towards the end of the decade , McMahon took on other endorsement roles , playing a rapper for a FreeCreditReport . com commercial and in a " Cash4Gold " commercial alongside MC Hammer . McMahon was also the spokesman for Pride Mobility , a leading power wheelchair and scooter manufacturer . His final film appearance was in the independent John Hughes themed rom - com " Jelly " as Mr . Closure alongside actress Natasha Lyonne . Mostly in the 1980s through the 1990s , McMahon was the spokesperson for Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company . Personal life . Marriage and children . McMahon married Alyce Ferrell on July 5 , 1945 , while he was serving as a flight instructor in the Marines ; the couple had four children : Claudia ( b . 1946 ) , Michael Edward ( 1951 – 1995 ) , Linda and Jeffrey . In 1972 , they separated , and in 1974 they divorced . McMahon married Victoria Valentine on March 6 , 1976 . They adopted a daughter in 1985 : Katherine Mary . The couple divorced in 1989 ; McMahon paid $ 50 , 000 per month in spousal and child support . On February 22 , 1992 , three months before his " Tonight Show " run came to a close , in a ceremony held near Las Vegas , McMahon married Pamela " Pam " Hurn , a 37 - year - old mother of a son named Lex . McMahon ' s daughter Katherine served as best person at the wedding . McMahon adopted his wife ' s son , making his name Lex McMahon . Pam Hurn McMahon was widowed in 2009 at the death of Ed McMahon , and spoke at his funeral . Financial problems . In June 2008 , it was announced that McMahon was $ 644 , 000 behind on payments on $ 4 . 8 million in mortgage loans and was fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion - dollar Beverly Hills home . McMahon was also sued by Citibank for $ 180 , 000 . McMahon appeared on " Larry King Live " on June 5 , 2008 with his wife to talk about this situation . In the interview , McMahon ' s wife Pam said that people assumed that the McMahons had so much money because of his celebrity status . Pamela McMahon also commented that they do not have " millions " of dollars . On July 30 , 2008 , McMahon ' s financial status suffered another blow . According to Reuters , McMahon failed to pay divorce attorney Norman Solovay $ 275 , 168 , according to a lawsuit filed in the Manhattan federal court . McMahon and his wife , Pamela , hired Solovay to represent Linda Schmerge , his daughter from another relationship , in a " matrimonial matter , " said Solovay ' s lawyer , Michael Shanker . On August 14 , 2008 , real estate mogul Donald Trump announced that he would purchase McMahon ' s home from Countrywide Financial and lease it to McMahon , so the home would not be foreclosed . McMahon agreed instead to a deal with a private buyer for his hilltop home , said Howard Bragman , McMahon ' s former spokesman . Bragman declined to name the buyer or the selling price , but he said it is not Trump . " For Mr . Trump , this acquisition was not business - related , but , as he has stated , was meant to help out an American icon , " said Michael Cohen , special counsel to Trump . " If another buyer should emerge who will create the benefit Mr . Trump sought for Ed McMahon , then he is clearly pleased . " In early September , after the second buyer ' s offer fell through , Trump renewed his offer to purchase the home . Health problems . On April 20 , 2002 , McMahon sued his insurance company for more than $ 20 million , alleging that he was sickened by toxic mold that spread through his Beverly Hills house after contractors failed to properly clean up water damage from a broken pipe . McMahon and his wife , Pamela , became ill from the mold , as did members of their household staff , according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court suit . The McMahons also blame the mold for the death of the family dog , Muffin . Their suit , the latest of many in recent years over toxic mold , was filed against American Equity Insurance Co . , a pair of insurance adjusters and several environmental cleanup contractors . It seeks monetary damages for alleged breach of contract , negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress . A spokeswoman for the insurance company declined to comment . On March 21 , 2003 , the long battle ended with McMahon reaping $ 7 million from what was later discovered to be several companies who were negligent for allowing mold into his home . Their dog ' s death was confirmed to be caused by mold . McMahon was injured in 2007 in a fall and , in March 2008 , it was announced he was recovering from a broken neck and two subsequent surgeries . He later sued Cedars - Sinai Medical Center and two doctors claiming fraud , battery , elder abuse , and emotional distress , and accused them of discharging him with a broken neck after his fall in 2007 and later botching two neck surgeries . On February 27 , 2009 it was reported that McMahon had been in an undisclosed Los Angeles hospital ( later confirmed as Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center ) for almost a month . He was listed in serious condition and was in the intensive care unit . His publicist told reporters that he was admitted for pneumonia at the time , but could not confirm nor deny reports that McMahon had been diagnosed with bone cancer . Death . McMahon died on June 23 , 2009 , shortly after midnight at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles , California . He was 86 years old . His nurse , Julie Koehne , RN , stated he went peacefully . No formal cause of death was given , but McMahon ' s publicist attributed his death to the many health problems he had suffered over his final months . McMahon had said that he still suffered from the injury to his neck in March 2007 . Then " Tonight " host Conan O ' Brien paid tribute to McMahon on his show later that night , saying " " It is impossible , I think , for anyone to imagine ' The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson ' without Ed McMahon . Ed ' s laugh was really the soundtrack to that show . " " O ' Brien added that McMahon , with Carson , created " " the most iconic two - shot in broadcasting history . There will never be anything like that again " " . The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia posthumously inducted McMahon into their Hall of Fame in 2010 .