9362dbdc   
   From: freakgeek@da80's.com   
      
   "Bob" <4WickedGood@gmail.com> wrote in message   
   news:40882550-e3b6-4f3a-97df-96bb027f66b1@k8g2000yqn.googlegroups.com...   
   > CNN) -- Ed McMahon, the longtime pitchman and Johnny Carson sidekick   
   > whose "Heeeeeeerre's Johnny!" became a part of the vernacular, has   
   > died.   
   >   
   > McMahon passed away peacefully shortly after midnight at the Ronald   
   > Reagan/UCLA Medical Center, his publicist, Howard Bragman, said   
   > Tuesday   
   >   
   > McMahon, 86, was hospitalized in February with pneumonia and other   
   > medical problems.   
   >   
   > He had suffered a number of health problems in recent years, including   
   > a neck injury caused by a 2007 fall. In 2002, he sued various   
   > insurance companies and contractors over mold in his house and later   
   > collected a $7 million settlement.   
   >   
   > Though he later hosted a variety of shows -- including "Star Search"   
   > and "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" -- McMahon's biggest fame came   
   > alongside Carson on "The Tonight Show," which Carson hosted from 1962   
   > to 1992. The two met not long after Carson began hosting the game show   
   > "Who Do You Trust?" in 1957. iReport.com: Share your memories of Ed   
   > McMahon   
   >   
   > "Johnny didn't look as if he was dying to see me," McMahon, who was   
   > hosting a show on a Philadelphia TV station, told People magazine in   
   > 1980 about the pair's first meeting. "He was standing with his back to   
   > the door, staring at a couple of workmen putting letters on a theater   
   > marquee. I walked over and stood beside him. Finally the two guys   
   > finished, and Johnny asked, 'What have you been doing?' I told him. He   
   > said, 'Good to meet you, Ed,' shook my hand, and I was out of the   
   > office. The whole meeting was about as exciting as watching a traffic   
   > light change."   
   >   
   > Though McMahon was surprised to be offered the job as Carson's   
   > sidekick, the two soon proved to have a strong chemistry. Carson was,   
   > by nature, introverted and dry-witted; McMahon was the boisterous and   
   > outgoing second banana, content to give Carson straight lines or laugh   
   > uproariously at his jokes (a characteristic much-parodied by   
   > comedians).   
   >   
   > Carson made cracks about McMahon's weight, his drinking and the pair's   
   > trouble with divorce. McMahon was married three times; Carson, who   
   > died in 2005, had four wives.   
   >   
   > McMahon was also the show's designated pitchman, a talent he honed to   
   > perfection during "Tonight's" 30-year run with Carson, even if   
   > sometimes the in-show commercial spots fell flat.   
   >   
   > For one of the show's regular sponsors, Alpo dog food, McMahon usually   
   > extolled the virtues of the product while a dog eagerly gobbled down a   
   > bowl. But one day the show's regular dog wasn't available, and the   
   > substitute pooch wasn't very hungry.   
   >   
   > McMahon recalled the incident in his 1998 memoir, "For Laughing Out   
   > Loud."   
   >   
   > "Then I saw Johnny come into my little commercial area. He got down on   
   > his hands and knees and came over to me. ... I started to pet Johnny.   
   > Nice boss, I was thinking as I pet him on the head, nice boss. By this   
   > point the audience was hysterical. ... I just kept going. I was going   
   > to get my commercial done. 'The next time you're looking at the canned   
   > dog food ...' -- he rubbed his cheek against my leg -- " ... reach for   
   > the can that contains real beef.' Johnny got up on his knees and   
   > started begging for more. I started petting him again ... and then he   
   > licked my hand."   
   >   
   > McMahon also promoted Budweiser, American Family Insurance and --   
   > during the most recent Super Bowl -- Cash4Gold.com. Entertainment   
   > Weekly named him No. 1 on its list of TV's greatest sidekicks.   
   >   
   > Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan, on March   
   > 6, 1923. His father was a promoter, and McMahon remembered moving a   
   > lot during his childhood.   
   >   
   > "I changed towns more often than a pickpocket," McMahon told People.   
   >   
   > He later joined the Marines and served in World War II and Korea.   
   >   
   > Though McMahon was well-rewarded by NBC -- the 1980 People article   
   > listed his salary between $600,000 and $1 million -- his divorces and   
   > some poor investments took their toll. In June 2008, The Wall Street   
   > Journal reported that McMahon was $644,000 in arrears on a $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   
   > gotten caught in a spate of financial problems.   
   >   
   > "If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it   
   > can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things   
   > like that," said McMahon, who added that he hadn't worked much since   
   > the neck injury.   
   >   
   >   
   > McMahon later struck a deal that allowed him to stay in the house.   
   >   
   > He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and five children. A sixth child,   
   > McMahon's son Michael, died in 1995.   
      
   Cut and paste,why didn't I think of that ?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)