Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson's famed sidekick on "The Tonight Show," has died at 86.
Sharing in "The Tonight Show's" late-night antics for 30 years, the veteran TV personality, radio host and pitchman diedearly Tuesday morning at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles.
McMahon's agent Howard Bragman confirmed his death, saying he was surrounded by family at the hospital when he died.
Full details surrounding McMahon's death have yet to be revealed. But McMahon had battled several health problems over the last few years.
Diagnosed with systemic bone cancer, McMahon was hospitalized with pneumonia in February of 2009.
In 2007, the ailing celebrity also broke his neck in a fall.
In 2002, McMahon sued his insurance company for more than US$20 million, alleging that he was sickened by toxic mould that spread through his Beverly Hills house after contractors failed to properly clean up water damage from broken pipe.
Sadly, McMahon was also plagued by a host of financial troubles in recent years.
McMahon made headlines in 2008 when news broke that he faced foreclosure on his US$4.5 million home. Thanks to Donald Trump, who stepped in to bail McMahon out, his financial troubles were resolved.
Born in Detroit, Michigan on March 6, 1923, Edward Leo Peter McMahon, Jr. attended The Catholic University of America, majoring in speech and drama. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1949.
McMahon put himself through college working as a pitchman for vegetable slicers on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
By the age of 15 McMahon was using his big, hearty voice to work as a bingo caller. He also spent three years working as a carnival barker in state fairs.
A decorated pilot, McMahon served during the Second World War. A fighter pilot for the United States Marines, McMahon also served as a flight instructor and test pilot. He was discharged in 1946 and remained in the reserves.
McMahon got his showbiz start in Philadelphia, where he worked in game shows.
He worked as Johnny Carson's straight man on the '50s daytime game show "Who Do You Trust?"
When Carson succeeded Jack Paar on NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962), he took McMahon with him.
After three decades on the popular late-night TV staple, McMahon went on to host the 1980s talent show "Star Search."
His also presented the NBC series "TV Bloopers And Practical Jokes" alongside Dick Clark.
McMahon made TV appearances on "Baywatch," "The Tom Show" and was the voice of Tugboat Captain Hero on "Higglytown Heroes."
A huge fan of Hollywood legend W.C. Fields, McMahon made several appearances in feature films including "The Incident" (1967), "Fun with Dick and Jane" (1977) and "Love Affair" (1994).
McMahon annually co-hosted the "Jerry Lewis Labour Day Telethon." In the 1970s and 1980s he also anchored the team of NBC personalities covering the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Considered one of the greatest sidekicks in television history by Entertainment Weekly, there is perhaps no greater testament to McMahon's influence on showbiz than in "The Shining."
In it, Jack Nicholson's character famously shouts out "H-e-e-e-re's Johnny!" while holding an axe and trying to murder his wife.
Yet even after years in the biz, McMahon once told an interviewer that he would still get "butterflies" in his stomach every time he would walk onto a stage. He used that nervousness, McMahon said, as his source of energy.
McMahon is survived by his wife, Pam Hurn, and five children.
