I hate this type of news.  After battling cancer, 86 year old Ed McMahon has died, NBC News announced. 

Forever knowns as Johnny Carson’s sidekick, his dream as a child was to become a radio announcer and as a child used a flashlight as a microphone when fantasizing about his career.  Constant moving about by the family was hard on Ed:

“I went to some 15 schools before high school. Nobody ever knew my name, and I was painfully shy.”

He joined the marines in 1941 and spent two years being a flight instructor.  He left  the marines in 1946 and enrolled in drama and as a speech major in Washington’s Catholic University.  To help make ends me, Ed sold pots and pans and vegetable slicers door to door.

He graduated university in 1949 and landed a gig in Philadelphia at WCAU-TV.  He then hosted a radio show while serving a second stint in the marines in Korea.  It was at this point that he was asked to meet Johnny Carson for ABC’s  show  Who Do You Trust?  Four years later, Johnny Carson replaced Jack Paar on the Tonight Show (when Jack retired) and the rest is history.

Ed McMahon is surived by his widow Pamela and six children.

Our sincere condolences to his family and friends.  He will be greatly missed.  He appeared to be such a sweet man 

Photo:  WENN.com

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