Television Legend Ed McMahon Dead At 86
Posted June 23, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Television legend Ed McMahon has died. He was 86.
McMahon was best known for his 30-year tenure as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on the Tonight Show. He also hosted the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes and Star Search.
He passed away at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center on Tuesday morning.
In the last years of his life, McMahon had fallen on hard financial times. An accident in 2007 left him with a broken neck.
Because of the injury, he was unable to work and had trouble making payments on his Beverly Hills mansion. A deal was reached in December that allowed him to stay in the house.
McMahon was the late Carson’s straight man and seatmate on the Tonight Show from 1962-1992 – a record most believe will never be broken.
McMahon is survived by his wife Pamela and six children, three daughters and three sons.
The cause of death has not been released.
Ed McMahon at the 41st annual Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon on September 4, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images.
