From the Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Ed McMahon, the loyal "Tonight Show" sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and a resounding "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" for 30 years, has died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86.
Publicist Howard Bragman says McMahon died early today at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center surrounded by his family.
Bragman didn't give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months."
McMahon had bone cancer, among other illnesses, according to a person close to the entertainer, and had been hospitalized for several weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
(Check shreveporttimes.com for more details...)
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From Teddy ...
"I hold in my hand the last envelope." This time, it's the REAL last envelope...
I LOVED my Ed. Not the Ed who did the Star Search or the monthly insurance television commercials for the elderly. But the sidekick Ed.
The Sidekick Ed was a beautiful thing.
Loved him.
("Yeessssssss!")
I've got shoeboxes full of jokes from the mid-'70s Tonight Show. We'd just moved from South Carolina to here and Ed and Johnny kept me company late at night while everyone in my family slept. I'd write down funny stuff they said or did, stuff it in a box. Read them later. Enjoy the show all over again. Dang. They were fun. The senile Ed, suing people and whatnot here in the later years, not so good. And his health problems were legion. But he was hot as a firecracker back in the day. Very perfect for what he did on The Tonight Show. Dang. Hate that.
