[Marxism] Don't tell me this is irrelevant to Marxism, political swine!

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This is a comment on Ed McMahon partly inspired by guilt over the fact that
I missed the death of Johnny Carson back in 2005. I don't know what was
distracting my attention at the time (probably some imperialist war or
other) but I missed it.

I liked Jack Paar better. He tended to challenge the conventional wisdom but
line up when push came to shove, i.e. Cuba. For Carson this was irre;evamt.
As a devoted magician (and therefore committed materialist although he would
never admit this) his comedic art was to make jokes (often better than Leno,
who is actually a competent comedian) that completely concealed himself from
the viewer. I found this attractive. And McMahon supported him 100 percent.
Good for him, I guess.

McMahon started (as far as my life is concerned) on Philadelphia TV as a
weatherman (I think -- I don't think he was the sports man) on  the
smooth-voiced John Facenda's CBS Channel 10 Local News program, which I
watched for many childhood years as a loyal American vegetable (although
hiding myself in a way that helps me to identify with Carson). He also did
ads for local used car salesman and such.

Anyway, I have a strong feeling that this is an event that deserves
registration on a Marxism List. I suggest living with it.
Fred Feldman




'Tonight' sidekick Ed McMahon dies in LA at 86
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 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, died early Tuesday. He was 86.

McMahon died shortly after midnight at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
surrounded by his wife, Pam, and other family members, said his publicist,
Howard Bragman.

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 wasn't authorized to release the
information.

McMahon broke his neck in a fall in March 2007, and battled a series of
financial problems as his injuries preventing him from working.

McMahon and Carson had worked together for nearly five years on the game
show "Who Do You Trust? " when Carson took over NBC's late-night show from
Jack Paar in October 1962. McMahon played second banana on "Tonight" until
Carson retired in 1992.

"You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson," McMahon said an
interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "There's the old phrase, hook
your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star."

McMahon, who never failed to laugh at his Carson's quips, kept his
supporting role in perspective.

"It's like a pitcher who has a favorite catcher," he said. "The pitcher gets
a little help from the catcher, but the pitcher's got to throw the ball.
Well, Johnny Carson had to throw the ball, but I could give him a little
help."

Photos: Remembering Ed McMahon
 
View all >
 
Carson "was like a brother" to McMahon
"And now h-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!" was McMahon's trademark opener for each
"Tonight" show, followed by a small, respectful bow toward the star.
McMahon's style was honed during his youthful days as a carnival hawker.

The highlight for McMahon came just after the monologue, when he and Carson
would chat before the guests took the stage.

"We would just have a free-for-all," he said in the AP interview. "Now to
sit there, with one of the brightest, most well-read men I've ever met, the
funniest, and just to hold your own in that conversation. ... I loved that."

When Carson died in 2005, McMahon said he was "like a brother to me," and
recalled bantering with him on the phone a few months earlier.

"We could have gone on (television) that night and done a 'Carnac' skit. We
were that crisp and hot."

Beyond "Tonight"

His medical and financial problems kept him in the headlines in his last
years. It was reported in June 2008 that he was facing possible foreclosure
on his Beverly Hills home.

By year's end, a deal was worked out allowing him to stay in his home, but
legal action involving other alleged debts continued.

Among those who had stepped up with offers of help was Donald Trump.

"When I was at the Wharton School of Business I'd watch him every night,"
Trump told the Los Angeles Times in August. "How could this happen?"

McMahon even spoofed his own problems with a spot that aired during the 2009
Super Bowl promoting a cash-for-gold business. Pairing up with rap artist MC
Hammer, he explained how easy it is to turn gold items into cash, jokingly
saying "Goodbye, old friend" to a gold toilet and rolling out a convincing
"H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's money!"

Born Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. on March 6, 1923, in Detroit, McMahon grew
up in Lowell, Mass. He got his start on television playing a circus clown on
the 1950-51 variety series "Big Top." But the World War II Marine veteran
interrupted his career to serve as a fighter pilot in Korea.

He joined "Who Do You Trust?" in 1958, its second year, the start of his
long association with Carson. It was a partnership that outlasted their
multiple marriages, which provided regular on-air fodder for jokes.

While Carson built his career around "Tonight" and withdrew from the
limelight after his retirement, McMahon took a different path. He was host
of several shows over the years, including "The Kraft Music Hall" (1968) and
the amateur talent contest "Star Search."

He was a longtime co-host of the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association
Telethon, a Labor Day weekend institution, and was co-host with Dick Clark
of "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes."

McMahon and Clark also teamed up as pitchmen for American Family Publishers'
sweepstakes, with their faces a familiar sight on contest entry forms and in
TV commercials. McMahon was known for his ongoing commercials for Budweiser
as well.

He had supporting roles in several movies, including "Fun With Dick and
Jane" (1977) and "Just Write" (1997). He took on his first regular TV series
job in the 1997 WB sitcom "The Tom Show" with Tom Arnold.

Related: A look at late-night TV's esteemed 'second bananas'

McMahon released his autobiography, "For Laughing Out Loud: My Life and Good
Times," in 1998. In it, he recounts the birth of "Tonight."

"Let's just go down there and entertain the hell out of them," Carson told
him before the first show. Wrote McMahon: "That was the only advice I ever
got from him."

In 1993, he recalled his first meeting with Carson after they left
"Tonight."

"The first thing he said was, 'I really miss you. You know, it was fun,
wasn't it?'" McMahon recalled. "I said, 'It was great.' And it was. It was
just great."

Besides his wife, Pam, McMahon is survived by children Claudia, Katherine,
Linda, Jeffrey and Lex.

Bragman said no funeral arrangements have been made.

Related: In Memoriam 2009




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