I liked poor old Ed
NBC: 'Tonight Show' Icon Ed McMahon Dies
Carson Sidekick Reportedly Spent Month In Hospital
POSTED: Tuesday, June 23, 2009
UPDATED: 8:28 am EDT June 23, 2009
LOS ANGELES -- NBC News reports that Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson on the "Tonight Show," has died after long battle with cancer.
The network home of the "Tonight Show" confirmed the television icon's death with McMahon's publicist, Howard Bragman.
He was 86.
McMahon was recently hospitalized at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital in Los Angeles for a bout of pneumonia.
The entertainer was made famous for his role on the "Tonight Show" alongside Johnny Carson and as the host of "Star Search."
He later became a mainstay on commercials as the presenter of giant checks for the American Family Publishers sweepstakes.
McMahon's bankruptcy proceedings brought the aging Californian back into the limelight.