Ed McMahon?

[beaky]

Just learned something surprising about jolly old Ed McMahon- he flew Cessnas on Marine Corps spotter missions in Korea during that extremely hazardous "police action".
"He was on the runway awaiting takeoff for his 86th combat mission when he heard a knock on his cockpit window. The war was over." says Entertainment Weekly. On the way home, he had a stop in Tokyo, where he partied with Ted Williams- another Marine pilot.
 The rest of the article also tells of a very accomplished and passionate career in radio and TV... I feel bad that I always thought of him as just Johnny Carson's sidekick.

[jimclarke]

I thought he once said he was a fighter pilot flying F9Fs.  He is also afraid of heights.

Jim

[Hagar]

Never heard of the chap myself but that's not surprising. I remember a few Radio/TV celebrities in the past who had distinguished war records. They didn't publicise it like they might do now. Here's one example, a very famous comedian named Jimmy Edwards.



Not too many people knew this about him.

Jimmy was born on 23rd March, 1920 in Barnes, London. His real name was James Keith O'Neill.
He performed in the Cambridge Footlights review and joined the RAF during the Second World War. He was presented with the Distinguished Flying Cross after his Dakota was shot down at Arnhem in 1944. Because of his facial injuries sustained in the crash, he had to have plastic surgery and to hide this he grew a large handlebar moustache, which became his trademark.

He also founded and was Vice President of 'The Handlebar Club', whose members had large moustaches. His hobbies included polo, hunting, flying and brass bands. He was also in partnership with his brother in a successful 900 acre farm in Sussex . He died on 7th. July, 1988.

I believe he was also "outed" as being gay towards the end of his life which caused a bit of a scandal in those days. Nobody suspected it during his career as his lifestyle & comedy routines were anything but typically gay.

PS. http://www.robtuk.co.uk/index.php?article=15

[beaky]

Never heard of Edwards (interesting story!), but honestly- you never heard of Ed McMahon? Ever heard of Johnny Carson? You know- the Tonight Show? Took over for Jack Paar?  McMahon was his sidekick; known for his laughter and his live dog food commercials   . When Carson retired, McMahon became the host of Star Search, which was sort of like  American Idol (which he poo-poos in this article). Wildly successful show that brought recognition to many now-famous singers and comics.
He was also unfortunately known for his drinking; had at least one show (live, mind you) where he was noticeably drunk- Carson had to cover for him.  But he's 82 now,cleaned up his act,  happily remarried, and still working.

[beaky]

I thought he once said he was a fighter pilot flying F9Fs.  He is also afraid of heights.

Jim

That's odd, there's no mention of that here. But I think one could develop a fear of heights flying scout and spotter missions in a Cessna... you'd be a sitting duck!!

[Hagar]

Never heard of Edwards (interesting story!), but honestly- you never heard of Ed McMahon? Ever heard of Johnny Carson? You know- the Tonight Show? Took over for Jack Paar?

Yes, I've heard of Johnny Carson but can't say I've ever seen him on TV or would even recognise him. Same goes for this Jack Paar. They might be big in the States but we don't get the Tonight Show here. Not that I would watch it if we did.

PS. Have you ever heard of Michael Parkinson? The most popular British chat show host for many years & still going strong now. I can remember him interviewing Muhammad Ali when he was Cassius Clay.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/tventertainment/michaelparkinson.shtml

[flyboy 28]

Doug, Ed McMahon's famous line is "Hi-yo!"

Heard of it?

[Hagar]

Doug, Ed McMahon's famous line is "Hi-yo!"

Heard of it?

Sorry old chap. Can't say I have. We live in 2 different worlds, believe me.

[beaky]

Hmmm... we seem to be slipping in the "cultural imperialism" department....
Like the recently- deceased Carson, Paar is quite dead. He was the original host of that show, which was technically the first TV talk show as we know it. Left the show at the peak of its popularity due to differences with management, and expressed his feelings about it on the air.
I can't say I'm familiar with any British talk show hosts, but I guess I know the type, having seen them all spoofed by the
Pythons... .

[Hagar]

Hmmm... we seem to be slipping in the "cultural imperialism" department....

I suspect some of the American members of this forum would have quite a culture shock if they visited good ol' Blighty. Things Ive been used to for 60 years or so & accept as normal would probably seem very strange to someone brought up in the US, although not quite like so many seem to think. Many people's impression of life in the UK seems influenced by the old classic films of the 30s & 40s. They seem surprised when I tell them we no longer travel in Hansom cabs through the foggy streets of old London town. Honestly, it's no longer like that. They might also be surprised to find we no longer talk like Basil Rathbone, if we ever did.

We get a lot of US TV shows here these days but things like chat shows & even the news broadcasts are somewhat different. I doubt that anyone with a catch-phrase of "Hi-yo" would last 5 minutes as nobody would have the faintest idea of what he was going on about. As I said, it's sometimes like 2 completely different worlds.

[Saratoga]

But 2 very cool different worlds. Love them both, Europe and the US.

[jimclarke]

Here's a bio on Ed:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573012/bio

Jim

[beaky]

Huh. Article I read said nothing about WWII, or "Fighter pilot". Whaddya know... "Yes!"

[Saratoga]

Well perhaps someone should contact the writer? That would definetly be a major thing.

[beaky]

Good idea. But my guess about the article I read was that the Korea Cessna stories just happened to be the ones he shared during that particular interview. Most of the article was about his career, particularly what he's been up to since he stopped doing the Tonight Show, and of course comments about losing such a dear old friend.