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Ed McMahon (born Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr., 6
March, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan, United
States|USA) is most famous for his work on
television as Johnny Carson's announcer on the
Tonight Show. For more than 30 years, he
introduced the show with a drawn-out
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!". His booming voice
and constant laughter earned him the nickname the
human laughtrack.

He later also became well-known as the presenter
of Publishers Clearinghouse sweepstakes who
arrives unannounced at the homes of winners. He
subsequently made a series of Neighborhood Watch
public service announcements reprising that role
in parody.  

He also hosted the long-running syndicated talent
show Star Search, cohosted the Jerry Lewis MDA
Telethon, emceed the game shows Snap Judgment and
Concentration, and performed in television
commercials.

McMahon has appeared in several films, including
The Incident (1967), Fun With Dick and Jane
(1976), Full Moon High (1981) and Butterfly
(movie)|Butterfly (1981).

McMahon began his career as a bingo caller in
Maine, when he was fifteen. He worked as a
carnival barker for three years as a teenager, and
put himself through college as a pitchman for
vegetable slicers on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
He graduated from the Catholic University of
America with a Bachelor of Arts in 1949.

During World War II he was decorated as a Marine
fighter pilot, and also served as a flight
instructor and test pilot. He continued his
military career in 1952 by flying 85 missions in
Korea, and rose to the rank of full Colonel in the
Marines, then was commissioned as Brigadier
General in the California Air National Guard.
Several of his ancestors, including the Marquis
d'Equilly, also had long and distinguished
military careers. A McMahon was a Marshall of
armies in France and served under Napoleon III.
McMahon also once asserted to Johnny Carson that
an ancestor of his had something to do with the
invention of the salad dressing known as
mayonnaise. Since the origin of mayonnaise is
unclear, it is also unclear if he was being
sincere or just being funny.

McMahon served on the boards of The Marine Corps
Scholarship Fund, the Horatio Alger Association,
and St. Jude's Ranch for Children in Boulder City,
Nevada. He was named honorary chairman of the
National Marine Corps Aviation Museum to be built
at Cherry Point, North Carolina. He was President
of the Catholic University Alumni Association for
four years. 

In the 1990's, McMahon was considered one of the
richer members of the Hollywood set with
substantial investments in real estate(one of the
largest landlords in Malibu), and in diversified
brewing stocks. He was reputed to be worth in
excess of $200 million in real estate holdings and
real estate partnerships.

In 1986 "Weird Al" Yankovic wrote a tribute song
titled "Here's Johnny".

From 1997 to 1998 he appeared in the
sitcom|situation comedy The Tom Show.

In 2004, he became the announcer and co-host of
Alf's Hit Talk Show on TV Land.

As part of the introductory patter to the Tonight
Show, McMahon would state his name out loud,
pronouncing it as Ed "Mc MAH yon", but neither his
long-time cohort Johnny Carson nor seemingly
anyone else who interviewed him ever seemed to
pick up on that subtlety, usually referring to him
as Ed "Mc MAN".

The extroverted McMahon made a good counter to the
notoriously shy Carson.  Nonetheless, McMahon once
told an interviewer that after his many decades as
an emcee, he would still get "butterflies" in the
stomach every time he would walk onto a stage. He
said that instead of letting that nervousness
defeat him, he would use it as "energy" for his
role as emcee.