Portrait of Ed McMahon

Birthday profile

Ed McMahon

American announcer, game show host, actor, and spokesman (1923-2009)

Born
March 6, 1923
Died
June 23, 2009
Zodiac sign
Pisces
Birth year
1923

About Ed McMahon

Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American announcer, game show host, comedian, actor, singer, and combat aviator. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game show Who Do You Trust?, appearing from 1958 to 1962. McMahon then made his famous thirty-year mark as Carson's sidekick and announcer on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992. McMahon also hosted the original Star Search from 1983 to 1995, co-hosted TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes with Dick Clark from 1982 to 1998, presented sweepstakes for American Family Publishers, annually co-hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon from 1973 to 2008 and anchored the team of NBC personalities conducting the network's coverage of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade during the 1970s and 80s. McMahon appeared in several films, including The Incident, Fun with Dick and Jane, Full Moon High and Butterfly. He had a brief screen time in the film version of the TV sitcom Bewitched and also performed in numerous television commercials. According to the staff of Entertainment Weekly, McMahon tops the list of the "50 greatest sidekicks ever". McMahon and Carson first worked together as announcer and host on the ABC daytime game show Who Do You Trust? running from 1957 to 1962. Aside from his co-hosting duties, it also fell upon McMahon during the early years of Carson's tenure (when the show ran 105 minutes) to host the first fifteen minutes of Tonight, which did not air nationally.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Ed McMahon timeline

  1. McMahon and Carson first worked together as announcer and host on the ABC daytime game show Who Do You Trust? running from 1957 to 1962.
  2. McMahon and Johnny Carson began their association in their first TV series, the ABC game show Who Do You Trust?, appearing from 1958 to 1962.
  3. McMahon then made his famous thirty-year mark as Carson's sidekick and announcer on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1962 to 1992.

The world when Ed McMahon was born

Ed McMahon was born in 1923. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1923

  • #1 song"Yes! We Have No Bananas"
  • Top movieThe Ten Commandments (Cecil B. DeMille)
  • Best-selling bookBlack Oxen – Gertrude Atherton

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentFirst 24 Hours of Le Mans race
  • Top headlineTime magazine publishes its first issue
  • Technology milestoneFirst neon signs appear in the United States
  • Defining fadDance marathons
  • Notable inventionFrozen food process (Clarence Birdseye)
  • World population1.93 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding / Calvin Coolidge
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population111.9M

1923 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Ed McMahon's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19232026
Gas$0.22$3.45/gal
Average home$5,700$435,000
Average income$3,380$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population111.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.