Ed McMahon (1923-2009)

The greatest second banana of a generation, McMahon was a constantly smiling jovial presence for the better part of half a century. Though his film work was limited (the only film I can recall seeing him in is 1967’s The Incident with a young Martin Sheen), his television output was enormous, nearly 30 years on The Tonight Show, Star Search, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes (the show I remember him from as a kid), and even those Publishers Clearinghouse commercials. Though towards the end of his life he got more attention from a sad financial situation then anything else, McMahon is bound to remembered as someone millions of people could feel almost unnaturally at ease with, not a bad legacy.