the rix mix

I have a lot of respect for radio & TV announcers & "sidekicks." On radio, before my time, staff announcers were very important, the best ones had distinctive voices, usually in the baritone range. Some used phony upper-class diction. Radio stars made their announcers part of the cast, as characters caricaturing their real selves & jobs, like Don Wilson, Jack Benny's announcer, playing Jack Benny's announcer, Don Wilson.

When Ed McMahon said he had worked his way through college as a pitchman on the Atlantic City boardwalk, selling vegetable slicers, I knew exactly what he was talking about; they were still there when I was a kid walking the boards. He learned much on the boardwalk.

Johnny Carson could not have been an easy guy to work for. Temperamental, guarded, a stinging Scorpio, what probably made him a decent boss was that he didn't like change, & he appreciated the loyalty he demanded. But Ed still had to go with Johnny's flow, show after show, a great skill. Ed had the personality of a first rate bartender. Ed also had the additional responsibility, shared with bandleader Doc_Severinsen, of watching over the Tonight Show when Johnny went to regular guest hosts. Johnny didn't want controversy, or the desk props broken, on his day off. Working with Johnny prepared Ed, more or less, to handle Jerry Lewis once-a-year.

All the other good-paying gigs, Star Search, Publishers Clearing House, & execrable Bloopers with Dick Clark, with Ed functioning as a "celebrity," were made possible by Johnny Carson, which Ed never forgot.

Labels: obituary, TV