 |
Jack Paar
Age: 85 (passed away Jan. 27th, 2004)
Height:
Birth Place: Canton, Ohio, USA
Born: May. 1st, 1918
+ Add to My Celebs
|
Jack Paar's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Became host of the Tonight Show in 1957 and quickly view very popular with viewers. So popular, in fact, that the show was renamed "The Jack Paar Show" after only one year of hosting. Paar's trademark was his great ability to engage in conversation with guests that went above and beyond the generic "chat" that other hosts never rose above. He was very emotional and was known to weep on camera at times. Once he walked off the show in a huff when the network censored a joke he made referring to a "water closet". On his program he developed a regular roster of favorite guests including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cliff Arquette, Genevieve, Hans Conreid, Hermoine Gingold, Genevieve, and Dody Goodman. After five years of hosting, he tired of the routine and switched to a weekly NBC variety series in 1962 that flopped. He next purchased a television station in Poland Springs, Maine, and sold it several years later. In 1973 he signed with ABC to compete with his NBC successor, Johnny Carson, on a limited schedule of one week a month, but failed to garner the acclaim he was once famous for.
TRIVIA:
- Host of NBC Radio's "The Jack Paar Show" (1947).
- In 1998 he underwent triple heart bypass surgery, complicated by an embolism discovered during the operation. In March of 2003 he suffered a mild stroke.
- His TV late night show helped ignite the young careers of 'Carol Burnett' (qv), 'Woody Allen' (qv) and 'Liza Minnelli' (qv). He also made solid enemies of columnists 'Dorothy Kilgallen' (qv) and 'Walter Winchell' (qv).
- An intelligent, prodding host during his heyday, he sparked international incidents after interviewing Fidel Castro in Cuba and doing his show from Berlin as the wall went up. On the positive side, he scored very well with his audiences and the behind-the-scenes executives discussing religion with Billy Graham, visiting Albert Schweitzer in Africa, and for his political bantering with Richard Nixon.
- In 1960, he abruptly quit the show 4 minutes into programming after discovering that a joke of his that included the words "WC", meaning water closet (a polite term for a flush toilet) had been censored. As he left his desk, he said, "I am leaving The Tonight Show. There must be a better way of making a living than this." Several weeks later, after a formal apology from the NBC network executives, he triumphantly returned to a standing ovation from the audience. The first words he spoke were, "As I was saying before I was interrupted..."
- Started off in broadcasting as a radio announcer in Cleveland and the Midwest. During World War II he entertained troops in the South Pacific with his parodies of military brass, but didn't become a radio star until the post-war years as a summer replacement on Jack Benny's radio show.
- Cured himself of a stutter by putting buttons in his mouth and reading aloud.
- One of his first TV hosting jobs was on the game show _"Up to Paar" (1952)_ (qv). Around the same time, he had a minor role as 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv)'s boyfriend in _Love Nest (1951)_ (qv), one of her early films.
Jack Paar Photos | powered by  |
Previous |
Next (1)
Jack Paar Fans [0]
Page created in 0.0835 seconds
Facebook
Twitter
