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Jack Paar
JACK HAROLD PAAR (May 1, 1918 - January 27, 2004) was an American author, radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known as host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962.
Born in 1918 in C...view moreJACK HAROLD PAAR (May 1, 1918 - January 27, 2004) was an American author, radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known as host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962.
Born in 1918 in Canton, Ohio, he moved to Jackson, Michigan as a child. He left school at 16 and first worked as a radio announcer at WIBM in Jackson, and later as a humorous disc jockey at several Midwest stations.
He received his big break in 1947 as Jack Benny’s summer replacement and also signed as a contract player for Howard Hughes’ RKO Pictures, appearing as the MC in the movie Variety Time (1948), a compilation of vaudeville sketches. He returned to radio in 1950, hosting the $64 Question, and in 1956 he began hosting The Jack Paar Show on ABC.
In the early 1950s he appeared on Up To Paar (1952) and Bank on the Stars (1953), before hosting The Morning Show (1954) on CBS. He then succeeded Steve Allen as host of NBC’s The Tonight Show from 1957, during the peak of the series’ national attention. This was followed in 1962 by his prime time show The Jack Paar Program, which aired for three years.
He returned television on a regular basis beginning in January 1973 with Jack Paar.
He died at his Greenwich, Connecticut home in 2004 aged 85.
JOHN F. X. REDDY (1911/1912 - January 24, 1975) was a U.S. writer and editor, best known for his work as a The Reader’s Digest editor from 1958, for which he wrote personality articles. He also co-authored a number of books with his friend Jack Paar, including his 1961 autobiography “I Kid You Not”.
Before joining Reader’s Digest, Reddy was a partner in the radio and television producing firm of Masterson, Reddy & Nelson of Hollywood for 12 years. He was also a news writer with CBS in Hollywood from 1941-1946.
He died in New York in 1975 aged 63.view less