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 ...
[in 1960, just before his on-air walking off The Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957) when he discovered that NBC executives had censored his monologue] There must be a better way to earn a living than this.
4
I hate my emotion. Knock it off, I tell myself, but I just can't help it.
5
[after returning from having walked off The Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957)] As I was saying before I was interrupted . . .
6
Everyone thinks Ed Sullivan discovered The Beatles. That's not true. I had them on before he did. I did it because I thought they were funny, not because I liked the music. I'm a Muzak kind of guy . . . my home's like living in an elevator.
7
I kid you not . . .
8
My life seems like one big obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.
9
I'm complicated, sentimental, lovable, honest, loyal, decent, generous, likable, and lonely. My personality is not split, it's shredded.
10
It's almost impossible to dislike me because I do nothing.
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Fact
1
Has one grandson.
2
Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 409-411. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.
3
He suffered from tuberculosis as a child and later worked on a railroad gang to build himself up.
4
Cured himself of a stutter by putting buttons in his mouth and reading aloud.
5
Popularized the phrase "I kid you not . . ." with which he regularly certified his flow of self-revealing stories as host of The Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957).
6
In 1960 he abruptly quit the show four 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 Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957)]. 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 . . . ".
7
He and his wife, Miriam, had a daughter named Randy.
8
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.
9
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.
10
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.
One of his first TV hosting jobs was on the game show Up to Paar (1952). Around the same time, he had a minor role as Marilyn Monroe's boyfriend in Love Nest (1951), one of her early films.
13
At the beginning of a live commercial for a sponsor's cigarette, Paar took a drag off the cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke, faced the camera and said "Man, that's great coffee."
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jack Paar Comes Home
1986
TV Movie documentary producer
The Jack Paar Diary
1970
TV Movie documentary producer
Jack Paar and His Lions
1969
TV Movie documentary producer
Jack Paar in Africa
1969
TV Movie documentary producer
A Funny Thing Happened Everywhere
1967
TV Movie producer
ABC Stage 67
1966
TV Series producer - 1 episode
The Jack Paar Program
TV Series producer - 4 episodes, 1963 - 1964 executive producer - 1 episode, 1963
The Square World of Jack Paar
1961
TV Movie producer
Jack Paar Presents
1960
TV Movie producer
Startime
1960
TV Series producer - 1 episode
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jack Paar Comes Home
1986
TV Movie documentary
The Jack Paar Diary
1970
TV Movie documentary
Jack Paar and His Lions
1969
TV Movie documentary
Jack Paar in Africa
1969
TV Movie documentary
A Funny Thing Happened Everywhere
1967
TV Movie
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Hollywood
1967
TV Movie documentary
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
1953
Lt. Mike Sloan
Love Nest
1951
Ed Forbes
Walk Softly, Stranger
1950
Ray Healy
Easy Living
1949
Scoop Spooner
Variety Time
1948
Master of Ceremonies
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
American Masters
2004
TV Series documentary acknowledgment - 1 episode
Door to Door
2002
TV Movie acknowledgment: "The Tonight Show with Jack Paar" courtesy of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic
1990
TV Movie documentary acknowledgment
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Love, Marilyn
2012
Documentary
Ed Forbes (uncredited)
M*A*S*H, Tootsie & God: A Tribute to Larry Gelbart
1998
TV Special documentary
Himself
American Masters
1997
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Pat Sajak Show
1989
TV Series
Himself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1968-1987
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest
This Is Your Life
1987
TV Special
Himself
Jack Paar Comes Home
1986
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
Late Night with David Letterman
1983-1986
TV Series
Himself
The 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
1986
TV Special
Himself
NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration
1986
TV Special documentary
Himself
All-Star Party for Carol Burnett
1982
TV Movie
Himself
Over Easy
1981
TV Series
Himself
The Merv Griffin Show
1977
TV Series
Himself
The 1975 Annual Entertainment Hall of Fame Awards
1975
TV Special
Himself
Jack Paar Tonite
1973
TV Series
Himself - Host
The Dick Cavett Show
1972
TV Series
Himself
The Jack Paar Diary
1970
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
Jack Paar and His Lions
1969
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
Jack Paar in Africa
1969
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
The Jonathan Winters Show
1968
TV Series
Himself - Guest
A Funny Thing Happened Everywhere
1967
TV Movie
Himself - Host
Candid Camera
1967
TV Series
Himself
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Hollywood
1967
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
The Joey Bishop Show
1967
TV Series
Himself
ABC Stage 67
1966
TV Series
Himself - Host
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House
1966
TV Movie documentary
Himself - Host
The Jack Paar Program
1962-1965
TV Series
Himself - Host
Password All-Stars
1962-1963
TV Series
Himself - Celebrity Contestant
The Jack Paar Tonight Show
1957-1962
TV Series
Himself - Host
At This Very Moment
1962
TV Special
Himself
The Bob Hope Show
1962
TV Series
Himself
The Bob Newhart Show
1962
TV Series
Himself
The Jack Benny Program
1959-1961
TV Series
Himself
The Joey Bishop Show
1961
TV Series
Himself
The Square World of Jack Paar
1961
TV Movie
Himself - Host
This Is Your Life
1960
TV Series
Himself
Jack Paar Presents
1960
TV Movie
Himself - Host
Startime
1959-1960
TV Series
Himself - Host / Himself
What's My Line?
1954-1960
TV Series
Himself - Mystery Guest / Himself - Panelist
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1958
TV Series
Himself
The Polly Bergen Show
1958
TV Series
Himself
To Tell the Truth
1957
TV Series
Himself - Panelist
Person to Person
1957
TV Series documentary
Himself
The Ed Sullivan Show
1956-1957
TV Series
Himself / Himself - Guest Host
Tonight!
1955-1956
TV Series
Himself - Guest Host
The Morning Show
1954
TV Series
Himself - Host
Bank on the Stars
1953
TV Series
Himself - Host
Up to Paar
1952
TV Series
Himself / Host
Footlight Varieties
1951
Himself - Host
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1951
TV Series
Himself - Host
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins
2014
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The Sixties
2014
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself - The Tonight Show / Himself - Talk Show Host
Pioneers of Television
2008-2014
TV Mini-Series documentary
Himself / Himself - Jack Paar Tonight Show
American Masters
2012
TV Series documentary
Himself
Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl
2012
TV Special
Himself
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
2010
Documentary
Himself (uncredited)
The Yellow Brick Road and Beyond
2009
Video documentary
Himself
Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami
2008
TV Movie
Himself
Certifiably Jonathan
2007
Documentary
Himself
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
TV Movie documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Jack Paar: Smart Television
2003
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Ali-Frazier I: One Nation... Divisible
2000
TV Movie documentary
Himself (uncredited)
Biography
1997-2000
TV Series documentary
Himself
Mo' Funny: Black Comedy in America
1993
TV Special documentary
Himself
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic
1990
TV Movie documentary
Himself
TV's Funniest Game Show Moments
1984
TV Special
Himself
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976
TV Movie
Himself
Marilyn
1963
Documentary
Himself (scene from "Love Nest") (uncredited)
The DuPont Show of the Week
1961
TV Series
Himself
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1960
Star on the Walk of Fame
Walk of Fame
Television
On 8 February 1960. At 6212 Hollywood Blvd.
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1997
Career Achievement Award
Television Critics Association Awards
1959
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Best Performance by an Actor (Continuing Character) in a Musical or Variety Series
Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957)
1958
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Best Continuing Performance (Male) in a Series by a Comedian, Singer, Host, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, Panelist, or any Person who Essentially Plays Himself
Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957)
Known for movies
The Jack Paar Tonight Show (1957-1962) as Himself - Host
$700,000
