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Jack Paar Biography (1918-)

Born May 1, 1918, in Canton, OH; son of Howard and Lillian (Hein) Paar; married second wife, Miriam Hershey, October, 1943; children: Randy (a daughter).

Jack Paar virtually created the television talk show when he took over The Tonight Show in 1957. Replacing the earlier variety show format with the now familiar guests-on-a-couch set, Paar more than quadrupled the number of stations carrying the show and attracted an audience of millions each night.

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Birth Details

May 1, 1918

Canton, Ohio, United States

Famous Works

• Credits
• FILM DEBUT--Variety Time, 1948.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL FILM APPEARANCES
• Scoop Spooner, Easy Living, RKO, 1949.
• Ray Healey, Walk Softly Stranger, RKO, 1950.
• Ed Forbes, The Love Nest, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1951.
• Lieutenant Mike Sloan, Down among the Sheltering Palms, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1953.
• Also in Footlight Varieties.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL TELEVISION APPEARANCES; SERIES
• Host, Up to Paar, NBC, 1952.
• emcee, Bank on the Stars, CBS, 1953.
• host, The Jack Paar Show, CBS, 1954.
• host, The Morning Show, NBC, 1954.
• host, The Tonight Show, NBC, 1957, retitled The Jack Paar Show, 1958- 62.
• host, The Jack Paar Program, NBC, 1962-65.
• host, Stage 67, ABC, 1966-67.
• host, ABC Late Night, ABC, 1973.
• host, Jack Paar Tonight, ABC, 1973.
• Also Good Company, ABC, 1967.
• Credits; SPECIALS
• Take One Starring Jonathan Winters, 1981.
• Jack Paar Comes Home, NBC, 1986.
• NBC's Sixtieth Anniversary Celebration, NBC, 1986.
• Jack Paar Is Alive and Well!, NBC, 1987.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL TELEVISION WORK; SPECIALS
• Producer, Jack Paar Comes Home, NBC, 1986.
• producer, Jack Paar Is Alive and Well!, NBC, 1987.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL RADIO APPEARANCES
• Temporary replacement host: Don MacNeil's Breakfast Club and Arthur Godfrey Program, both 1957; host, Take It or Leave It.
• Writings
• I Kid You Not, 1960.
• My Saber Is Bent, 1961.
• Three on a Toothbrush, 1965.
• P.S. Jack Paar, 1983.

Recent Updates

January 27, 2004: Paar died January 27, 2004, at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut, after suffering from a long illness. He was 85. Source:CNN.com, www.cnn.com, January 28, 2004; New York Times, January 28, 2004, p. A23(L).