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68-466: Jack Harold Paar (May 1, 1918 – January 27, 2004) was an American talk show host, writer, radio and television comedian, and film actor. He was the second host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962. Time magazine's obituary of Paar reported wryly, "His fans would remember him as the fellow who split talk show history into two eras: Before Paar and Below Paar." Paar was born in 1918 in Canton, Ohio ,

136-425: A magazine show with various hosts in different cities, proved to be a great failure. The network soon returned to its proven formula by reviving The Tonight Show and hiring Paar. With Paar as host, the show became a ratings success and generated annual advertising sales as high as $ 15 million (equivalent to $ 151 million in 2023). The show was initially titled Tonight Starring Jack Paar , and after 1959, it

204-576: A Continuing Character in a Musical or Variety Series in 1951, and nominated again in 1958 for an Emmy for Best Continuing Performance in a Series by a Comedian, Singer, Host, Dancer, M.C., Announcer, Narrator, or Panelist. He did not win either time. Paar was married twice to his first wife, Irene Paar (née Gubbins). After the first divorce, the couple remarried in 1940 in Ohio , only to divorce again. He then married his second wife, Miriam (née Wagner), in 1943, and they remained together until his death. During

272-410: A big stick." Modern film critic Dennis Schwartz was generally disappointed with the film. In 2019, he wrote, "Love saves the day melodrama. The dismal film is worth seeing only for the fine performance of Alida Valli as the rich crippled girl ... [and] the uninteresting clichéd resolution, leaves this film flattening out in its noirish aspects to become an unconvincing soap opera love story." When it

340-508: A confessed gambler and drifter, shows up at the Corelli home to talk with Elaine. Although Chris's explanations are vague, his self-deprecating humor relaxes Elaine, who is finally able to joke about the skiing accident that left her paralyzed. The next morning, Chris flies to another city for a rendezvous with petty criminal Whitey Lake, who calls him "Steve." Chris and Whitey then rob gambling house owner Bowen of $ 200,000 in cash, knowing that

408-539: A contract player for Howard Hughes ' RKO studio in the immediate postwar period, appearing as the emcee in Variety Time (1948), a low-budget compilation of vaudeville sketches. He later recalled that RKO producers had trouble figuring out what kind of screen characters he could play until one of the executives dubbed him, " Kay Kyser [bandleader who had made films for RKO], with warmth." Another compared his leading man appearance with Alan Ladd . Paar projected

476-484: A fill-in on The Breakfast Club show and appeared as a host of Take It or Leave It , a show with a top prize of $ 64. In 1947, Jack Benny , who was impressed by Paar's U.S.O. performances, suggested that Paar serve as his 1947 summer replacement. Paar was enough of a hit on Benny's show that Benny's sponsor, the American Tobacco Company , decided to keep him on the air, moving him to ABC for

544-429: A heart". The months between Paar and Carson were taken by a series of guest hosts, including Groucho Marx , Jerry Lewis , Jack Carter and Mort Sahl . The show was broadcast under the title The Tonight Show during this interregnum . Much like Paar, Carson too became weary of the show's length and struggled to fill so much airtime. As late local newscasts expanded, Tonight was shortened to 90 minutes, and then to

612-773: A humorous disc jockey at other Midwest stations, including WJR in Detroit , WIRE in Indianapolis , WGAR in Cleveland , and WBEN in Buffalo . In his book P.S. Jack Paar , he recalled doing utility duty at WGAR in 1938 when Orson Welles broadcast his famous simulated alien invasion, The War of the Worlds , over the CBS network and its WGAR affiliate. Attempting to calm possibly panicked listeners, Paar announced, "The world

680-448: A joking bet with Elaine that he can get Gwen to dance with him, Elaine grows despondent watching her would-be rival dance. Sure that Chris will come to resent her paralysis, Elaine leaves suddenly for Florida. When she returns at Christmas, however, Chris resumes his pursuit, and by New Year's Eve, the two are deeply in love. Chris' newfound happiness is short-lived, however, as Whitey shows up, broke and scared. Chris insists that Whitey, who

748-489: A man calling himself Chris Hale arrives at the doorstep of her Ashton, Ohio, house, asking to see his childhood home, widow Mrs. Brentman gladly invites him in. The unemployed Chris then accepts Mrs. Brentman's offer of a room and takes a job in the shipping department of the Corelli shoe factory. One night, Chris wanders into the Ashton country club and meets Elaine Corelli, his boss's beautiful but paralyzed daughter. Speaking of

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816-401: A phrasing which led to the name "The Tonight Show," as opposed to simply "Tonight," being adopted permanently after Paar's departure). Only a few minutes of video of Paar's talk host career in color are known to exist today; NBC's policy at the time was to preserve programming on black-and-white kinescopes , but this policy only applied to live or videotaped prime time programming, and as such,

884-432: A play or movie, now there is no such thing as one fairy. Where you find one, you usually find a baker's dozen swishing around. ... When I hear that some fairy is producing or directing or acting in a play, I can often name some of the rest of the cast, even if I've never heard it... The poor darlings, as they sometimes call themselves, are everywhere in show business. The theater is infested with them and it's beginning to show

952-404: A pleasant personality on film, and RKO called him back to emcee another filmed vaudeville show, Footlight Varieties (1951). He also appeared in the 1950 film Walk Softly, Stranger , starring Joseph Cotten . In 1951, he played Marilyn Monroe 's boyfriend in the 20th Century Fox film Love Nest . Paar returned to radio in 1950, hosting The $ 64 Question for one season, then quitting in

1020-474: A pose, and said, "As I was saying before I was interrupted...". After the audience erupted in applause, Paar continued, "I believe my last words were that there must be a better way of making a living than this. Well, I've looked... and there isn't." That line produced a burst of laughter from the audience. He then went on to explain his departure with typical frankness: "Leaving the show was a childish and perhaps emotional thing. I have been guilty of such action in

1088-447: A reputation as a superb storyteller. He surrounded himself with a memorable group of regulars and semi-regulars, including Cliff Arquette as the homespun "Charley Weaver", author-illustrator Alexander King , Tedi Thurman (NBC's sultry "Miss Monitor") and comedy actresses Peggy Cass and Dody Goodman . Goodman was a regular from shortly after the show's debut until Paar fired her in 1958. Goodman frequently stepped on Paar's lines and

1156-454: A second special, Jack Paar Is Alive and Well , was broadcast by the network. Both were composed largely of black-and-white kinescope clips used at the tribute from The Tonight Show and from Paar's primetime program, for which he maintained the copyright. Although most of Paar's Tonight Show episodes were videotaped (in color beginning in 1960), only a few episodes and clips are known to exist. In 1997, PBS television devoted an edition of

1224-753: A shame, he was such a great talent." Rooney and Paar quickly reconciled. In 1961, Paar broadcast his show from Berlin, just as the Berlin Wall was going up. He attacked members of the United States Senate and the US press who criticized him, including syndicated columnist Dorothy Kilgallen of the New York Journal-American , Earl Wilson of the New York Post , Jack Gould of The New York Times , Irv Kupcinet of

1292-554: A wage dispute after the show's sponsor pulled out and NBC insisted everyone involved take a pay cut. In 1956, he gave radio one more try, hosting a disc jockey effort on ABC called The Jack Paar Show . Paar once described that show as "so modest we did it from the basement rumpus room of our house in Bronxville ." Paar got his first taste of television in the early 1950s, appearing as a comic on The Ed Sullivan Show , and hosting two game shows , Up To Paar (1952) and Bank on

1360-520: A week, compared to the 525 minutes Paar was filling at the beginning of his run, reducing the work load by nearly two thirds. Walk Softly, Stranger This would be the last RKO credit for famed producer Dore Schary , who would leave the studio soon following the film's completion after clashing with RKO's new owner, Howard Hughes . Filming ended in June 1948, but Hughes shelved the picture indefinitely, pending changes, especially to its ending. When

1428-425: A week. Over the course of its run, Paar was given more time off so that most Mondays featured a guest host, and all Friday shows were "Best Of Paar" repeats, giving Paar only three nights of material to fill. To fulfill the rest of his NBC contract after leaving Tonight , Paar hosted a prime-time variety series, The Jack Paar Program and aired weekly, on Friday nights, through 1965. As for Tonight , Johnny Carson

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1496-664: Is not coming to an end. Trust me. When have I ever lied to you?" In 1943, Paar was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II , which interrupted his tenure as host of WBEN's morning show The Sun Greeter's Club . He was assigned to the U.S.O. in the South Pacific to entertain the troops. Paar was a clever, wisecracking master of ceremonies; he narrowly escaped being disciplined when he impersonated senior officers, especially Col. Ralph Parr . After World War II , Paar opted not to return to WBEN, instead seeking opportunities in network radio and film. He worked in radio as

1564-721: Is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC . The show is the second installment of The Tonight Show . Hosted by Jack Paar , it aired from July 29, 1957 to March 30, 1962, replacing Tonight Starring Steve Allen and was replaced by The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson . During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B (formerly the home of Milton Berle 's Texaco Star Theater series) inside 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City . The same studio later hosted early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson , Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . Its theme song

1632-634: Is being chased by Bowen, stay locked up in Mrs. Brentman's house until he can figure out an escape plan. Whitey's nerves are soon frayed, and he begins tearing apart Chris' room in search of Chris' share of Bowen's money. Then, after he learns that Chris is sending Mrs. Brentman to see her son's grave in Arlington Cemetery, Whitey, who takes afternoon walks in defiance of Chris' orders to stay indoors, becomes convinced that his friend intends to kill him during her absence. Chris finally calms and reassures

1700-405: Is situated nine miles from the room that you will occupy... It is capable of holding about 229 people and it is only open on Sunday and Thursday... It may interest you to know that my daughter was married in the W.C. and it was there that she met her husband... I shall be delighted to reserve the best seat for you, if you wish, where you will be seen by everyone." NBC censors replaced that section of

1768-610: The American Masters series to Paar's career, and in 2003 revisited the topic with another hour-long examination of his work titled Smart Television . In 2004, a memorial for Paar was held at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City featuring Dick Cavett, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) television host Robert Osborne and Paar's daughter Randy. Paar was nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Performance by

1836-496: The Chicago Sun-Times and Senator Mike Mansfield . Paar also engaged in a number of public feuds, one of them with CBS luminary Ed Sullivan , and another with Walter Winchell . The latter feud "effectively ended Winchell's career", beginning a shift in power from print to television. Paar famously introduced actress Jayne Mansfield with the line "here they are, Jayne Mansfield!" (a reference to Mansfield's breasts);

1904-536: The Wide World of Entertainment rotation scheme. Paar later expressed discomfort with developments in television media and once said that he had trouble interviewing people dressed in "overalls," a reference to young rock acts. In the 1980s and 1990s, Paar made rare guest appearances on Donahue , The Tonight Show (hosted by Johnny Carson, then Jay Leno ), and Late Night with David Letterman , as well as on Charles Grodin 's CNBC talk show. He participated in

1972-471: The 1987 TV retrospective show This Is Your Life honoring Betty White . In his 1962 book My Saber Is Bent , Paar wrote in a chapter titled "Fairies and Communists": "There used to be a time when it looked like the Communists were taking over show business. Now it's fairies. They operate a lot alike, actually; both have a tendency to colonize. Just as there used to be no such thing as one Communist in

2040-513: The 1990s, Paar's health began to decline steadily. He underwent triple-bypass heart surgery in 1998 and suffered a stroke in 2003. On January 27, 2004, he died at his home in Greenwich, Connecticut , at age 85, with Miriam and their daughter Randy at his bedside. Paar's body was cremated and his ashes were returned to his family. Tonight Starring Jack Paar Tonight Starring Jack Paar (in later seasons The Jack Paar Tonight Show )

2108-612: The Globe on Saturday and which has Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli, the popular stars of The Third Man , in its top roles, actually was made before the latter picture and apparently withheld from release in the expectation of enhancement of its 'star value' from the Carol Reed film. If such was the case, the people at R. K. O. were well advised, for 'star value' is just about the only thing of any distinction that Walk Softly, Stranger has ... [in short] Walk Softly, Stranger doesn't carry

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2176-532: The National Broadcasting Company, they've been swell to me. And I've been pretty wonderful to them. I took over a show with 60 stations. There is now 158. This show is sold out. It's the highest, I think, money producer for this network. And I believe I was let down by this network at a time when I could have used their help. You have been peachy to me always. Although Paar had earlier told his announcer Hugh Downs of his intention to quit

2244-550: The Stars (1953), before hosting The Morning Show (1954) on CBS. He had The Jack Paar Show on CBS, a Monday–Friday 1–1:30 p.m. Eastern Time program that ended in May 1956. Paar guest-starred twice in 1958 on Polly Bergen 's short-lived NBC comedy/variety show, The Polly Bergen Show . With the success of Steve Allen as the first host of The Tonight Show , NBC offered Allen his own prime-time variety hour in June 1956. Over

2312-425: The availability of a "W.C." The woman used that term to mean "water closet" (i.e., bathroom), but the gentleman who received the letter misunderstood "W.C." to mean "wayside chapel" (i.e., church). The full text of the joke is: An English lady is visiting Switzerland. She asks about the location of the "W.C." The Swiss, thinking she is referring to the "Wayside Chapel", leaves her a note that said (in part) "the W.C.

2380-415: The bedroom. Because NBC did not want to lose Paar to another network, it offered him a Friday prime-time hour with full control of content and format. He agreed, deciding on a variation of his late-night format and titling the show The Jack Paar Program . The show, which debuted in the fall of 1962, had a global perspective, debuting acts from around the world and showing films from exotic locations. Most of

2448-680: The clip of Paar's farewell in the series finale of The Larry Sanders Show . Paar continued to appear in occasional specials for NBC until 1970. In the late 1960s, Paar lived in Maine , where he owned and operated television station WMTW , an ABC network affiliate in Poland Spring, Maine . Paar returned to television in January 1973 with a show titled Jack Paar Tonite , which aired one week per month as one of several rotating shows on ABC's Wide World of Entertainment . Paar said that he

2516-417: The crime will never be reported. After splitting the money and advising Whitey to "disappear," Chris returns to Ashton and accepts an invitation for a double date from co-worker Ray Healy. When he then runs into Elaine, however, Chris breaks the date and takes the reluctant heiress to a working class nightclub. Chris' jilted date, Gwen, is also at the club and denounces him in front of Elaine. Although Chris wins

2584-463: The current 60 minutes after Carson renegotiated his contract in 1980. Carson also arranged for the use of guest hosts and reruns during the week so that he only had to appear three times per week and sometimes during sweeps, four times a week, a practice that has since been abandoned in the Leno, O'Brien and Fallon hosting runs, due to increased competition. By 1982, Carson had 180 minutes of airtime to fill

2652-444: The days when he used to deliver newspapers to her door and adored her from afar, Chris amuses and fascinates the once-vibrant Elaine. The next day, Chris is called in to see Elaine's father A. J., who tells him that Elaine was so taken with him that she asked that he be given a better job in sales. Chris declines the offer, but assures Corelli, who is devoted to his daughter, that he will explain his decision to Elaine. As promised, Chris,

2720-407: The effects. 'The New York theater is dying,' the late Ernie Kovacs complained recently, 'Killed by limp wrists.'" Paar also lamented the negative effects of gay men in the fashion industry: "I hope that all red-blooded men will rally to my crusade to have girls look like girls again. If we show our determination I'm sure that women will throw off the tyranny of fairy designers." In March 1973 during

2788-509: The fall season. Paar later refused American Tobacco's suggestion that he come up with a weekly running gag or gimmick, saying he "wanted to get away from that kind of old-hat comedy, the kind being practiced by Jack Benny and Fred Allen ." The show was then terminated, earning Paar the enduring image of "a spoiled kid". A profile of Paar by the Museum of Broadcast Communications suggests that Paar later emulated Benny's mannerisms. Paar signed as

Jack Paar - Misplaced Pages Continue

2856-580: The films were of travels by guests such as Arthur Godfrey or by Paar himself, including visits with Albert Schweitzer at his compound in Gabon in Central Africa and Mary Martin at her ranch near Anápolis , Goiás , Brazil . Paar showed film clips of the Beatles performing (November 15, 1963) three months before their famous live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show (February 9, 1964). During

2924-524: The first half of 1964, a mock feud pitted Paar against his lead-in program, Englishman David Frost 's news-satire series That Was the Week That Was . Paar's prime-time show aired for three years and featured a wide variety of celebrity guests. The final segment of the series, broadcast on June 25, 1965, featured Paar sitting alone on a stool recounting a discussion that he had with his daughter about his departure. In 1998, Garry Shandling featured

2992-473: The money reclaimed. The killers then take Chris to see the vengeful Bowen, who, while riding in a car with his prisoner, suggests they both rob Elaine of her fortune. Disgusted, Chris tries to take Bowen's driver by surprise, but is shot by Bowen in the ensuing struggle. The car crashes, and Chris winds up in a police hospital. As the recuperated Chris is about to be transferred to prison, Elaine visits and vows to wait until his release, when he will finally need her

3060-422: The network had apologized and permitted him to tell the joke. Paar found the everyday routine of planning a 105-minute program difficult to sustain for more than five years, and his weariness caused him to end his tenure as host. He later confided to fellow host Dick Cavett that leaving the program was the greatest mistake of his life. Paar's final show aired on March 29, 1962, during which he derided his enemies in

3128-413: The next seven months, Allen's Tonight Show duties were limited to three nights per week, with Ernie Kovacs hosting on Mondays and Tuesdays. Allen's heavy workload forced him to leave The Tonight Show in January 1957 and concentrate on his prime-time show. For the next six months, NBC revamped the program as Tonight! America After Dark , inspired by the network's Today . The new late-night program,

3196-466: The now-hysterical Whitey, and sees Mrs. Brentman off at the airport. As he is driving home, he realizes that he is being followed by two men, but manages to reach Elaine's without detection. Chris confesses all to an understanding Elaine, who advises him to return the money. Elaine also reveals that, as she moved to Ashton as a teenager, she knew all along that he was lying about his past. By the time Chris returns to Mrs. Brentman's, Whitey has been killed and

3264-413: The pairing of Cotton and Valli earned big headlines for their starring performances in the box office smash Carol Reed film The Third Man in 1949, Hughes resurrected Walk Softly, Stranger and released it in 1950 in an effort to capitalize. The films's supporting cast features Spring Byington , Paul Stewart , future Tonight Show television talk show host Jack Paar , and John McIntire . When

3332-400: The past and will perhaps be again. I'm totally unable to hide what I feel. It is not an asset in show business, but I shall do the best I can to amuse and entertain you and let other people speak freely, as I have in the past." Jack Paar left the show on March 30, 1962, citing the fact that he could no longer handle the load of putting on an hour and forty-five minute show a night, five nights

3400-448: The press, notably gossip columnists Walter Winchell and Dorothy Kilgallen . Near the end of the run of the show, Abel Green of Variety called Paar "the most vivid personality in TV since Milton Berle became Mister Television" and wrote that Paar was the first popular entertainer since the creators of Amos 'n' Andy to change the habits of a nation, influencing sales of TV sets for

3468-469: The proceedings. Hal Gurnee directed Tonight for much of Paar's tenure as well as the period between Paar's departure and Carson's arrival, when the show was presented by a series of guest hosts. Gurnee went on to direct Paar's prime time The Jack Paar Program and later directed The David Letterman Show , Late Night with David Letterman , and the Late Show with David Letterman . In 1959, Paar

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3536-456: The program from 1957 to 1962. Paar's original announcer was actor Franklin Pangborn , but he was fired after only a few weeks for not showing enough "spontaneous enthusiasm". His replacement was Hugh Downs , who stayed with Paar to the end. At first, the show was called "Tonight Starring Jack Paar"; after 1959 it was officially known as The Jack Paar Show (or The Jack Paar Tonight Show ,

3604-525: The run of Jack Paar Tonite , Paar addressed his remarks and challenged representatives of a pro-homosexual organization to appear on the show to explain why he "and other entertainers should not call homosexuals 'fairies,' 'dykes', and 'fags'." In 1984, Paar emerged from retirement again for the Museum of Broadcasting 's "Tribute to Jack Paar", making two live appearances in New York. This led to his 1986 NBC special Jack Paar Comes Home . The following year,

3672-405: The show once again. Paar's era began the practice of branding the series after the host, and as such the program, though officially still called Tonight , was marketed as The Jack Paar Show . A combo band conducted by Paar's Army buddy pianist José Melis filled commercial breaks and backed musical entertainers. When Paar was on vacation, guest hosts presided over the show; one of these early hosts

3740-461: The show with news coverage and failed to inform Paar of their decision. On February 11, 1960, Jack Paar quit the show. As he left his desk in the middle of the program , he said: I am leaving The Tonight Show . There must be a better way of making a living than this. There's a way of entertaining people without being constantly involved in some form of controversy which is on me all the time. It's rough on my wife and child, and I don't need it. I like

3808-519: The show, Downs at first thought Paar was joking. He expected the host to return to the stage, but the abrupt departure left Downs to finish the broadcast himself. While Paar traveled outside the country, his disappearance became a national news event. The entire broadcast of this episode exists on audio tape from WMCT in Memphis . Urged to return to the show by his friend Jonathan Winters , Paar reappeared on March 7, 1960, strolled on stage, struck

3876-408: The son of Lillian M. (Hein) and Howard Paar. He moved with his family to Jackson, Michigan , about 40 miles (64 km) south of Lansing . As a child, he developed a stutter , which he learned to manage. He contracted tuberculosis when he was 14 and left school at 16. After dropping out of Jackson High School , Paar worked as a broadcaster for WIBM , a local radio station. He went on to work as

3944-668: The videotapes of most of Paar's Tonight Show appearances were taped over and no longer exist , a policy that continued through the first ten years of Johnny Carson's hosting of the same series. During Paar's stint as host, The Tonight Show became an entertainment juggernaut; Paar generated the most obsessive fascination and curiosity from press and public of anyone who ever hosted the show. He strove for compelling conversation as well as humor. His guests tended to be literate raconteurs such as Peter Ustinov or intellectuals such as William F. Buckley Jr. , as opposed to just actors or other performers selling their current work, while Paar earned

4012-422: The way she has always needed him. The working title for the film was Weep No More , intended for Cary Grant to star under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock . The film lost an estimated $ 775,000, making it one of RKO's biggest flops of the year. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther was tough on the film when it was first released. He wrote, "The R. K. O. film, Walk Softly, Stranger , which came to

4080-459: The writer of the joke was Dick Cavett , who later went on to host his own show on ABC . Paar was often unpredictable and emotional. The most notorious example of this kind of on-screen behavior was demonstrated on the February 10, 1960, show, when one of his jokes was cut from a broadcast by studio censors . The joke in question involved a woman writing to a vacation resort and inquiring about

4148-566: Was Johnny Carson . Other guest hosts included Jonathan Winters , Orson Bean , as well as the show's announcer, Hugh Downs . Starting on September 19, 1960, it was one of the first regularly scheduled shows to be videotaped in color, with the show recorded very early in the evening and broadcast from 11:15 P.M. to 1 A.M. Eastern time that night. Only a handful of complete Jack Paar "Tonight Show" episodes exist. All of them are black-and-white kinescope recordings. No color videotapes of any complete Paar "Tonight" shows are known to exist. Paar hosted

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4216-424: Was an instrumental version of " Everything's Coming Up Roses ", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner . In July 1957, after the failure of Tonight! America After Dark (a news-oriented program first hosted by Jack Lescoulie and briefly by Al Collins ), NBC reverted its late-night show, Tonight , to a talk/variety show format as it had been during Steve Allen's tenure as host . Jack Paar

4284-459: Was brought in to host the reformatted Tonight . He was, at the time, working for CBS and hosting the network's The Morning Show , a morning show similar to NBC's The Today Show , before he agreed to jump networks and take over Tonight . Under Paar, most of the NBC affiliates that had dropped the show during the ill-fated run of America After Dark , or who had never picked it up, began airing

4352-440: Was chosen as Paar's successor. At the time, Carson was host of the weekday afternoon quiz show Who Do You Trust? on ABC . Because Carson was under contract to Trust through September, he could not take over as host until October 1, 1962. They held him to his contract until the day it expired, prompting him to make occasional wisecracks on Who Do You Trust? about the situation- "I'd like to welcome you to ABC...the network with

4420-474: Was criticized for his interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro ; Paar's on-location interview was the last time any American late-night show filmed in Cuba until Conan O'Brien , who himself briefly hosted Tonight , visited the country in 2015 for an episode of his show, Conan . On December 1, 1959, Paar again made news by asking an apparently inebriated Mickey Rooney to leave the program, remarking "It's

4488-447: Was officially known as The Jack Paar Show . Paar often was unpredictable, emotional and principled. When network censors excised a joke about a "water closet" (toilet) from the show's February 10, 1960 broadcast tape before airtime without warning, Paar received national attention by walking off the program the following evening in protest, leaving announcer Hugh Downs to finish the show. Paar did not return until three weeks later after

4556-868: Was seen as an uncontrollable upstager. Paar's oft repeated expression, I kid you not (something Humphrey Bogart as Capt. Philip Queeg uttered often in The Caine Mutiny ), became a national catchphrase. In 1959, Paar's gag writer Jack Douglas became a bestselling author ( My Brother Was an Only Child , A Funny Thing Happened to Me on the Way to the Grave: An Autobiography ) after his regular appearances with Paar. Douglas' Japanese wife Reiko often appeared, as did Hungarian beauty queen Zsa Zsa Gabor , French comedian Genevieve and several British performers appeared as well. Paar enjoyed conversing with foreigners and knew their accents would spice up

4624-519: Was unwilling to appear more frequently and that he would not have appeared at all unless ABC had committed to keeping Dick Cavett, one of his former writers, on the air. Paar's announcer for the program was comic actress Peggy Cass . The show featured the national television debuts of comics such as Freddie Prinze and Martin Mull . Paar stayed on the show, which was in direct competition with The Tonight Show , for one year before quitting, dissatisfied with

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