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IMDbPro

Jack Paar(1918-2004)

  • Producer
  • Actor
  • Writer
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Jack Paar in Footlight Varieties (1951)
Trailer
Play trailer2:01
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957–1962)
2 Videos
14 Photos
Became host of the Tonight Show in 1957 and quickly grew 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 Conried, Hermione Gingold, 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 once enjoyed.
BornMay 1, 1918
DiedJanuary 27, 2004(85)
BornMay 1, 1918
DiedJanuary 27, 2004(85)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys

Photos14

Victor Mature, Jack Paar, Paul Stewart, and Sonny Tufts in Easy Living (1949)
Marilyn Monroe and Jack Paar in Love Nest (1951)
Marilyn Monroe and Jack Paar in Love Nest (1951)
Marilyn Monroe and Jack Paar in Love Nest (1951)
Marilyn Monroe, June Haver, William Lundigan, and Jack Paar in Love Nest (1951)
Marilyn Monroe and Jack Paar in Love Nest (1951)
Jack Paar
Jack Paar
173-419 Bob Hope, Steve Allen, Jack Paar C. 1961
Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, and Jack Paar in NBC 60th Anniversary Celebration (1986)
Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Steve Allen, Jimmy Fallon, and Jack Paar
Jack Benny, Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson, Dennis Day, Jack Paar, and Margaret Truman in The Jack Benny Program (1950)

Known for

Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli in Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)
Walk Softly, Stranger
6.5
  • Ray Healy
  • 1950
Jack Paar in The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957)
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar
8.3
TV Series
  • Self - Host
Gloria DeHaven, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Greer, William Lundigan, and David Wayne in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952)
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
5.6
  • Lt. Mike Sloan
  • 1952
Frankie Carle, Leon Errol, Inesita, Jerry Murad, and The Harmonicats in Footlight Varieties (1951)
Footlight Varieties
5.0
  • Jack Paar - Host
  • 1951

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Producer

  • Jack Paar Is Alive and Well
  • Jack Paar Comes Home
  • The Jack Paar Diary
  • Jack Paar and His Lions
  • Jack Paar in Africa
  • A Funny Thing Happened Everywhere
  • ABC Stage 67 (1966)
    ABC Stage 67
  • Jack Paar in The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (1957)
    The Jack Paar Program
  • The Square World of Jack Paar (1961)
    The Square World of Jack Paar
  • Jack Paar Presents (1960)
    Jack Paar Presents
  • Startime (1959)
    Startime

Actor

  • The Joey Bishop Show (1961)
    The Joey Bishop Show
  • Gloria DeHaven, Mitzi Gaynor, Jane Greer, William Lundigan, and David Wayne in Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952)
    Down Among the Sheltering Palms
  • Love Nest (1951)
    Love Nest
  • Frankie Carle, Leon Errol, Inesita, Jerry Murad, and The Harmonicats in Footlight Varieties (1951)
    Footlight Varieties
  • Joseph Cotten and Alida Valli in Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)
    Walk Softly, Stranger
  • Lucille Ball, Victor Mature, and Lizabeth Scott in Easy Living (1949)
    Easy Living
  • Leon Errol, Edgar Kennedy, and Jack Paar in Variety Time (1948)
    Variety Time

Writer

  • Jack Paar Comes Home
  • The Jack Paar Diary
  • Jack Paar and His Lions
  • Jack Paar in Africa
  • A Funny Thing Happened Everywhere
  • A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Hollywood

Videos2

Love Nest
Trailer 2:23
Love Nest
The Jack Paar Collection
Trailer 2:01
The Jack Paar Collection

Personal details

Edit
    • Official Jack Paar Website
    • May 1, 1918
    • Canton, Ohio, USA
    • January 27, 2004
    • Greenwich, Connecticut, USA(stroke)
    • Miriam PaarOctober 9, 1943 - January 27, 2004 (his death, 1 child)
  • Other works
    Hosted "Jack Paar is Alive and Well" on NBC.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Biographical Movies
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 9 Articles
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    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 Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (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 . . . ".
  • Quotes
    It's almost impossible to dislike me because I do nothing.

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