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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 [Tonight 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 . . . ".

His TV late-night show helped ignite the careers of Carol Burnett, Woody Allen and Liza Minnelli. He also made solid enemies of columnists Dorothy Kilgallen and Walter Winchell.

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.

Popularized the phrase "I kid you not . . ." with which he regularly certified his flow of self-revealing stories as host of Tonight Starring Jack Paar (1957).

He suffered from tuberculosis as a child and later worked on a railroad gang to build himself up.

It's almost impossible to dislike me because I do nothing.

I'm complicated, sentimental, lovable, honest, loyal, decent, generous, likable, and lonely. My personality is not split, it's shredded.

My life seems like one big obstacle course, with me as the chief obstacle.

I kid you not . . .

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.