Paar, Jack (19l8—)

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Paar, Jack (19l8—)

When Jack Paar was chosen to host NBC's faltering Tonight Show in July 1957, the program had been reduced to two sponsors and was carried by only 62 network stations. Within eighteen months, the antics of the witty, unpredictable Paar had brought a total of 115 stations on board, and the show, renamed The Jack Paar Tonight Show, had full sponsorship. Paar's unique style would both establish the popularity of talk shows and set the standard for all future television hosts.

Born in Canton, Ohio on May 1, 1918, Paar dropped out of high school and began working as a radio announcer for stations in Indianapolis, Youngstown, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo. Working for the army special services during World War II, Paar entertained enlisted men with irreverent gibes at the military brass. He appeared in three movies in the early 1950s: Walk Softly, Stranger, Love Nest, and Down Among the Sheltering Palms. During the same period, he hosted two television game shows, Bank on the Stars and Up to Paar, which led to a contract as host of The Morning Show, an attempt by CBS to compete with The Today Show on NBC. However, none of these programs would ever bring him the amount of success he enjoyed with the Tonight Show.

Temperamental, spontaneous, and at times brilliantly incisive, Paar brought drama to the art of late-night conversation with such semi-regular guests as Washington hostess Elsa Maxwell, Cliff Arquette (who played the character Charlie Weaver), Joey Bishop, Hans Conried, Peggy Cass, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hermione Gingold, Buddy Hackett, Florence Henderson, Betty White, and Oscar Levant. Levant, a classical pianist with an acid tongue, is remembered for such barbs as "Zsa Zsa has discovered the secret of perpetual middle age" and his nomination of Elizabeth Taylor for the "Other Woman of the Year Award." There were also more serious guests. During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon made separate appearances on Paar's show.

In addition to conversing with his guests, Paar featured comic sketches and frequently visited the audience for interviews. On one memorable occasion, Cary Grant was seated in the audience as a surprise to Paar, who pretended not to recognize the international film star while interviewing a little old lady from out of town sitting beside him. Paar's orchestra leader, Jose Melis, liked to play a "telephone game," improvising melodies based on the last four digits of an audience member's telephone number. In another popular routine, Paar showed baby pictures on the screen while supplying humorous captions.

Although he professed to dislike controversy, Paar was continually involved in it, carrying on much-publicized feuds with such celebrities as Steve Allen, Dorothy Kilgallen, Walter Winchell, and Ed Sullivan. Many of the feuds started with a remark made on the show. Paar said, for example, that Winchell's "high, hysterical voice" came from "wearing too tight underwear." The feuds were never easy to quell. Paar's friend and mentor, Jack Benny, finally had to step in to moderate the Paar-Sullivan conflict. But the most famous controversy occurred on February 11, 1960, when an angry Paar walked on stage and began to berate NBC executives for censoring out a joke from the previous night's taped show. Paar then told the audience he was tired of being the center of controversy and bid them an emotional farewell, leaving an astonished Hugh Downs to carry on the show.

Paar returned a month later, but his controversial days had not ended. In September 1961, he took Peggy Cass and a camera crew to Germany to report on the Berlin Wall, which had been erected a month earlier. Paar arranged for a detachment of American troops to be shown in the background of his televised scenes near the Brandenburg Gate. The incident led to a Defense Department inquiry, and the press raked Paar over the coals for the militaristic overtones of his broadcast. Paar maintained that his visit had actually eased East-West tensions. A short time later he announced he would be leaving the show the following spring, and this time he kept his word. His last show aired on March 29, 1962, and dozens of celebrities dropped by or sent tapes to wish him an affectionate farewell.

After his much publicized departure from The Jack Paar Tonight Show, he became the owner of Mount Washington TV Inc., broadcasting from WMTW TV and FM, Portland and Poland Springs, Maine. Paar is the author of three humorous books: I Kid You Not (1960), My Saber Is Bent (1961), and Three on a Toothbrush (1965).

—Benjamin Griffith