 Jack Paar, who held the nation's rapt attention as he pioneered late-night talk on "The Tonight Show," then told his viewers farewell when still in his prime, died January 27, 2004. He was 85. Paar died at his Greenwich, Conn., home as a result of a long illness, said Stephen Wells, Paar's son-in-law. "Jack invented the talk show format as we know it: the ability to sit down and make small talk big. I will miss him terribly," Merv Griffin said. "Not only was he a great friend, he was my beginning, just as he was everyone else's." Johnny Carson took over "The Tonight Show" in 1962. Paar had a prime-time talk show for three more seasons, then retired from television in 1965. Carson said he was "very saddened" to hear of Paar's death. "He was a unique personality who brought a new dimension to late night television." Just why he walked away from such a breakthrough career at age 47 would become an enduring source of conjecture, possibly even for Paar. His explanation would have to suffice: that he was tired and ready to do other things. He stayed true to his word, other than a brief return in 1975 as one of several hosts on a rotating late-night roster at ABC. Since the mid-1960s, Paar had kept mostly out of the public eye, engaging in business ventures and indulging his passion for travel. Paar played host to Muhammad Ali when he was still known as Cassius Clay, to a pleasantly pickled Judy Garland, and to the outrageous pianist-composer Oscar Levant. Entertainers Paar championed included Jonathan Winters, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, Woody Allen and Bill Cosby. Paar's circle of guests included leading politicians. During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy made a triumphant appearance — so much so, that a few days after the election, Paar got a letter from Joseph P. Kennedy, the proud father, gushing, "I don't know anybody who did more, indirectly, to have Jack elected than your own good self." He could also be volatile, pettish and confounding. And never so much as in February 1960, when, making headlines, he emotionally told his thunderstruck audience that he was leaving his show. It was the night after a skittish NBC executive had judged obscene, and edited out, a story by Paar where the initials "W.C." were mistaken for "wayside chapel" instead of "water closet." A month later, the network managed to lure Paar back. Returning on the night of March 7, he was greeted with generous applause as he stepped before the cameras. Then he began his monologue on a typically cheeky note: "As I was saying, before I was interrupted ... " The talkfest came to an end in 1965. By then Paar had traded in his "Tonight Show" desk for a Friday prime-time hour. But he had made no secret that his third season of "The Jack Paar Program" would be his last. With little fanfare and — against all odds — no tears, he signed off with his June 25 show. Wells said Paar was hospitalized after suffering a stroke last year. His wife of more than 60 years, Miriam, and daughter, Randy, were by his side, Wells said. |