The man responsible for the Johnny Carson chat show catchphrase "Here's Johnny!" has died aged 86.

Ed McMahon took his trademark welcome into the US vernacular.

He hosted a variety of shows over the years - including Star Search and TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes - but he will always be remembered for his work on The Tonight Show between 1962 and 1992.

He told People magazine in 1980 about the moment he and Johnny Carson met: "He was standing with his back to the door, staring at a couple of workmen putting letters on a theater marquee.

"I walked over and stood beside him. Finally the two guys finished, and Johnny asked, 'What have you been doing?' I told him.

"He said, 'Good to meet you, Ed,' shook my hand and I was out of the office. The whole meeting was about as exciting as watching a traffic light change."

He also appeared in several films, including The Incident (1967), Fun With Dick and Jane (1977), Full Moon High (1981), and Butterfly (1982), as well as briefly in Bewitched (2005).

Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr. was born in Detroit, Michigan, on 6 March, 1923 to a promoter.

He joined the Marine Corps and served both in World War II and the Korean War.

Ed died peacefully in the early hours of 23 June, 2009, at the Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center. He had suffered a number of health problems in old age, including a neck injury caused by a fall in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, Pamela, and five children. A sixth child, McMahon's son Michael, died in 1995.