Jack Parr - RIP

Not a good week for Television Personalities... From eOnline: bq. Late-night icon Jack Paar, the onetime Tonight Show host who blazed the way for Carson, Letterman and Leno before quitting at the top of his game, died Tuesday at age 85. And more: bq. The legendary entertainer, who introduced the sofa-and-desk format to late-night television, hosted NBC's Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962, serving as the bridge between original host Steve Allen and Johnny Carson. And more: bq. Paar helped pioneer the current format of late-night shows, inspiring the likes of Carson, David Letterman and Jay Leno and spawning countless imitators. The show soon became wildly successful, but not without its hitches. bq. A straight shooter (and edgy for his era) whose trademark phrase was "I kid you not," Paar was a controversy magnet, drawing ire for taking the show on the road and broadcasting from Cuba and the Great Wall in China. Famous for his long-running feuds with newspaper columnists and rivals like Ed Sullivan, Paar once stormed off mid-show after the network censored a joke using the term "water closet." Paar returned after a four-week absence, opening with, "As I was saying before being interrupted..."