Ed McMahon, 86, passed away a little after midnight on Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan/UCLA Medical Center. He was hospitalized with pneumonia and other ailments. He was long known for being Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. Most recently, McMahon was known for having to do those free credit report commercials because he was broke.

It’s kind of sad when you think about it. One of the most recognizable people in the industry had to shill free credit reports for some random web company at the age of 86. Makes me wonder if I should have bought that diamond encrusted outdoor water fountain for my apartment. [CNN]

85-year-old Ed McMahon has been hospitalized for more than three weeks with pneumonia. That’s three weeks no one has bothered to ask where the hell Ed McMahon was. You’d think people would care about the guy who lost almost everything and had to debase himself for FreeCreditReport and Cash4Gold to pay off his debts.

“Ed’s a big, strong, hearty guy and his family and I are hopeful and optimistic about his prognosis,” he said.

Bragman and McMahon’s family are “praying and hoping for the best and are appreciative of everyone’s thoughts and prayers,” Bragman said.

Shouldn’t this win the guy a free pass out of debt hell or will he have to spend the rest of his life shilling for anyone that will pay him. On his deathbed, will Ed have to force a grin, look into the camera and tell everyone what a great online funeral service FuneralsToGo.com is? That would be a shame because, personally, I think they overcharge.

Ed McMahon has fallen on hard times. So, when FreeCreditReport.com offered him a job, Ed said “yes please, may I have another.” FCR said sure and gave him a second one. Now the 85-year-old Ed McMahon will star in two viral rap videos for the financial website. CNN says:

The videos feature McMahon wearing a tracksuit, being chauffeured around Los Angeles in a Cadillac Escalade golf cart and waxing lyrical about his very public financial troubles.

“When I retired, I was famous,” McMahon raps in the video. “I had money and glory/I bought a house for 6 mill/I thought nothing could touch me/Until my credit went south, and debt started to crunch me/Next thing I know, instead of playing gin rummy, I was scrambling just to make ends meet/It wasn’t funny.”

After being joined by two scantily clad women, McMahon continues: “Got a bump from the media chumps, but that was temporary/Wife with bad credit was scary, so I got wise/I may have fallen, but I got back up/Now I’m back on the attack, like a ninja swinging nunchucks/I told the haters, ‘Go on, take a hike’/It’s my show now, and I can do what I like.”

This is embarrassing. To have lived an iconic life and now have to do advertisements only suitable for the K-Feds of the world. Pretty soon, expect Ed to make appearances on MTV’s Sweet Sixteen: The Middle Class Edition. He’ll be the surprise guest at some poor girl’s party, gyrating his geriatric hips as he serenades her. She’ll be squirming uncomfortably in her seat while her clueless parents will be gushing with uncontrollable excitement.

A decrease in work due to a broken neck, two divorces and providing assistance to family and friends have created a black hole in Ed McMahon’s wallet and are reasons why his Beverly Hills mansion faces foreclosure. But, wait. Donald Trump is here to save the day. Trump plans to buy the mansion and lease it back to Ed McMahon.

Trump, who does not know McMahon personally, said it “would be an honor” to help out the man who spent three decades as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show. “When I was at the Wharton School of Business I’d watch him every night.”

McMahon, 85, bought the six-bedroom house in January 1990. Down from a peak price of $7 million, the property was listed at a bargain $4.6 million last weekend, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Donald Trump won’t do anything unless he can get publicity out of it. Given two choices: donate anonymously to a charity or be in every magazine for a month by letting Britney Spears take a dump on him, he’d cup his hands in about half a second.

[Image via Splash News]