McMahon blames "perfect storm" for foreclosure

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ed McMahon, the longtime sidekick to U.S. talk show host Johnny Carson, has blamed the possible foreclosure of his Beverly Hills mansion on a "perfect storm" of problems facing Americans caught in the housing downturn.

"It's a combination, it's like a perfect storm," McMahon, 85, told CNN talk show host Larry King in an interview on Thursday night. "Economy problems ... We've had this house on the market for two years."

McMahon, most famous for his "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny" introduction to "The Tonight Show" for 30 years, said he was $644,000 in arrears on the mortgage for the six bed, five bathroom house in Beverly Hills, which is listed for sale at $5.75 million.

McMahon said he had broken his neck in a fall 18 months ago and had been unable to work.

"If you spend more money than you make, you know what happens ... A couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that ... You want everything to be perfect but that combination of the economy, I have a little injury, I have a situation and it all came together," McMahon said in the interview on "Larry King Live."

McMahon, wearing a neck brace, said he was negotiating with his lenders and was optimistic about reaching a solution.

Asked how a multimillionaire celebrity could not make his payments, McMahon's wife Pamela said people had mistaken assumptions about their wealth.

"I think because you are a celebrity, people think you have a lot more than you have ... And I think, you know, we didn't keep our eye on the ball. We made mistakes," Pamela McMahon said.

McMahon said he was embarrassed about his predicament but was going public to offer hope to the owners of the estimated one million homes in America now in foreclosure, according to figures this week from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"Keep working on it. Don't stop. There's a lot of people that are hard workers, did everything right, didn't do anything wrong and all of a sudden they are in this boat. And I speak for all of them as far as I'm concerned," McMahon said.

Reuters/Nielsen