Jack Paar

Jack Harold Paar was an American author, radio and television comedian and talk show host, best known for his stint as host of The Tonight Show from 1957 to 1962. Time magazines obituary noted that His fans would remember him as the fellow who split talk show history into two eras Before Paar and Below Paar.

Paar was born in Canton, Ohio in 1918, the son of Lillian M. and Howard Paar. He moved with his family to Jackson, Michigan, approximatelymiles south of Lansing, as a child. As a child he had a stuttering problem which he conquered. He contracted tuberculosis when he was 14, and left school at 16.

Source: Wikipedia