CBS Cancels 'CSI: Miami,' 'Rob' & 'NYC 22,' Renews 'CSI:NY'
Mad Men Recap: "Mad Money"
EDITION: U.S.
stump the band
Tommy Newsom dead at 78
by Bob Sassone, posted Apr 30th 2007 5:42PM
Tommy Newsom, best known for being the bandleader on The Tonight Show when Doc Severinsen had the night off, died this weekend of cancer at his home in Virginia.
Newsom was also a saxophone player and joined the show in 1962, when Johnny Carson took over from Jack Parr. When Carson retired in 1992, so did Newsom. Newsom was a very dry, laid back guy, and Carson jokingly called him "Mr. Excitement."
Besides his work on The Tonight Show, Newsom also composed music for Kenny Rogers, John Denver, and Skitch Henderson, the first Tonight Show bandleader, who died in 2005.
TV Squad Hot Topics
Most Popular Articles
From Our Partners
- 'Hemingway & Gellhorn's' Clive Owen: 'He was in my head every day'
- 'Hatfields & McCoys' Kevin Costner: 'Life is all about whose pig it is'
- Zap2it Awards: Nina Dobrev vs Sarah Michelle Gellar and more for Best Actor Playing Two Characters
- 'Hemingway & Gellhorn's' Nicole Kidman: 'I had no idea who she was'
- 'Hatfields & McCoys' Tom Berenger: 'They are a bunch of hillbillies that went at each other'
- More From Zap2it
- Eye on Emmy: Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam on Jax's Evolution and His Real Stance on Awards
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Monday
- Mad Men Recap: A Woman's Worth
- The Idol (Less) Rich: For Jessica Sanchez, No Guaranteed Album Deal, Likely Smaller Payday
- What to Watch: The TVLine-Up for Sunday
- More From TVLine
