Stan Kann, 83, an organist with an affinity for antique vacuum cleaners whose unlikely hobby made him a frequent guest on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and other talk shows, died Monday in St. Louis of complications from open heart surgery.
While Kann was known in his native St. Louis for playing the Wurlitzer pipe organ at the city's Fabulous Fox Theatre, he began acquiring a national television audience on June 8, 1966, when he first appeared on "The Tonight Show." He showed up with a few prized items from his collection of 150 carpet sweepers.
Years later, Kann recalled disaster striking in that first appearance: Parts fell off his vacuum cleaners at inopportune moments while he was demonstrating them. Carson made the most of the moments. The results were hilarious.
His first appearance led to 76 more appearances on the show and 89 on "The Mike Douglas Show." He even moved to Los Angeles to accommodate the workload.
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