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Johnny Carson
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John William “Johnny” Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years. Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1975 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992, and received Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.
r graduating from high school and college in Nebraska, Carson served in the U.S.
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John William “Johnny” Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years. Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1975 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992, and received Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.
Before The Tonight Show
After graduating from high school and college in Nebraska, Carson served in the U.S. Navy. Carson started his career in 1950 at WOW radio and television in Omaha. He appeared on radio with Ken Case, an Omaha native who was later a news anchor and sportscaster in Monroe, Louisiana. Carson soon hosted a morning television program called The Squirrel's Nest. One of his routines involved interviewing pigeons on the roof of the local Court House that would allegedly relate the political corruption they had seen. The show was a hit and led to Carson supplementing his income by acting as MC at local church basement dinners where some of the same politicians and civic leaders that he had lampooned on the radio would come to ply their trade. They were understandably eager to see Carson get out of town. The wife of one of these political figures owned stock in a LA radio station and referred Carson to her brother who was a big shot in the emerging television market in Southern California. Carson then took a job at CBS-owned Los Angeles television station KNXT, which was his entry to the big time. Carson would later joke that he owed his success to the pigeons of Omaha.
In 1953, comic Red Skelton – a fan of Carson's sketch comedy show, Carson's Cellar, which ran from 1951 to 1953 on KNXT – asked Carson to join his show as a writer. During one episode, Skelton knocked himself unconscious an hour before his show went on the air; Carson filled in for him.
Carson hosted several TV shows before The Tonight Show, including the game show Earn Your Vacation (1954), the variety show The Johnny Carson Show (1955–1956), a regular panelist gig on the first version of To Tell The Truth until 1962 and a five-year stint on the game show Who Do You Trust? (1957–1962), during which Carson met long-time sidekick Ed McMahon.
In 1960, Carson was a candidate to play TV writer "Rob Petrie" in a sitcom by Carl Reiner entitled, Head of the Family. Carl Reiner starred in the pilot, but it was decided someone else should play the part. At the suggestion of producer Sheldon Leonard, Dick Van Dyke was given the role and the series was retitled The Dick Van Dyke Show.
The Tonight Show
Carson became host of NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, after Jack Paar quit in October 1962. His announcer and sidekick was Ed McMahon throughout the program. His opening line, "Heeeere's Johnny" became a hallmark.
Most of the later shows began with music and the announcement "Heeeeeere's Johnny!", followed by a brief monologue by Carson. This was often followed by comedy sketches, interviews, and music. Carson's trademark was a phantom golf swing at the end of his monologues, aimed stage left where the Tonight Show Band was. Guest hosts sometimes parodied that gesture. Bob Newhart rolled an imaginary bowling ball toward the audience.
Paul Anka wrote the theme song ("Johnny's Theme"), a reworking of his "Toot Sweet" given lyrics, renamed "It's Really Love," and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959. Anka gave Carson co-authorship and they split the royalties for three decades.
The show was originally produced in New York City, with occasional stints in California. It was not live in its early years, although during the 1970s, NBC fed the live taping from Burbank to New York via satellite for editing (see below). The program had been done "live on tape" (uninterrupted unless a problem occurred) since the Jack Paar days. In May 1972 the show moved from New York to Burbank, California. Carson often joked about "beautiful downtown Burbank" and referred to "beautiful downtown Bakersfield," which prompted Mayor Mary K. Shell to chide Carson and invite him to her city to see improvements made during the early 1980s.
After the move, Carson stopped doing shows five days a week. Instead, on Monday nights there was a guest host, leaving Carson to do the other four each week. Shows were taped in Burbank at 5:30pm (8:30 pm Eastern time) to be shown that evening at 11:30pm Eastern time. On September 8, 1980, at Carson's request, the show cut its 90-minute format to 60 minutes; Tom Snyder's Tomorrow added a half hour to fill the vacant time. Joan Rivers became the "permanent" guest host from September 1983 until 1986, when she was fired for accepting a competing show on Fox without consulting Carson. The Tonight Show returned to using guest hosts, including comic George Carlin. Jay Leno then became the exclusive guest host in fall 1987. Leno stated that although other guest hosts upped their fees, he kept his low, assuring himself the show. Eventually, Monday night was for Leno, Tuesday for the Best of Carson, rebroadcasts usually of a year earlier but occasionally from the 1970s.
Carson had a talent for quick quips to deal with problems. If the opening monologue fared poorly, the band would start playing "Tea for Two" and Carson danced, to laughs from the studio audience. Alternately, Carson might pull the boom mike close to his face and announce "Attention K-Mart shoppers!"
Carson's show was the launch for many performers, notably comedians. Many got their break on the show, and it was an achievement to get Carson to laugh and be called to the guest chair. Carson was successor to The Ed Sullivan Show as a showcase for all kinds of talent, as well as continuing Vaudeville variety-show.
In 1973, Carson had a run-in with psychic Uri Geller. Carson, a magician, wanted a neutral demonstration of Geller's abilities, so, at the advice of his friend and fellow magician James Randi, he gave Geller spoons and asked him to bend them with his psychic powers. Geller proved unable, and his appearance on The Tonight Show has been regarded as Geller's fall from glory.
Carson successfully sued a manufacturer of portable toilets who wanted to call his product "Here's Johnny".
On December 13, 1977, comedian Don Rickles was a guest when comedian Bob Newhart guest-hosted. While poking fun at Newhart and improvising an "immigration" bit, Rickles stamped an imaginary passport, slamming the cigarette box Carson kept on his desk and breaking it. When Carson returned next night and discovered this, he took a camera crew to the studio next door where CPO Sharkey, a sitcom starring Rickles, was being taped. Carson barged into the studio, shouting, "RICKLES!" He disrupted the taping, berating the embarrassed Rickles with a barrage of insults, in imitation of Rickles's act. Carson also teased CPO Sharkeys African-American actor Harrison Page by speaking to him in an exaggerated southern dialect. The entire incident appeared to be spontaneous, but comedy writer Mark Evanier published an opinion: "Carson's show was taped in Studio 1 at NBC Burbank. The Rickles sitcom was in Studio 3, where Leno now tapes... While Johnny did his best to make it all look spontaneous and unarranged, it had to have been carefully planned. Rickles probably was not in on it and may have been genuinely surprised, but Johnny's producers and director must have been prepared for what transpired, and the producers of CPO Sharkey almost certainly knew. At the moment Johnny entered, Don just 'happened' to be shooting on the set closest to that door. The surprise wouldn't have worked as well if they'd been on one of the other sets. It wouldn't have worked at all if they'd been between scenes or taping a portion of the show that Rickles wasn't in."
An oft-repeated story—since dismissed as an "urban legend"—involved a guest appearance by Zsa Zsa Gabor carrying a white Persian cat. Gabor is said to have asked Johnny if he would like to "pet my pussy?" During a 1989 appearance, Jane Fonda noted that her son had repeated the claim, and "my son said that you said, uh, 'I'd love to, if you'd remove that damned cat!' Is it true?" Carson denied the episode on-air saying, "No, I think I would recall that..." He and Gabor both responded to researchers stating the event "never happened." Despite widespread insistence by people who claim to have seen the episode, no audio or video has ever been produced.
However, a bit of adult humor was not beyond Carson. During an interview with Dolly Parton, in reference to her large bust, she said, "People are always asking if they're real and .... I'll tell you what, these are mine." Carson replied, "I have certain guidelines on this show. But I would give about a year's pay to peek under there."
In a 1980 Rolling Stone article, Carson caused quite a public backlash when he called the Brian Wilson-penned (Beach Boys) song "Johnny Carson" from 1977's Love You album "not a work of art". Wilson wrote the song tribute citing the fact no such song had existed previously about the 'king of late night'.
Carson made several routine jokes at the expense of other celebrities, like Wayne Newton (after Newton had performed on Carson's show several times). Newton claimed in his 1991 autobiography, among other times including a 1989 interview with Phil Donahue, that the circumstances led to a confrontation in Carson's dressing room where Newton threatened a physical altercation if Carson didn't cease the barrage of jokes with homosexual connotations. In a November 29, 2007 interview on Larry King Live, Wayne Newton said, "I'm going to say something I've never said on television, Mr. King. Johnny Carson was a mean-spirited human being. And there are people that he has hurt that people will never know about. And for some reason at some point, he decided to turn that kind of negative attention toward me. And I refused to have it."
Another famous feud came on the heels of an appearance by iconic author Truman Capote in 1966. The diminutive writer was already embroiled in a public feud with fellow novelist Jacqueline Susann when he told Johnny- and millions of viewers- that Susann looked "like a truckdriver in drag." The remark was not censored from the broadcast, and made headlines the next day. Capote subsequently issued a public apology to truckdrivers.
Some of Carson's good-natured barbs were directed at his friends. Ronald Reagan's hair and Frank Sinatra's temper and mob connections were frequent topics. Nancy Reagan, however, wasn't amused at being called "the Eva Peron of Beverly Hills."
Comic characters
Carson played several continuing characters on sketches during the show, including
- Art Fern, the "Tea Time Movie" announcer (always selling strange or shoddy merchandise). The character was based on late-show TV hosts who would deliver commercials throughout the movie. Carson originally played the fast-talking huckster in his own voice (as Honest Bernie Schlock or Ralph Willie), and finally settled on a nasal, high-pitched, smarmy drone reminiscent of Jackie Gleason's "Reginald Van Gleason III" character. The character, now permanently known as Art Fern, wore a lavish toupee, loud jackets, and a pencil mustache. Actress Carol Wayne became famous for her 100+ appearances (1971–1982) as Art's buxom assistant, the Matinée Lady. While Art gave his spiel, she would enter the stage behind him. Art would react to her attractive body, wincing loudly, "
Ho....leeeee!". After Carol Wayne's death, Carson kept Art Fern off the air for most of the next year, and finally hired Danuta Wesley and then Teresa Ganzel to play the Matinée Lady. Carson also used these sketches to poke fun at the intricate Los Angeles interstate system, using a pointer and map to give confusing directions to shoppers (often including points where he would unfold the cardboard map to point out, via the appropriate picture, when the shopper would arrive at "the fork in the road". Another freeway routine in the same theme centered around the somewhat uniquely named "Slauson Cutoff." Art Fern would advise drivers to take some road until they reached the Slauson Cutoff, and then "Cut Off Your Slauson!", often accompanied by the audience to peals of laughter, led by McMahon). Carnac the Magnificent, a turbaned psychic who could answer questions before seeing them. (This same routine had been done by Carson's predecessor, Steve Allen, as "The Question Man.") Carnac had a trademark entrance in which he always "tripped" going up the step to Carson's desk. (In one episode, technicians rigged Carson's desk to fall apart when Carnac fell into it.) Ed McMahon would hand Carnac a series of envelopes, containing questions. Carnac would place each envelope against his forehead and predict the answer, such as "Gatorade." Then he would read the question: "What does an alligator get on welfare?" Some of the jokes were feeble, and McMahon used pauses after terrible puns and audience groans to make light of Carnac's lack of comic success ("Carnac must be used to quiet surroundings"), prompting Carson to return an equal insult. McMahon would always announce near the end, "I hold in my hand the last envelope," at which the audience would applaud wildly, prompting Carnac to pronounce a comedic "curse" on the audience, such as "May your sister elope with a camel!" (In fact, "Carnac the Magnificent" was the stage name Johnny used in his magic act as a youth.) Floyd R. Turbo American (with no pause between words). A stereotypical right-wing extremist wearing a plaid hunting coat and cap, who offered "editorial responses" to progressive causes or news events. Railing against women's rights in the workplace, for example, Turbo would shout, "This raises the question: kiss my Dictaphone!" Aunt Blabby, a cantankerous and sometimes amorous old lady, invariably being interviewed by straight man Ed McMahon about elder affairs. McMahon would innocently use a common expression like "check out," only to have Aunt Blabby warn him, "Don't say 'check out' to an old person!" Aunt Blabby was an obvious copy of Jonathan Winters’ most famous creation, Maude Frickert, including her black spinster dress and wig. El Mouldo, mentalist, who ventured into the audience to perform mind-reading and mind-over-matter feats, all of which failed.
Carson uncensored on satellite
Even though Carson's program was based in Burbank, NBC's editing and production services for the program were located in New York, resulting in the requirement that Carson's program be transmitted from Burbank to New York. Beginning in 1976 NBC utilized the Satcom 2 satellite to do this, feeding the live taping (which usually took place in the early evening) directly to New York, where it would be edited prior to the normal broadcast. This live feed lasted usually from two to two-and-a-half hours a night, and was uncensored and commercial-free. During the commercial breaks the audio and picture would be left on, capturing at times risque language and other events that would certainly be edited out later going out over the feed.
At the same time, however, satellite earth stations owned by private individuals began to appear, and some managed to find the live feed. Satellite dish owners began to document their sightings in technical journals, giving viewers knowledge of things they were not meant to see. Carson and his production staff grew concerned about this, and pressured NBC into ceasing the satellite transmissions of the live taping in the early 1980s. The satellite link was replaced by microwave landline transmission until the show's editing facilities were finally moved to Burbank.
Business ventures
Carson was a major investor in the ultimately failed De Lorean Motor Company. (Manufacturer John DeLorean was involved in a drug scandal, causing Carson's guest Red Skelton to quip, "The DeLorean, is that a hopped-up car?")
Other business ventures included a successful clothing line, through which his turtlenecks became a fashion trend, and a failed restaurant franchise.
Retirement
Carson retired from show business on May 22, 1992, when he stepped down as host of The Tonight Show. His farewell was a major media event, and stretched over several nights. It was often emotional for Carson, his colleagues, and the audiences, particularly the farewell statement he delivered on his final show:
NBC gave the role of host to the show's then-current permanent guest host, Jay Leno. Leno and David Letterman were soon competing on separate networks.
Post-retirement appearances
At the end of his final Tonight Show appearance, Carson indicated that he might, if so inspired, return with a new project, but instead chose to go into full retirement, rarely giving interviews and declining to participate in NBC's 75th Anniversary celebrations. He made the occasional cameo appearance, including voicing himself on a 1993 episode of The Simpsons ("Krusty Gets Kancelled") and appearing in the 1993 NBC Special Bob Hope: The First 90 Years. On May 13, 1994, Carson appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman. During a week of shows from Los Angeles, Letterman was having Larry "Bud" Melman (Calvert DeForest) deliver his "Top Ten Lists" under the guise that a famous personality would be delivering the list instead. On the last show of the week, Letterman indicated that Carson would be delivering the list. Instead, DeForest delivered the list, insulted the audience (in keeping with the gag), and walked off to polite applause. Letterman then indicated that the card he was given did not have the proper list on it and asked that the "real" list be brought out. On that cue, the real Johnny Carson emerged from behind the curtain, an appearance which prompted a standing ovation from the audience. Carson then requested to sit behind Letterman's desk; Letterman obliged.
Letterman
Just days before Carson's death, it was revealed that the retired "King of Late Night" occasionally sent jokes to Letterman. Letterman would then use these jokes in the monologue of his show, which Carson got "a big kick out of" according to Worldwide Pants, Inc. Senior Vice-President Peter Lassally, who formerly produced both men's programs, also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor". Letterman frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including "Carnac" (with band leader Paul Shaffer as Carnac), "Stump the Band," and the "Week in Review."
Personal life
Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, to Homer "Kit" Lloyd Carson, a power company manager, and Ruth Hook Carson. He grew up in southwest Iowa until the age of 8, when the family moved to Norfolk, Nebraska. There he learned to perform magic tricks, debuting as "The Great Carsoni" at 14. He attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, where he received V-12 officer training, and then served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946. He served in USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) in the final days of the war. Carson then attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in radio and speech with a minor in physics in 1949.
Though hard to believe, Johnny Carson was famously shy off-camera.
Marriages
Carson married his college sweetheart Joan "Jody" Wolcott on October 1, 1949. The marriage was volatile, with infidelities by both parties, finally ending in divorce. They had three sons. Their son Richard died in a car accident on June 21, 1991.
In 1963, Carson got a "quickie" Mexican divorce from Joan and married Joanne Copeland on August 17, 1963. After a protracted divorce in 1972, Copeland received nearly half a million dollars in cash and art and US$100,000 a year in alimony for life.
Joanne recently discovered 39 episodes of the debut season of the "The Johnny Carson Show" which were originally telecast in 1955 and 1956. She recently made an arrangement with the Shout Factory to produce and distribute selected programs on DVD. The two-disk DVD set contains Johnny's "top 10" episodes. Johnny's first wife Joan and the couple's three sons appear in the first episode on the DVD.
At the Carson Tonight Shows 10th anniversary party on September 30, 1972, Carson announced that he and former model Joanna Holland had been secretly married that afternoon, shocking his friends and associates. Carson kidded that he had married three similarly named women to avoid "having to change the monogram on the towels." A similar joke was made by Bob Newhart during Carson's Roast by Dean Martin. On March 8, 1983, Holland filed for divorce. Under California's community property laws, she was entitled to 50 percent of all the assets accumulated during the marriage even though Carson earned virtually 100 percent of the couple's income. During this period, he joked on The Tonight Show, "My producer, Freddy de Cordova, really gave me something I needed for Christmas. He gave me a gift certificate to the Law Offices of Jacoby & Meyers." The divorce case finally ended in 1985 with an 80-page settlement, Holland receiving $20 million in cash and property.
Carson married Alexis Maas on June 20, 1987; Johnny was 61, Alexis 35. The story of their meeting given to the press was that Alexis was strolling along the Malibu beach holding an empty wine glass. Johnny noticed this beautiful woman and offered to fill the glass. In truth, Maas had talked a beachfront guard into letting her trespass onto Carson's Malibu property. The marriage was Johnny's longest, lasting the rest of his life, and items given to the press reported that the union was a happy one.
Children
Carson's son from his first marriage, Richard, was killed on June 21, 1991, when his car plunged down a steep embankment along a paved service road off Highway 1 near Cayucos, a small town north of San Luis Obispo. Apparently, Richard had been taking photographs when the accident occurred. Carson was deeply shaken by his son's death. On his first show after Ricky's death, he gave a stirring tribute in the final minutes of his show as samples of his son's photographic work (and images of Ricky, himself) were displayed with the music accompaniment of "Riviera Paradise" by blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. In addition, the final image--as well as some "More To Come" bumpers--of Carson's last show in May 1992 featured a photo Richard had taken.
Donations
In November 2004, Carson announced a $5.3 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts' Department of Theatre Arts, which created the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. Another $5 million donation was announced by the estate of Carson to the University of Nebraska following his death.
Carson also donated to causes in his hometown of Norfolk, including the Carson Cancer Center at Faith Regional Health Services, The Elkhorn Valley Museum, and the Johnny Carson Theater at Norfolk Senior High School.
Other events
Carson was cited in a 1982 drunk driving incident while driving a De Lorean DMC-12 sportscar in Beverly Hills. Represented by Robert Shapiro, he pleaded no contest to the charges, and played off the incident by having a uniformed police officer escort him on to the Tonight Show stage.
Carson, an amateur astronomer, was close friends with astronomer Carl Sagan, who often appeared on The Tonight Show. The unique way Sagan had of saying certain words, like "billions" of galaxies, would lead to Carson ribbing his friend, imitating his voice and saying "BILL-ions and BILL-ions", a phrase soon erroneously attributed to Sagan himself. According to Sagan's biographer, Keay Davidson, Carson was the first person to contact Sagan's wife with condolences when the scientist died in 1996. Also a talented amateur drummer, Carson was shown on a segment of 60 Minutes practicing at home on a drum set given to him by close friend jazz legend Buddy Rich who was the most frequent jazz musician to appear on The Tonight Show. Writer Gore Vidal, another frequent "Tonight Show" guest and personal friend, writes about Carson's personality in his 2006 memoirs.
Death and tributes
On March 19, 1999, Carson, 73, suffered a severe heart attack at his home in Malibu, California. Carson was sleeping when he suddenly awoke with severe chest pains. He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Santa Monica where he underwent quadruple-bypass surgery.
At 6:50 AM PST on January 23, 2005, Carson died at Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, of respiratory arrest arising from emphysema. He was 79 years old. Carson had revealed his illness to the public in September 2002. Following Carson's death his body was cremated, and the ashes were given to his wife. In accordance with his family's wishes, no public memorial service was held. There were countless tributes paid to Carson upon his death, including a statement by President George W. Bush, all recognizing the deep and enduring affection held for him.
Tributes published after his death confirmed that he had been a chain-smoker. While The Tonight Show was broadcast live, he would frequently smoke cigarettes on the air; it was reported that Carson had said "these things are killing me" as far back as the 1970s.
On January 24, 2005, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno paid tribute to Carson with guests Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, Drew Carey and K.D. Lang. Letterman followed suit on January 31 with former Tonight Show executive producer Peter Lassally and bandleader Doc Severinsen. During the beginning of this show, Letterman said that for 30 years no matter what was going on in the world, no matter whether people had a good or bad day, they wanted to end the day by being "tucked in by Johnny." Letterman also told his viewers that the monologue he had just given had consisted entirely of jokes sent to him by Carson in the last few months of his life. Doc Severinsen ended the Letterman show that night by playing one of Carson's two favorite songs, "Here's That Rainy Day" (the other was "I'll Be Seeing You"). It had been reported over the decades of Carson's fame that he was, off-camera, so intensely private that he had never once invited McMahon to his home. After Carson's death, though, McMahon disputed those rumors and claimed that a close friendship existed. On his final Tonight Show appearance, Carson himself said that while sometimes people who work together for long stretches of time on television don't necessarily like each other, this was not the case with him and McMahon: they were good friends who would have dinner together, and the camaraderie that they had on the show could not be faked.
A week or so after the tributes, Dennis Miller was on the Tonight Show and told Jay Leno about the first time he tried to do a talk show, and how miserably it went. He said that he got a call right after the first show, from Carson, telling him, "It's not as easy as it looks, is it, kid?"
The 2005 film The Aristocrats was dedicated to Carson.
Further reading
External links
- for The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson
Obituaries
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