[ARCHIVED THREAD] - RIP Johnny Carson (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 1/23/2005 9:48:41 AM EDT
1925-2005
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 John William Carson (born October 23, 1925 died January 23, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and writer from Nebraska, best known for his iconic status as the host of The Tonight Show from 1962 until 1992. During his tenure on The Tonight Show, the show was often referred to as "the Johnny Carson show" (not to be confused with his mid-1950s TV show of the same name) or just "Carson." Before The Tonight Show Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, grew up in Nebraska, and served in the U.S. Navy, from 1943 to 1946, and worked as a magician in the 1950s. Carson eventually took a job in radio, and later moved on to game shows. Sometime after that, Carson became a writer for comedian Red Skelton. He hosted several TV shows before his run on The Tonight Show, including the short-lived Johnny Carson Show and a five-year stint on the game show Who Do You Trust?. The Tonight Show Carson became the host of NBC's The Tonight Show on October 2, 1962. His co-host was Ed McMahon. His first guest was Groucho Marx. Carson co-wrote "Johnny's Theme" song with Paul Anka in 1962. For millions of Americans, watching The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson at the end of the evening became a ritual, and Carson became a well-known entertainer loved by many. Most of the later shows began with music and the announcement by Ed McMahon "Heeeeeere's Johnny!," followed by a brief comedic monologue by Johnny Carson. This was often followed by comedy sketches, interviews, and music. Carson's trademark was a golf swing at the end of his Tonight Show monologues. In May 1972 the show permanently moved from New York to Burbank, California, and Carson stopped doing shows five days a week. Instead, on Monday nights there was a "guest host" (leaving Johnny to do the other four each week). Joan Rivers became the "permanent" guest host from September 1983 until 1986. Afterwards The Tonight Show reverted to various guest hosts, with Jay Leno the most frequent. Leno then became the exclusive guest host in the fall of 1987. In 1973, Carson had a legendary run-in with popular psychic Uri Geller when he invited Geller to appear on his show. Carson, an experienced stage magician, wanted a neutral demonstration of Geller's alleged abilities, so, at the advice of his friend and fellow magician James Randi, he gave Geller several spoons out of his desk drawer and asked him to bend them. Geller proved unable, and his appearance on the Tonight Show has since been regarded as the beginning of Geller's fall from glory. Carson was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1987. His other awards include 6 Emmy Awards, and a George Foster Peabody Award. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992. Personal Life His personal life has been as stormy as his professional life has been smooth. Carson married his college sweetheart Joan Wolcott on October 1, 1949. They had 3 sons. Their son, Richard, was killed on June 21, 1991, after 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. 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 got nearly half a million dollars in cash and art and $100,000 a year in alimony for life. At The Tonight Show's 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. On March 8, 1983, Holland filed for divorce. Under California's community property laws, she was entitled to 50% of all the assets accumulated during the marriage even though Carson earned virtually 100% 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 and Meyers." It finally ended in 1985 with a whopping 80-page settlement, Holland receiving $20 million in cash and property. The story goes he met his current wife, Alexis Mass, when he saw her strolling along the beach near his Malibu home holding an empty wine glass. He left his house and offered to fill the glass up for her. They married on June 20, 1987. Retirement Carson retired from show business on May 22, 1992 when he stepped down as host of The Tonight Show. NBC gave the show to occasional guest host, Jay Leno, in spite of promising the job to David Letterman in the 1980s. Letterman, who had been a longtime friend of Carson's, called him to ask him what to do about losing the show. Carson told him to walk. Leno and Letterman were soon competing on different networks. At the end of his final Tonight Show appearance, Carson indicated that he would return with a new project, but since then has instead chosen to go into full retirement, rarely giving interviews and declining to participate in NBC's 75th Anniversary celebrations. He has made the occasional cameo appearance, providing his voice for an episode of The Simpsons and, a couple of years after leaving the Tonight Show, Carson made a surprise appearance on Letterman's CBS program that stopped the show dead. Carson came out to read a joke, and Letterman let him sit down at his desk. The resulting ovation lasted so long that Carson never had a chance to tell the joke. In early 2005, it was revealed that the retired King of Late Night still kept up with current events and late-night TV, and that he occasionally sent jokes to Letterman. Letterman will then use these jokes in the monologue of his show, which, according to CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally (a onetime producer for both men), "[Johnny] gets a big kick out of." Lassally also claimed that Carson had always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "rightful successor." [1] (http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/21448.htm) Letterman also frequently employs some of Carson's trademark bits on his show, including Carnac (with band leader Paul Shaffer as Carnac) and Stump the Band. In 2005, Carson died of complications resulting from emphysema. |
Off base. He lived to be 80, most importantly he enjoyed the hell out of life, and left the planet a better place than he found it. If you could cash in all the smiles and laughs he gave away, the man was a zillionaire. I think I may start smoking again. |
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Johnny Carson was working as a theater usher when World War II began. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1943, as an apprentice seaman enrolled in the V-5 program, which trained Navy and Marine mechanics. He hoped to train as a pilot, but was sent instead to Columbia University under the V-12 program for midshipman training. He performed magic for classmates on the side. Commissioned an ensign late in the war, Carson was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania, a battleship on station in the Pacific. He was en route to the combat zone aboard a troopship when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war to a close. The Pennsylvania was torpedoed on August 12, 1945 and Carson reported for duty on the 14th — the last day of the war. Although he arrived too late for combat, he got a firsthand education in the consequences of war. The damaged warship sailed to Guam for repairs, and as the newest and most junior officer, Carson was assigned to supervise the removal of 20 dead sailors. He later served as a communications officer in charge of decoding encrypted messages. He recalls that the high point of his military career was performing a magic trick for Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal. During World War II, the Navy had a need to provide technical education to many of its personnel. The V-5 Program was designed to train enlisted personnel in specialized and technical areas such as electrician and machinist mate. The V-12 Program was designed to prepare large numbers of men for the Navy's officer Candidate Schools and to increase the war-depleted students bodies of many campuses. |