John William Carson (October 23, 1925 - January 23, 2005) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He is best known as the host of The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards, Academy Award 1980 Academy Television, and the 1985 Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame Television Academy in 1987. Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.
Although the show was successful in the late 1960s, in the 1970s Carson became an American icon and remained so even after his retirement in 1992. He adopted a casual conversational approach with wide interaction with the guests, a pioneered approach. by Arthur Godfrey and formerly Tonight Show host Steve Allen and Jack Paar. Former late-night host and friend David Letterman has cited Carson's influence.
Video Johnny Carson
Early life and career
John William Carson was born on October 23, 1925, in Corning, Iowa, to Ruth Elizabeth (Hook) Carson (1901-1985), of Irish descent, and Homer Lloyd "Kit" Carson (1899-1983), a strength of corporate managers. He grew up in cities near Avoca, Clarinda, and Red Oak in southwestern Iowa before moving to Norfolk, Nebraska at the age of eight. There, Carson grew up and began to develop his talent for entertaining. At the age of 12, Carson found a book about magic at a friend's house and immediately purchased a mail order wizard tool. After the purchase of the device, Carson practiced his entertainment skills on family members with card tricks. She is known for following her family members around saying, "Choose a card, any card." Carson's mother gave him a robe, and his first performance was staged in front of the local Kiwanis Club. She debuted as "The Great Carsoni" at the age of 14 and paid $ 3 per gig. Soon, many other performances at local picnics and state fairs were followed. After graduating from high school, Carson held his first meeting with Hollywood. He rode to Hollywood, where he was arrested and fined $ 50 for imitating a cadet, a story that is often regarded as apocryphal. "Johnny started an adventure, so full of implications about his future, that some people wonder if the adventure might not really be a legend."
Maps Johnny Carson
Military career
Carson joined the United States Navy on June 8, 1943, and received training in V-12 Navy Training Program personnel at Columbia University and Millsaps College. Assigning the banner at the end of the war, Carson was assigned to the USSÃ, Pennsylvania in the Pacific. While in the Navy, Carson posted a 10-0 amateur boxing record, with most of his fighting battling on the Pennsylvania boards. He was on his way to a combat zone on board a troop when the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings ended the war. Carson served as the communications officer responsible for the decoding of encrypted messages. He said that the high point of his military career was to do a magic trick for US Navy Secretary James V. Forrestal. In a conversation with Forrestal, the Secretary asked Carson if he planned to remain in the navy after the war. In response, Carson says no and tells him that he wants to become a magician. Forrestal asked him to perform, and Carson responded with a card trick. Carson made the discovery that he could entertain and entertain someone as fussy and sophisticated as Forrestal.
To exploit educational opportunities from the Navy, Carson attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and continued to perform magic (then paid $ 25 per appearance). He majored in journalism with the goal of becoming a comedy writer. Instead, he shifted his main field to speech and drama a few months later, as he wanted to become a radio player. Carson's college thesis, titled "How to Write Comedian Jokes", is a compilation of recorded plays and jokes from popular radio shows with Carson explaining comedy techniques in voice-over. It allowed him to graduate in three years. Carson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Radio and Speech with a minor in Physics in 1949.
Early radio and television
Carson began his broadcasting career in 1950 on WOW radio and television in Omaha, Nebraska. Carson immediately hosted a morning television program called Squirrel's Nest . One of his routines was to interview pigeons on the roof of a local courthouse that would report the political corruption they saw. Carson supplemented his income by serving as a ceremony host at a local church dinner party, which was attended by some of the same politicians and civilian leaders who were scorned on the radio.
The wife of one of Omaha's political figures, Carson, had a fake stock on a radio station in Los Angeles, and in 1951 referred Carson to his brother, who was influential in the burgeoning television market in southern California. Carson joined the Los Angeles CBS-owned television station KNXT. In 1953, the comic Red Skelton - a fan of the low-budget sketch comedy show "Carson's comedy success", Carson Cellar (1951 to 1953) at KNXT - asked Carson to join his show as a writer. In 1954, Skelton accidentally knocked himself unconscious an hour before his live performances began, and Carson succeeded him. In 1955, Jack Benny invited Carson to appear on one of his programs during the opening and closing segments. Carson imitated Benny and claimed that Benny had copied his movements. Benny predicted that Carson would have a successful career as a comedian.
Carson hosted several events other than Carson Cellar , including your Get Your Vacation (1954) and CBS The Johnny Carson Show (1955) - 1956). He was a guest panelist at the original To Tell the Truth beginning in 1960, then became a regular panelist from 1961 to 1962. After the prime time of The Johnny Carson Show failed, he moved to New York City to host the Who Do You Trust? (1957-1962), formerly known as Do You Trust Your Wife? . In 1958, she appeared as a guest star in an episode titled "Do You Trust Your Wife" on the short NBC variety show, The Polly Bergen Show . On Who Do You Trust? , Carson meets with his future men and men, Ed McMahon. Though he believes moving into the daylight will hurt his career, Who Do You Trust? successful. This is the first show where she can ad lib and interview guests, and since Carson is on camera-wit, the show becomes "the hottest item on the daytime television" for five years at ABC.
The Tonight Show
NBC's Tonight is a late night counterpart for his morning show Today . Originating in 1953 with host of Steve Allen, Tonight was somewhat experimental at the time, since the only network program the night before was NBC's Broadway Open , starring Jerry Lester and Dagmar. Tonight was successful, and when Allen moved on to the comedy-variety primetime show in 1956, Jack Paar succeeded him as Tonight's host. Paar left the show in 1962.
Johnny Carson's success at ABC Who Do You Trust? led NBC to invite him to take over Tonight a few months before Paar's departure. Carson declined the offer because he was afraid of the difficulty of interviewing celebrities for 105 minutes every day. Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason, Groucho Marx, and Joey Bishop all declined as well. NBC finally convinced Carson to sign in early February 1962. Carson can be seen discussing his upcoming work for the first time on February 11, 1962, episode of What's My Line? . Since Carson had six months left on his ABC contract, NBC used several guest hosts until he could take over. Guest host includes Merv Griffin, Art Linkletter, Joey Bishop, Arlene Francis (first woman hosting The Tonight Show), Bob Cummings, Jerry Lewis, Groucho Marx, Donald O'Connor, and others -other.
Although he continues to have doubts about his new job, Carson hosted tonight (later became The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson on October 1, 1962. After a difficult first year, he overcome his fears. While Night , under previous hosts have been successful, especially under Paar, the Carson version has finally done very well in the rankings. Billy Wilder said of Carson:
With a simple survival law, Carson is the best. He lures people with disabilities and insomniacs and people who have to get up at dawn. He is the Valium and Nembutal of a nation. No matter what kind of dead-ass is on the show, he has to make them funny and interesting. She should be their nurse and surgeon. He has no pride. He does his job and he comes ready. If he talks with an author, he has read the book. Even his trained routines to train him are improvised. He's a cream of middle-class elegance, but he's not a mannequin. He has lured the American bourgeoisie without ever offending the big girls, and he never said anything that was not liberal or progressive. Every night, in front of millions of people, he has to do salto mortale [a circus language for air overlapping done on a rope]. What's more, he does it without a net. No rewrites. No retakes. Jokes should work tonight.
McMahon follows Carson from Who Do You Trust? as an announcer and sidekick and Skitch Henderson is installed as a NBC orchestra master. The famous McMahon introduction, "Heeeeere's Johnny !!!" followed by a short monologue by Carson. This is often followed by sketches of comedy, interviews, and music. The trademark Carson is a ghostly golf swing at the end of his monologue, leading to a stage toward the studio orchestra. (The guest host sometimes parodies the movement.Bob Newhart rolls an imaginary bowling ball towards the audience.)
Paul Anka wrote the theme song, ("Johnny's Theme"), reworking his "Toot Sweet"; given the lyrics, it was renamed, "It's Really Love" and recorded by Annette Funicello in 1959. Before taking over The Tonight Show, Carson wrote the lyrics for the song, and thus claimed 50% of the performance the song is royalty (although the lyrics are never used). This sounding theme is being played on the first Carson sound recording of Tonight Show and it was used uninterrupted until its last broadcast on May 22, 1992.
The show was originally produced at Thirty Rockefeller Plaza NBC-TV studio in New York City, with occasional assignments in California. It did not live in its early years, though during the 1970s, NBC fed live footage from Burbank to New York via satellite for editing (see below). The program has been "live on tape" (uninterrupted unless there is a problem) since Jack Paar's time. Carson has a knack for quick jokes to deal with problems. If the opening monologue fared badly, the band would start playing "Tea for Two" and Carson danced the softshoe to laugh from the studio audience. Or, Carson might pull the boom microphone close to his face and announce, "Attention to K-Mart buyers, clean up in hallway four!"
Move to Burbank
On May 1, 1972, the show was moved from Thirty Rockefeller Plaza, New York, to Burbank, California, due to studio proximity with celebrities. Carson often jokes about "Burbank's pretty downtown" and refers to "the beautiful downtown of Bakersfield", which prompted Bakersfield Mayor Mary K. Shell to berate Carson and invite him to his city to see the improvements made during the early 1980s.
From July 1971, Carson stopped holding five per week performances. Instead, Monday featured the guest host, leaving Carson to host four other nighttime events. The show was recorded in Burbank at 5:30 pm, followed from there to the Central and East time zone stations via a cross-country television channel at 8:30 pm Pacific time (11:30 am Eastern time), and then shipped from Burbank to the zone station Pacific time at 11:30 am Pacific time. Since only two feeds are from Burbank, Central time zone stations receive East bait an hour earlier at 22:30 local time, and the Mountain time station receives the Pacific time zone feeds one hour later at 12:30 local time.
In 1980, at Carson's request, the event cut the 90 minute format to 60 minutes on September 16; Tom Snyder's Tomorrow adds half an hour to fill in the empty time. Joan Rivers hosted "permanent" guests from September 1983 to 1986. The Tonight Show re-used the rotating guest host, including comic George Carlin. Jay Leno later hosted an exclusive guest in the fall of 1987. Leno joked that even though other guest hosts had raised their fees, he remained low, ensuring he had more reservations. Finally, Monday night is for Leno, Tuesday for The Best of Carson - the re-broadcast usually comes from the previous year, but sometimes from the 1970's.
Although Carson's work schedule became more attenuated, Tonight remained so successful that NBC's compensation continued to increase; in the mid-1970s, he had become the highest paid figure on television, earning about $ 4 million per year ($ 15,008,000 today), excluding the appearance of nightclubs and other businesses. She rejected many offers to appear in the film, including the title role in The Thomas Crown Affair and the role of Gene Wilder at Blazing Saddles. He also turned down the offer of director Martin Scorsese to become a star with Robert De Niro in the 1983 film The King of Comedy, the role of TV talk show host and then to Jerry Lewis.
In recognition of his 25th anniversary on The Tonight Show, Carson received a personal Peabody Award, the council said he has "become an American institution, households, [and] most cited Americans." They also said they "felt it was time to acknowledge the contribution Johnny made to television, humor and America."
Uri Geller
In 1973, a self-proclaimed magician, personality, television and psychic Uri Geller appeared on The Tonight Show. In the documentary NOVA , James Randi - Pediatric Secret, magician and skeptical activist James Randi says that â € Å"Johnny has become a magician himself and skepticalâ € of the paranormal that Geller claimed strength, so before the taping date, Randi was asked "to help prevent any tricks." As per Randi's suggestion, the show prepared their own props without telling Geller, and did not let Geller or his staff "near them." When Geller joins Carson on stage, he looks surprised that he will not be interviewed, but is expected to show his ability to use the articles provided. Geller said, "It scares me." and "I was surprised because before this program your producer came and he read out at least 40 questions that you would ask me." Geller can not display the paranormal ability, saying "I do not feel strong" and he expressed his displeasure feeling like being "pressured" to appear by Carson. According to the Nov. 7, 2014 article from Adam Higginbotham at New York Times :
The result is a legendary massacre, in which Geller puts confused grounds to his host because of his failing ability over and over again. "I sat there for 22 minutes, humiliated," Geller told me, when I spoke to him in September. "I'm going back to my hotel, ruined, I'll pack the next day and go back to Tel Aviv I think, That's it - I'm shattered."
However, this appearance was on The Tonight Show, which Carson and Randi had arranged to eliminate the capabilities that Geller claimed, backfired. According to Higginbotham,
To Geller's surprise, he immediately orders at the The Merv Griffin Show . She is on her way to becoming a paranormal superstar. "Johnny Carson's show made Uri Geller," Geller said. For a very believing community, his failure only makes his talent seem more real: If he does a magic trick, they will work every time.
Comic character
Although Carson's program was headquartered in Burbank in 1972, NBC's editing and production services for performances remained in New York, requiring the program to be aired between the two cities. In 1976, NBC used Satcom 2 satellites to achieve this, feeding live recordings (which started around 17:30 local time) directly to New York, where it would be edited before the broadcast late at night. This live feed lasts normally for two to two and a half hours a night and is uncensored and commercially free. During the slot for ad breaks, audio and image feeds will continue, catching occasional language-prone and other events that will be edited before transmission.
At the same time, satellite ground stations owned by individuals began to appear, and some found live bait. Satellite dish owners began documenting their appearances in technical journals, giving viewers knowledge of things that were not meant to be seen. Carson and his production staff were increasingly worried about this and pressed NBC to stop satellite transmissions from live recording in the early 1980s. The satellite link was replaced by a microwave transmission until the event editing facility was transferred to Burbank.
Effects on popular culture
The Carson show launched the careers of many artists, especially comedians and musicians. For a comedian who appeared on the show, making her laugh and being invited to the guest chair was considered the highest award. The most prominent of which are David Letterman, Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Jeff Foxworthy, Ellen DeGeneres, Joan Rivers, David Brenner, Tim Allen, Drew Carey, and Roseanne Barr. Carson is the successor of The Ed Sullivan Show as a showcase for all types of talent, as well as continuing a vaudeville-style variety show.
In 1966, Carson popularized the Milton Bradley Twist game when he played with actress Eva Gabor. Not widely known at the time, the game skyrocketed in popularity after it was broadcast.
Controversy and hostility
Carson often makes jokes at the expense of other celebrities. In 1980, Carson stepped down from a deal to acquire Aladdin Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and a competing group led by Wayne Newton managed to buy the property. According to lawyer Henry Bushkin, Carson became annoyed because he was often described by the media as "losing" the deal and reacting by telling jokes on his show about Newton, who has spent much of his efforts to build a masculine image. This creates something of a high-profile feud between Carson and Newton. Years later, Newton appeared on Larry King Live, stating that "Johnny Carson is a wicked man, and there are people he 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. "Newton often told of the personal face of Carson; after the last straw, Newton bursts into his office in the studio and threatens to beat him unless the joke stops. They do.
NBC's veteran actor Raymond Burr became angry at Carson's continuing fat jokes and he only appeared on The Tonight Show in 1968 and in 1976.
On July 2, 1969, Carson launched an on-the-air attack on The New York Times after his night monologue, raided the newspaper for an article that said he was the highest paid player on television, earning $ 75,000 week. He denied that so, while refusing to express compensation in subsequent interviews with the newspaper, and called the article "very unfair." The Times publishes a follow-up article saying that initially reported "erroneously," and $ 75,000 a week is not possible.
Carson reportedly hated what he regarded as infidelity, and he was very angry when the former Tonight Show host guest John Davidson and Joan Rivers began holding their own talk show. The river show 'on the Fox Network competed directly with Carson during the 1986-1987 season before being canceled. On June 24, 2009, after the death of Ed McMahon, Rivers praised McMahon on Larry King Live, but said that after he got his show Carson never spoke to him again.
In December 1973, Carson joked about Tonight about the alleged lack of toilet paper. Viewers believe that stories and panic buying and hoarding are taking place across the United States when consumers empty out the store, causing a real shortage lasting for weeks. Shops and toilet paper producers have to stock up rations until the panic ends. Carson apologized in January 1974 for the incident, which became the so-called "classic study" of how rumors spread.
Carson successfully sued portable toilet manufacturer who wants to call his product "Here's Johnny".
Carson is sending the character of "Mr. Rogers", in which he plays the evil Mr. Rogers who wants children to steal money from their parents to keep the show going. Fred Rogers was not impressed with the comedy drama. Carson later apologized to Rogers for making fun of him.
Business enterprise
Carson is a big investor in the failed DeLorean Motor Company.
Carson is the head of a group of investors who buy and operate two television stations. The first was KVVU-TV in Henderson, Nevada, an independent station serving Las Vegas, was acquired by the Carson group in 1979. Shortly after purchasing the station, KVVU was rumored to be acquiring NBC's affiliate because then the old KORK-TV affiliate was in the process of being replaced by KVBC (and now KSNV), but it never happened. Carson's second station, independent KNAT-TV in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was purchased in 1982. Unlike Las Vegas operations, KNAT faces stiff competition for the best-quality syndication program. Carson sold both stations in 1985 and 1986 with KVVU-TV (FOX 5) to James Meredith Corporation and KNAT sold to the Trinity Broadcasting Network.
Other Carson business ventures include the success of Johnny Carson Apparel, Inc. - his turtleneck became a fashion trend - and a failed restaurant franchise.
Retirement
Carson retired from show business on May 22, 1992, at the age of 66 when he resigned as host of The Tonight Show. His breakup was a big, often emotional media event for Carson, his colleagues and the audience, and stretched for several nights. As a tribute to Carson and his extraordinary influence, some networks featuring late-night talk shows "go dark" for an entire hour he's performing last. The Tonight Show finally won the Emmy for Outstanding Late-Night Series after 13 tries later that year, backed by a second broadcast from behind featuring last two guests Johnny, Robin Williams and Bette Midler.
NBC gave the role of host to the current permanent host, Jay Leno. Leno and David Letterman soon compete on separate networks.
Post-retirement appearance
At the end of his last episode of Tonight Show , Carson indicated that he might, if inspired, return with a new project. Instead, he chose to enter full retirement, rarely give interviews and refused to participate in the celebration of the 75th anniversary of NBC. She made occasional cameo appearances, including voicing herself on May 13, 1993, episode of The Simpsons ("Krusty Gets Kancelled"), phoning David Letterman on November 1993 episode of the Late Show with David Letterman , and appeared in 1993 NBC specifically Bob Hope: The First 90 Years.
On May 13, 1994, Carson appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman . During a week of performances from Los Angeles, Letterman has Larry "Bud" Melman (Calvert DeForest) gives the "Big Ten List" under the guise that a famous personality will list, instead. At the last show of the week, Letterman indicated that Carson would send the list. Instead, DeForest delivered the list, insulted the audience (as a joke), and went into polite applause. Letterman then indicated that the card given to him did not have a proper list and requested that the "real" list be issued. At that cue, the real Carson emerges from behind the curtain (when Letterman's band plays "Johnny's Theme"), a performance that encourages the standing ovation of the audience. Carson was then asked to sit behind Letterman's desk; Letterman obliged, as the audience continued to cheer and clap. After a while, Carson departed from the show without speaking to the audience. He then called acute laryngitis as a reason for his silence. This turned out to be Carson's last television appearance.
Letterman
Just days before Carson's death, The New York Times published a story revealing that he sometimes sent jokes to David Letterman. Letterman will then use these jokes in his show monologue, which Carson gets "a big kick off", according to Senior Vice Senior Vice-Officer Peter Lassally, who previously produced both men's programs. He also claims that Carson always believed Letterman, not Leno, to be his "legitimate successor". In his first broadcast after Carson died, Letterman delivered a monologue composed entirely of jokes sent by Carson, a fact which the host later revealed in the program.
Influences
Carson's influence included Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Groucho Marx, and Jack Paar.
Comedians who claim Carson as influences include David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Dennis Miller, Bill Maher, Joan Rivers, Larry Wilmore, Ray Romano, Don Rickles, Bob Newhart, Angie Dickinson, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Dick Cavett , David Steinberg, Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, Garry Shandling, Steve Martin, Arsenio Hall, and Jimmy Fallon.
Personal life
Despite his attitude in front of the camera, Carson is shy outside the camera. He is known for avoiding most of the major parties and is referred to as "the most personal public person ever living." Dick Cavett recalled, "I feel sorry for Johnny because he's so socially uncomfortable I hardly ever meet anyone who has as much time as he does." In addition, George Axelrod once said of Carson, "Socially, he does not exist, the reason is that there are no television cameras in the living room.If humans have a little red light in the middle of their foreheads, Carson will be the greatest speaker on Earth.
Luxury residence on the shores of Malibu, worth $ 81 million by 2017, contains only one bedroom. Friends and family members who stay will sleep in the guest house across the street.
He usually refuses to discuss politics, social controversy, his childhood, or his personal life with the interviewer, and offers a list of the following written answers to reporters who want to ask him a question:
- Yes, I do.
- No, I do not.
- Not a few truths in the rumor.
- Only twice in my life, twice on Saturdays.
- I can too, but I prefer the first one.
- No. Kumquat.
- I can not answer that question.
- Frogs and tarantulas.
- Turkestan, Denmark, Chile, and the Komandorski Islands.
- As often as possible, but I have not been able to do it well. I need more practice.
- It happened to some of my old friends, and it is a story I will never forget.
Politics
Carson opposed the Vietnam War, and the death penalty, liked racial equality, and opposed the criminalization of extramarital and pornographic sex. He avoids explicitly mentioning his view of The Tonight Show, which says that he "hates being shot at" because it will "hurt me as an entertainer, that's me." As he explained in 1970, "In my living room, I will argue for the liberalization of abortion laws, divorce laws, and there are times when I want to express my views in the air.I would love to have taken Billy Graham. But I'm on TV five nights a week, I have nothing to get it and everything will go away. "He also rarely invites political figures into the Tonight Show because he" does not want to be a political forum "and does not wants the event to be used, by himself or others, to influence the views of the viewers.
In his book, former Carson lawyer Henry Bushkin states, he is "instinctively and grew with certainty of Republicans, but from a kind of Eisenhower that we do not see much more... Overall, you have to say he is anti-big: anti-big, anti bigger, big anti-bully, anti-big blowhards. "Carson served as MC for the premiere of Ronald Reagan in 1981 at the request of Frank Sinatra.
Wedding
In 1948, Carson married Jody Wolcott. The marriage was fickle, with an affair perpetrated by both parties, and ended in a divorce in 1963.
Carson married Joanne Copeland in the same year, on August 17th. After a protracted second divorce in 1972, Copeland received a settlement of $ 6,000 per month in benefits until he remarried or until Johnny's death (he accepted it until his death in 2005). He also received "a pretty good little art collection." He then had a second marriage that also ended in divorce, and died in California, 83 years old, by 2015. He has no children.
At the Carson Show 10th anniversary on September 30, 1972, Carson announced that former model Joanna Holland and she secretly married that afternoon, surprising her friends and colleagues. On March 8, 1983, Holland filed for divorce. The divorce case finally ended in 1985 with an 80-page settlement, Holland receiving $ 20 million in cash and property.
On June 20, 1987, Carson married Mass Alexis. The marriage lasted until his death in 2005.
Carson reportedly joked, "My suggestion of marriage is like the captain of a Titanic ship that teaches navigation."
Children
Carson has three sons, Christopher, Cory, and Richard. The three sons came from his first marriage. Richard Carson died on June 21, 1991, when his car crashed on a steep dike along a paved asphalt road from Highway 1 near Cayucos, California. Apparently, Richard had taken a photo when the accident happened. On the first Tonight Show after Ricky's death, Carson awarded Ricky's photography with a slide show of nature, accompanied by Stevie Ray Vaughan on a blues guitar playing "Riviera Paradise". In addition, the final image of the show, as well as some "More to Come" bumper, from Carson's last show on May 22, 1992, shows the photo taken by Richard.
Charity
In 1981, Carson created the John W. Carson Foundation, dedicated to support children, education, and health care. The Foundation continues to support charitable activities.
In November 2004, Carson announced a $ 5.3 million prize to the University of Nebraska Foundation to support the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Theater Arts Performing Arts, which created the Johnny Carson Theater and Film School. Another $ 5 million contribution was announced by Carson residents to the University of Nebraska after his death, while a $ 1 million donation was announced on November 4, 2011, creating a Johnny Carson Opportunity Scholarship Fund.
Carson also donated the cause in his hometown of Norfolk, including the Carson Cancer Center at Faith Regional Health Services, the Elkhorn Valley Museum, and Johnny Carson Theater at Norfolk Senior High School. Carson also donated to the Northeast Community's Long-Life Learning Center in honor of his favorite teacher, Miss Faye Gordon. Miss Gordon has appeared on her show several times. His last visit to Norfolk was to have a 100th birthday party for Miss Gordon, which Carson had promised several years earlier.
In August 2010, a charitable foundation created by Johnny Carson reported receiving $ 156 million of personal trust founded by the entertainer the year before his death in January 2005. Carson's foundation is by far the largest of the Hollywood charities.
Other notes
Carson, an amateur astronomer, is a close friend of astronomer Carl Sagan, who often appears on The Tonight Show. Sagan's unique way of saying certain words, like "billions" of stars, would make Carson belittle his friends, saying "BILL-ions and BILL-ions". Carson was the first to contact Sagan's wife Ann Druyan with condolences when the scientist died in 1996. He has several telescopes, including a top-tier unit. In 1981, the minor planet 1981 EM 4 was named in his honor, 3252 Johnny.
Carson was shown in the 1978 segment of 60 Minutes practicing at home on the drum set given to him by Buddy Rich's close friend, who is the highest-performing jazz musician on The Tonight Show . Gore Vidal, another frequent guest and friend of the Night, wrote about Carson's personality in his 2006 memoir.
In 1982, Carson was found driving his DeLorean while under the influence of alcohol. He begged nolo contendere for alleged infringement and received a three-year probation sentence. Carson was asked to attend an alcohol program for the driver and was allowed to use his car only to go to work and back, without hauling people or animals in his vehicle.
Carson is an avid tennis player. When he sold Malibu's house to John McEnroe and Tatum O'Neal, the escrow requirement required McEnroe to give Johnny six tennis lessons. Carson's main tennis teacher was Bob Trapenberg, who taught him for a while, and went with him to Wimbledon.
Death and reward
On March 19, 1999, Carson suffered a severe heart attack at his home in Malibu, California, and was hospitalized near Santa Monica, where he underwent fourfold bypass surgery.
Carson was a heavy smoker for several decades and, in the early days of his tenure at Tonight, was often sucked in front of the camera. It was reported that in the early mid-1970s, he repeatedly said, "These things kill me." His younger brother remembered that during their last conversation, Carson kept saying, "Those damn cigarettes."
At 06.50 PST on January 23, 2005, Carson died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to respiratory failure arising from emphysema. He is 79 years old, and has revealed his deadly illness to the public in September 2002. His body was cremated, and his ashes were given to his wife, Alexis Maas. In accordance with the wishes of his family, no public funeral ceremony was held. Carson was also congratulated by his younger brother, Dick, who was the winning director of the Emmy Award, among others, who competed for the Merv Griffin Show and Wheel of Fortune.
Much of the tribute paid to Carson after his death, including a statement by President George W. Bush, all acknowledged the deep and lasting affection he had for him.
On January 31st, The Late Show with David Letterman paid tribute to former executive producer Tonight Show Peter Lassally and band leader Doc Severinsen. At the start of this event, Letterman said that for 30 years no matter what is happening in the world, whether people have a good or bad day, they want to end it to be "tucked away by Johnny." He also told viewers that the monologue he had just spoken, which was well received by the studio audience, 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 performing and playing, along with Tommy Newsom and Ed Shaughnessy, one of Carson's two favorite songs, "This is Rain Day" (the other being "I'll Be Seeing You"). The Tonight Show with Jay Leno also rewarded Carson with guests Ed McMahon, Bob Newhart, Don Rickles, Drew Carey, and k.d. lang.
On his last appearance of the Tonight Show, Carson himself said that sometimes people who work together for long periods on television do not always like each other; this is not the case with McMahon and him; they are good friends who will drink and have dinner together, and the friendships they have on the show can not be falsified. Carson and McMahon were friends for 46 years.
The 2005 film The Aristocrats is dedicated to Carson.
The Simpsons , season 16 episode 7, "Mommie Beerest", is dedicated to her memory.
At the first Comedy Award at Comedy Central, Johnny Carson's Appreciation was awarded to David Letterman. At the 2nd Annual Comedy Awards at Comedy Central, Johnny Carson's Appreciation was awarded to Don Rickles.
The two-hour documentary on his life, Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, airs on PBS on May 14, 2012, as part of their American Masters series. Narrated by Kevin Spacey and featuring interviews with many Carson families, fellow comedians, and protà © Ã… © gÃÆ'Ã… © s.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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