Johnny Carson was a comedian and television host known for his 30 years as host of The Tonight Show. He began his career in entertainment as a magician and went on to host various game shows and variety shows before landing his job on The Tonight Show in 1962. He turned it into one of NBC’s most successful programs of all time, and his unique style of humor and interviewing made him a beloved figure in the entertainment industry. He died in 2005, leaving behind a legacy as the “king of comedy.”
John William Carson, popularly known as Johnny Carson, was born on October 23, 1995 and was a comedian and television host best known for his 30 years as host of The Tonight Show. He died on January 23, 2005, leaving behind his legacy as the late night “king of comedy” whose brand of comedy was hugely popular and influential to many entertainers. In 1987, Johnny Carson was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame and has received six Emmy Awards, the Presidential Medal of Honor, and many other honors throughout his career.
Johnny Carson’s entertainment career began at the age of fourteen when he performed as “The Great Carsoni” magician for the local Rotary Club in Norfolk, Nebraska. He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946, and then attended the University of Nebraska where he would graduate with a degree in Logic in 1949. Johnny Carson would then officially begin his career in the entertainment industry the following year as he began to work at a local radio and television station, and was soon hosting a morning television program called The Squirrel’s Nest. Quickly, Carson was able to move to Los Angeles and take a job at a CBS-owned station, from where he would go on to even bigger ventures.
Johnny Carson became the host of a television show called Carson’s Cellar, in which he performed stand-up comedy and sketch comedy. The show ran from 1951 to 1953 and was a hit with other popular comedians of the time, one of which was Red Skelton, who had a show of his own and asked Carson to join as a writer, which he did. During one of Skelton’s shows he was unable to perform due to a head injury and Johnny Carson ended up taking over for him hosting the show.
Before being able to host The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson hosted various game shows and variety shows with varying marginal success. During one of these programs, a game show called Who Do You Trust? which she hosted for five years, Carson met a man named Ed McMahon. When Carson would finally get his job on The Tonight Show in 1962, McMahon would become his sidekick, famously introducing Carson with the line, “Here’s Johnny.”
Johnny Carson ended up turning The Tonight Show into one of NBC’s most successful programs of all time. He had a unique presence as a talk show host that combined his unique style of humor, evidenced in his monologues at the beginning of the show, with his ability to simultaneously interview and entertain. The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson would air on NBC for an unprecedented thirty years before Carson’s retirement in 1992.
Johnny Carson has had many other ventures as well, including a successful producing group, which coupled with his schedule has allowed him to become very wealthy. He chose to live a very private life in contrast to his popularity, during which he married four times and lost a child in a car accident, an event that visibly shook Carson. When he died at the age of 79, his already legendary status was cemented by many tributes from famous entertainers, all of whom respected and admired Johnny Carson with great magnificence.
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