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FORMER 'TONIGHT SHOW' HOST JOHNNY CARSON DIES AT AGE 79


By JEFF WILSON, Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Carson, the "Tonight Show" TV host who served America a smooth nightcap of celebrity banter, droll comedy and heartland charm for 30 years, has died. He was 79.

"Mr. Carson passed away peacefully early Sunday morning," his nephew, Jeff Sotzing, told The Associated Press. "He was surrounded by his family, whose loss will be immeasurable. There will be no memorial service."

Sotzing would not give further details, including the time of death or the location.

The boyish-looking Nebraska native with the disarming grin, who survived every attempt to topple him from his late-night talk show throne, was a star who managed never to distance himself from his audience.

His wealth, the adoration of his guests — particularly the many young comics whose careers he launched — the wry tales of multiple divorces: Carson's air of modesty made it all serve to enhance his bedtime intimacy with viewers.

"Heeeeere's Johnny!" was the booming announcement from sidekick Ed McMahon that ushered Carson out to the stage. Then the formula: the topical monologue, the guests, the broadly played skits such as "Carnac the Magnificent."

But America never tired of him; Carson went out on top when he retired in May 1992. In his final show, he told his audience: "And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it."

His personal life could not match the perfection of his career. Carson was married four times, divorced three. In 1991, one of his three sons, 39-year-old Ricky, was killed in a car accident.

Nearly all of Carson's professional life was spent in television, from his postwar start at Nebraska stations in the late 1940s to his three decades with NBC's "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

Carson choose to let "Tonight" stand as his career zenith and his finale, withdrawing into a quiet retirement that suited his private nature and refusing involvement in other show business projects.

In 1993, he explained his absence from the limelight.

"I have an ego like anybody else," Carson told The Washington Post, "but I don't need to be stoked by going before the public all the time."

like many others i grew up watching mr. carson he was the true kiing of late night tv there will never be anybody else like him im also very glad he was able to enjoy time with his family he will be sorrley missed

RIP Johnny Carson:crying:

"The Tonight Show" Theme (http://www.barbneal.com/wav/tvthemes/carson.wav)

Johhny Carson has been around for 30 years from 1962 to 1992. I used to watch his final show with Johnny Carson on TV a long time ago. So sad that he is gone.:( I usually saw Johnny Carson guest starred on "Cheers" and it was funny. I love Ed McMahon's favorite opening "Heerrrrrrreeee's Johnny!!!" We sure miss him.:(

I am speechless. Johnny was one of my favorite entertainers of all-time. I used watch his show late at night when I was a kid, I loved the monologue (even though I didn't understand what was so funny), and I loved hearing Carnac the Magnificent define answers, without having "foreseen" the question, and I can honestly say, even at five, I cryed when he left The Tonight Show (after having it explained that he was not going to come back, since I was so used to guest hosts I was somewhat confused). Goodbye Johnny, you will be greatly missed. :crying:

If you would like to share more of your memories of Johnny, I invite you to my Yahoo! group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnny_carson

A mega giant in television is gone. :crying: :crying: :crying:

I was born six-and-a-half months after Johnny assumed the late-night television throne from Jack Paar. He did it all. He really did.

What else is there to say? Here are more stories on the passing of a late-night giant.


CNN article:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/23/carson.obit/index.html

CNN.com-January 23, 2005


Yahoo! News article:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=1&u=/ap/20050123/ap_on_en_tv/obit_carson_4

Yahoo! News/AP-January 23, 2005


Here's a couple more articles on the passing of a late-night icon from a British perspective.


U.S. TV legend Johnny Carson dies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4200385.stm

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Obituary: Johnny Carson
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3687092.stm

:crying: :crying: :crying: :tv: :tv: :tv:

A mega giant in television is gone. :crying: :crying: :crying:

I was born six-and-a-half months after Johnny assumed the late-night television throne from Jack Paar. He did it all. He really did.

What else is there to say? Here are more stories on the passing of a late-night giant.

Me too, Bossradio93. I always love Johnny Carson on the "Tonight Show".

R.I.P. Johnny Carson you will be missed by this Fan

TV LAND WILL REMEMBER TELEVISION LEGEND JOHNNY CARSON

New York, NY, January 24, 2005 – TV Land will honor the memory of television legend and late-night pioneer Johnny Carson with an encore presentation of TV Land Legends: The 60 Minutes Interviews featuring Johnny Carson on Thursday, January 27 at 10pm ET/PT (encores 1am and again 1/29 at 9:30am). Carson, who passed away on Sunday, January 23, at the age of 79, entertained generations as the host of The Tonight Show for 30 years.

“We share the country’s sadness in the passing of this television legend,” says Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land and Nick At Nite. “An entire generation grew up with Johnny Carson as he was the last person most of us saw every night for 30 years before going to bed. He was an American icon. His legend is truly remarkable and unmatched and he will be deeply missed.”

TV Land will rebroadcast this episode of TV Land Legends: The 60 Minutes Interviews as it shows a very personal side of this late-night legend who rarely exposed himself in interviews. The show features footage that didn’t air in the original 60 Minutes interview and features the many facets of Johnny Carson. After initially turning down the offer, in 1979, Carson agreed to become the interviewee and spoke frankly with Mike Wallace about his work on The Tonight Show and aspects of his personal life including his deep shyness which many interpreted as his being distant and guarded. We also see Carson talk about some of his more light-hearted hobbies such as tennis, card tricks and playing the drums. In addition, TV Land will air a memorial spot paying tribute to the legendary comedian.

Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, in 1925, but grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska. While his first break came at age 14 with a magic act in Nebraska, the entertainer landed his first big break in California in 1950 as a staff announcer for KNXT (now KCBS-TV) which eventually led to his own television show called “Carson’s Cellar.” Carson moved to ABC in 1957 as host of the game show “Who Do You Trust?” where he was teamed with his future Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon. While hosting the game show, Carson appeared in a number of television variety shows and in 1958 was asked to fill in for Jack Paar in NBC’s The Tonight Show.

Carson was introduced to the nation as the new host of The Tonight Show on October 1, 1962. Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Governor’s Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1980 and a George Foster Peabody Award in 1986. He was inducted into the ATAS Hall of Fame in 1987. Carson also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the American Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992 and in 1993 he received the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award. With his trademark golf swing at the end of every monologue, irreverent characters and impeccable timing, the nation was hearing “Here’s Johnny” for 30 years until his reign ended on May 22, 1992.

CBS News Productions is the production company of CBS News that creates a diverse mix of non-fiction and reality programming for domestic and international markets, including network and cable television, home video, CD-ROM, audio books and in-flight, as well as schools and libraries. Margery Baker-Riker is Vice President of CBS News Productions.

Note: Myrtle Young, a former potato chip factory worker appeared on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show showing off her amazing and unusual chip collection in 1987. Here's the article where she discusses her memorable appearance with 'The King' of late-night television!

Chip Collector Remembers Carson's Gag

1 hour, 30 minutes ago

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - A Fort Wayne woman whose potato chip collection figured in what TV Guide called one of television's funniest moments remembers Johnny Carson as friendly and "down to earth."

Myrtle Young's appearance on "The Tonight Show" in 1987 — and a joke Carson pulled on her — made the-then Seyfert Foods potato-chip inspector an instant celebrity.

Now 80 and still living in Fort Wayne, Young said the trappings of fame did not seem to affect Carson, who died on Sunday.

"Oh, he was just so friendly," Young said. "You get a little nervous meeting someone like that, but he was very down to earth."

Young was invited to "The Tonight Show" to talk about her collection of potato chips resembling animals and famous people.

She was seated between Carson and sidekick Ed McMahon when Carson pretended to eat her chips.

"I was talking to Carson, and Ed spoke to me," Young said. "I turned around to talk to him and heard the crunch, crunch behind me. I couldn't believe it. I thought, 'Oh my goodness.' Of course, he wasn't eating one of mine. He pulled one out of the bowl under his desk.

"He later told me, 'You know for a second, I was just so sorry. But it was only a second,'" Young said.

She said Carson's secretary kept in touch for many years.

Young said she still makes presentations at local shows and does personal appearances.

"See how a chip changed my life?" she said.


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Information from: The News-Sentinel, http://www.news-sentinel.com

Yahoo! News/AP-January 25, 2005


That was truly a great moment in television history!! :tv: :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

From my message board. I haven't post it here, so I ended up posting it on my forum. Here it is.

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http://splitsider.com/2015/03/the-johnny-carson-comeback-special-that-never-was/

What if The Tonight Show host returned from retirement to mock '90s TV?