| Johnny began his career at age 14 with a magic act called "The Great Carsoni" in Norfolk, NE, where he grew up. As a Navy ensign aboard the USS Pennsylvania in 1945, he was the only officer to consciously entertain enlisted men during shows on the ship. While a student at the University of Nebraska, he was allowed to be late for his first class so that he could work at a local radio station, KFAB and then worked at WOW in Omaha, where he wrote comedy and announced commercials for a 15-minute program.
Deciding that his future was in California, he landed a job in 1950 as staff announcer for KNXT (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles, where he soon hosted his own program, "Carson's Cellar." It ran until mid 1953.
He temporarily stopped his on-camera appearances to write material for Red Skelton's TV program. One night, just before air time, Skelton ran into a break-away door and suffered a concussion. On short notice, Johnny went on in Red Skelton's place, opening the show with a monologue he had put together while driving to the studio. Jack Benny's reactions: "The kid is great, just great," and "You better watch that Carson kid."
At 29, Carson became host of his own network show, "Earn Your Vacation," while also appearing as a substitute host for another up and coming TV personality, Jack Paar, on CBS's "The Morning Show." Carson continued to appear on CBS until 1956.
In 1957 he moved to ABC as host of a new daytime game show, "Who Do You Trust?." It was his first teaming with his future "Tonight" announcer, Ed McMahon. In 1958 he was again asked to fill in for Paar, this time on NBC's "The Tonight Show." On October 1, 1962, Groucho Marx introduced Carson to the nation's late-night television audience as the new host of "The Tonight Show."
Carson has won six Emmy Awards, received the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' prestigious Governors' Award in 1980 and a George Foster Peabody Award in 1986. In 1987 he was inducted into the ATAS Hall of Fame. And for his humanitarian efforts, the American Friends of Hebrew University honored him with the Scopus Award in 1989.
In 1992, Johnny won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the American Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1993 he received the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award.
Born in Corning, IA on October 23, 1925, Carson grew up in Norfolk, NE. Johnny passed away peacefully January 23, 2005 surrounded by his wife Alexis and his family. His children are Ricky (passed away in 1991), Chris and Cory. Chris is a golf instructor living in Florida and Cory is an accomplished musician in the Los Angeles area. Click here to learn more about Cory's music. |
