Johnny Carson Bio, Early Life, Career, Wife, Net Worth, Measurements

Johnny Carson

John William Carson was a host, actor, journalist, and producer on American television. He was popular as Starring Johnny Carson’s host of The Tonight Show. Carson has won six Emmy Awards, a Governor’s Award from the Television Academy in 1980. Similarly, a Peabody Award in 1985. In 1987, he into the Hall of Fame tv academy. Carson won an award of the Presidential Medal of Liberty in 1992 and honor with the Kennedy Center in 1993. Carson had served in the Navy during World War II. After the war, Carson began a radio career. Though his show was already popular in the late 1960s, Carson became an American icon during the 1970s and remained so even after he retired in 1992.

Johnny Carson

Caption: Johnny Carson
Source: Military

 

Johnny Carson: Early Life, Education, Family

John William Carson was born to Ruth Elizabeth Carson and Homer Lloyd “Kit” Carson, a power company president. Johnny Carson was born in Corning, Iowa on 23 October 1925 and died in West Hollywood, California on 23 January 2005. At the age of eight, he grew up in the surrounding towns of Avoca, Clarinda, and Red Oak in southwest Iowa before moving to Norfolk, Nebraska. Carson grew up there and started to grow his entertainment talent. Carson discovered a magic book at a friend’s house at the age of 12 and bought a mail-order magician’s kit immediately. After the package was bought, Carson exercised his comedy skills with card tricks on the family members. He was also popular as imitate members of his family by saying, “Select a card, any card.”

Carson attended the University of Nebraska – Lincoln to take advantage of the Navy’s educational programs, where he joined the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity and began practicing magic. He majored in journalism to become a comedy actor. Instead, a few months later, he switched his major to speech and drama, as he wanted to become a radio artist. The college thesis of Carson, titled “How to Write Comedian Jokes,” was a collection of taped skits and jokes from popular radio shows with Carson demonstrating in a voice-over the comedic technique. It helped him to complete his degree in three years. Likewise, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in radio and speech with a minor in physics in 1949.

 

Johnny Carson: Career and achievements

Military Career

On June 8, 1943, Carson entered the United States Navy and received training from Columbia University and Millsaps College as an officer in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. Carson was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific, having commissioned an ensign late in the war. Carson compiled a 10–0 amateur boxing record while in the Navy, with most of his bouts playing on Pennsylvania. He was on his way to the battle zone onboard a naval ship when the war began with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Carson worked as a security officer with responsibility for cracking encrypted messages. Additionally, he said the highlight of his military career was a magic trick for US Navy Secretary.

Young Carson

Caption: Young Carson
Source: Pinterest

Radio and Television

Carson started his career in radio and television broadcasting in Omaha in 1950 at WOW. Then, Carson hosted a morning TV show called The Squirrel’s Nest. One of his activities was to interview pigeons on the roof of the local court to comment on the political corruption they’d seen. Carson supplemented his income by working at local church dinners as the master of ceremonies, attended by some of the same politicians and political leaders he had lampooned on the radio. In addition to Carson’s Cellar, Carson hosted many shows including the game show Win Your Vacation and The Johnny Carson Show, a CBS variety series.

The Tonight Show

The late-night counterpart to the early-morning program Today was NBC’s Tonight. Originating in 1954 with host Steve Allen, Tonight was somewhat experimental at the time, as NBC’s Broadway Open House which starred Jerry Lester and Dagmar was the only previous late-night network program. Tonight was popular, and Jack Paar succeeded him as Tonight’s host when Allen moved on to primetime comedy-variety shows in 1956. In 1962, Paar quit the series.

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In honor of his 25th anniversary on The Tonight Show, Carson won a personal Peabody Award, the board saying that he had “become an American institution, a household word, the most frequently quoted American.” They also claimed that they “had taken the need to appreciate Johnny’s contributions to entertainment, comedy, and America”.

Johnny Carson: Personal life and wife

Carson married four times. Jody Morrill Wolcott from 1949 to 1963; Joanne Copeland from 1963 to 1972; Joanna Holland from 1972 to 1985; and Alexis Maas from 1987 to 2005. Carson was reserved off-camera despite his on-camera attitude. He was known for avoiding most of the major parties and was dubbed “the most private public guy ever to live.” Dick Cavett said, “I felt bad for Johnny because he was so socially awkward. I have hardly ever met someone who had as rough a time as he did.” Moreover, George Axelrod once said of Carson, “Socially, he doesn’t exist.

 

Johnny Carson: Net Worth

The American talk show host and cultural figure had a $300 million net worth. Additionally, his lavish Malibu beachfront residence, valued at $81 million in 2017, contained only one bedroom.

Likewise, talking about his social media availability, he is not accessible on any as he is not alive.

 

Johnny Carson: Body measurements

The TV host had a handsome and proportional frame. Similarly, he is 1.79 m tall and weighs nearly 70 kgs. However, any information regarding his body measurements is not available.

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