The host of The Tonight Show for 30 years, Johnny Carson, born in 1925 in Corning, Iowa, was an American comedian who built the standard format for television chat shows.
Following high school, Carson joined the U.S. Navy in 1943, and when WWII ended, he was sent back to the United States. In the fall of that same year, Carson began studying at the University of Nebraska and received a bachelor’s degree in radio and speech. After college, he worked as an announcer at a television station in Los Angeles and as a writer for The Red Skelton Show, then moved to New York for a better opportunity.
In 1962, Carson replaced Jack Paar as host of The Tonight Show and soon became a prime-time hit.
The Tonight Show started in 1951 in Los Angeles as a radio program hosted by Steve Allen. In 1954, the program moved to TV, and in 1956, Jack Paar replaced Allen as the host.
Carson then took over and hosted the show from New York City until 1972, when it relocated to California.
Each edition of The Tonight Show began with Ed McMahon saying “Heeere’s Johnny!” and everyone knew Carson as a relaxed person who usually performed an opening monologue of jokes.
The Tonight Show had comedy sketches, musical guests, and celebrity interviews including athletes, politicians, singers, and comedians.
After three decades, Carson decided to retire. He hosted his final show on May 22, 1992, and comedian Jay Leno took over the following day.
In an interview, he was once asked about his favorite moments on The Tonight Show, and he replied, “I’m often asked, what is your favorite moment during the 30 years you hosted? I really don’t have just one. The times I enjoyed the most were the spontaneous, unplanned segments that just happened, like Ed Ames’ infamous “Tomahawk Toss” that produced one of the longest laughs in television history. When these lucky moments happen, you just go with them and enjoy the experience and high of the moment.”
On January 23, 2005, Carson passed away at the age of 79 of complications from emphysema.
His obituary in the New York Times read, “Throughout his career, Mr. Carson was instrumental in changing some of the bedrock ways television operated. His move to Burbank meant a realignment of American pop culture from East Coast to West Coast, from Broadway to Hollywood. And once the ‘Tonight’ show ceased to be televised live from 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. and began being taped in the early evening, it lost some of the spontaneity and sense of danger that live performance brings (and also, eventually, a half-hour of its running time). The practice of taping is now the norm, and virtually all live entertainment programming on national television has become a thing of the past.”
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