HEEEEEEERE’S JOHNNY!

by Susie Hodgson


He kept most of America up at night. He was charming and witty, but privately intensely shy. And he helped put Burbank’s name on the map. We’ve even named a park for him. He was, of course, Johnny Carson – and he loved to mock Beautiful Downtown Burbank.

Born in 1925, Carson grew up in Nebraska where at age 12, he discovered magic and began performing. But in college he realized what he really enjoyed was being the center of attention, being on stage. So he changed his major to Speech & Drama and finished, but I bet you can’t guess his minor. Physics. Who’d a thunk?! Of course, decades later, he’d go on to make fast friends with astronomer Carl Sagan, so it actually makes sense.

After college, Carson landed on morning TV in Nebraska – not exactly a mecca for the entertainment world. On his local TV show, Carson often spoofed local politicians. One of the mocked politicians’ wives had connections in Hollywood and next thing you know, she referred Johnny to her pals. Clearly she agreed with Johnny’s observations! So California, here Johnny comes!

Soon Johnny was on TV in California with a show in L.A. on KNXT (CBS) in 1951. Then his big break occurred – at the expense of a fellow comedian. The already-famous funnyman Red Skelton was hurt at rehearsal one day. Now, remember these were the days of live TV, so Johnny was plucked to replace Red that night. Johnny was a smash!

Later Johnny became a panelist on the popular 50s game show, To Tell the Truth. But then, in 1957, a call came from New York. And that’s how Carson became the host of a popular morning TV show, Who Do You Trust? It was on this show that Johnny met his future side kick, Ed McMahon. It was also on Who Do You Trust? that Johnny was allowed to ad-lib and interview people. This showed off Johnny’s true talents. He was smart, quick, self-deprecating and funny. Johnny became a hot commodity.

Which brings us to The Tonight Show, NBC’s counterpart to their well-liked morning program, The Today Show. The Tonight Show was started in 1954 with Steve Allen as host. In 1956, Allen left and in came Jack Paar. Paar was a great wit with a doozy of a stubborn streak and infamously walked off his own show when NBC censored a joke that used the term “water closet.” Although Paar later returned, his tenure would not last. NBC offered the job to that highly-rated morning guy from New York, Johnny Carson.

Carson actually declined the job at first, thinking it’d be too much (as in work!). Finally NBC got Johnny to agree and Carson took over on October 1, 1962 – live from New York! That first show featured up-and-coming talents singer/heartthrob Tony Bennett and a very funny young writer named Mel Brooks.

By the early 1970s, NBC felt that the talent pool was drying up in New York. They needed access to more celebrities, so they decided to move the show to the west coast. Carson wasn’t against the move. He was going through a messy divorce with his first wife Jody, with whom he had three sons, and he was actively pursuing his soon-to-be next wife, Joanne, a Californian. (Note: One of those three sons would later die tragically in a shocking car accident.) So the show moved to Burbank. Some say the show lost its edge when it moved; it lost its sophistication. This is something former Tonight Show writer Dick Cavett believes adamantly.

Still Carson’s popularity only increased. He was so beloved he was also offered movie roles, which he summarily declined. Two of these plum parts included the lead in The Thomas Crown Affair and the Gene Wilder role in Blazing Saddles. (Hard to picture Johnny Carson in those films, isn’t it?)

There are more interesting fun (and some not-so-fun) facts about Johnny Carson: The Tonight Show theme song was written by Paul Anka. The first bandleader wasn’t Doc Severinson, but Skitch Henderson, who was later arrested on tax evasion and fraud charges. Then there was the time that Carson joked that there was a shortage of toilet paper in the country – and people believed him! They went out in droves and stocked up on toilet paper resulting in a real shortage! Barbra Streisand’s very first TV appearance was on Johnny Carson, as was Judy Garland’s last. Carson carried on an infamous feud with Wayne Newton. Carson mocked Newton’s masculinity and Newton called Carson “mean,” threatening to beat him up. Carson also feuded with author Jacqueline Susann (“Valley of the Dolls”) and she threw a drink in his face. (The drink was a Black Russian.) It was Johnny Carson that made the “toy” Twister popular when he played the very physical game with Eva Gabor on TV one night. (Now that’s something you couldn’t do today!) Carson was an investor in the ill-fated DeLorean car company and was arrested for driving under the influence in his own DeLorean. Carson delivered a heart wrenching apology for it on his show. Carson was a tremendous fan of David Letterman and it was Letterman that Carson wanted to host the Tonight Show when Carson retired. The actual placement of Jay Leno caused one of Hollywood’s best-known feuds (between Leno and Letterman). Carson later sent jokes to David Letterman that Letterman used regularly on TV.

Johnny retired at age 66 in 1992. His last guests were Robin Williams and Bette Midler, and after he left, Carson was almost never seen or heard from – aside from a voice-over on an episode of The Simpsons! A very heavy smoker, Carson suffered a heart attack in 1999 and ultimately died of emphysema in 2005.

A complicated man, our city is indebted to Johnny Carson. And it’s for a whole lot more than a park.

Want to learn more about Burbank? Come visit us!

The Burbank Historical Society/Gordon R. Howard Museum
OPEN SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS, 1 TO 4 pm - FREE Admission!
Located in George Izay Park, right next to the Creative Arts Center
Phone: (818) 841-6333
Web site: www.burbankhistoricalsoc.org
Email: ghowardmuseum@sbcglobal.net


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