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From Ed McMahon's nightly introduction, "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" to the imaginary golf swing at the end of each opening monologue, Johnny Carson turned "The Tonight Show" into an evening habit for millions of fans. For three decades, his was the last face viewers saw before they drifted off to sleep. Carson hosted the variety show from October 1962 to May 1992. By the mid-1970s, it had become the most profitable television show in history, netting NBC more than $50 million a year ($230 million today).
"Carson the Magnificent" was written by Esquire journalist Bill Zehme with Mike Thomas. After Carson retired, Zehme was granted an interview with the popular entertainer in 1992. This meeting led to a magazine article, followed by eight years of research examining every aspect of Carson's public and private life.
After Carson's death, Zehme signed a book contract in 2005 and worked on the entertainer's biography for 10 years, searching for information about Carson and interviewing countless sources. But before Zehme could complete the biography, he contracted colon-rectal cancer and died in 2023. His research assistant, Mike Thomas, sorted through a storage locker full of documents and dozens of interviews to complete the final one-fourth of this insightful book about the late-night host's personal and private life.
John William Carson was raised in Nebraska, the middle child of Homer and Ruth Carson. Homer worked for public power companies. Ruth was "a woman of grand flare and mannered propriety," "a poker game hellcat," and a yoga practitioner. Johnny never had a good relationship with his mother, possibly the reason he drew close to his brother Dick who later became the director of "The Tonight Show."
When Carson was 14, he became enthralled with magic and performed as "Carsoni." He served briefly in the Navy at the end of World War II and then pursued a career as a comedian. In 1954, he worked as a writer for Red Skelton. When Skelton sustained a concussion during a rehearsal, Carson became the stand-in comedian with only nine hours to prepare. His crowd-pleasing performance was his first big break.
The book contains many fascinating snippets about "The Tonight Show." For example, no research has uncovered why Carson pantomimed the golf swing after the opening monologue. Carson always wore sports coats and insisted Ed McMahon wear suits. Bandleader Skitch Henderson's relationship with Carson was somewhat detached. Henderson could never understand why Carson would ignore him when they passed in the hallway.
Even though Carson had a laid-back persona on TV, his private life was tumultuous. The star's four marriages failed because of verbal abuse, infidelity, alcoholism, and being an absentee father to his three sons. One divorce decree cost Carson $22 million ($56 million today).
Short of watching more than 5,000 hours of reruns of "The Tonight Show," reading "Carson the Magnificent" might be the most entertaining approach to revisiting the most influential late-night talk show host ever. The book is well-researched and well-written, portraying Carson as a real person rather than a legend. There are more than 130 biographies about Carson. This iteration is out just in time for Carson's 100th birthday.
Simon and Schuster is the publisher of this 322-page, thoroughly indexed book, which also contains a folio of photographs depicting Carson's childhood and career. Any Carson devotee would welcome this as a gift.
About the author: Bill Zehme was a longtime writer for Esquire and contributed to other publications, including Rolling Stones, Playboy, and Vanity Fair. He coauthored memoirs by Jay Leno and Regis Philbin and wrote biographies about Frank Sinatra and Andy Kaufman.
Mike Thomas is the author of two books: "The Second City Unscripted: Revolution and Revelation at the World-famous Comedy Theater" and "You Might Remember Me: The Life and Times of Phil Hartman." He was the arts and entertainment features writer at the “Chicago Sun-Times” for 14 years and is currently a regular contributor to Chicago magazine.
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