Johnny Carson dead at 79

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]Well, I'm flipping through channels waiting for the playoffs to begin and I hit 1-3 (13) which is on of the news channels where I live. They have a special Report that Johnny Carson has died at the age of 79.

For those of you who may not know Johnny Carson was the original guy on the Tonight Show before Jay Leno and he helped both Jay Leno and David Letterman get their start.

There aren't too many more details out right now, but I'll update when I find them.

So, a moment of silence for Johnny.[/color]

[Sol-Blade]

[SIZE=-3]Wow, I never heard about this yet. But indeed, I just checked online and yes, Johnny has passed away.

He was truly a legend, I used to remember when I was really, really young...watching his show late at night. It made me laugh so much, it still does when I think about it. But anyways, I'll miss the old man, I never really got to know you.[/SIZE]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]Okay, here's the whole story from CNN.com. I even copied and pasted it so all ya'll can read it here.

[b]Johnny Carson, late-night TV legend, dies at 79
Sunday, January 23, 2005 Posted: 5:23 PM EST An estimated 50 million people watched his final broadcast in 1992.


(CNN) -- Johnny Carson, host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" for nearly 30 years, died Sunday of emphysema.

"He passed away this morning," Carson's nephew, Jeffrey Sotzing, told CNN.

Carson, a longtime smoker, was 79 and had announced in 2002 that he was suffering from the disease.

Carson was host of the late-night talk show from October 1, 1962, to May 22, 1992, taking over from Jack Paar and handing off to Jay Leno.

"The Carson show changed your life," comedian Joan Rivers said. "If Carson liked you, you were set. He got the bright comics. He picked the ones who were different, who were smart."

Born John William Carson on October 23, 1925, in Corning, Iowa, he is survived by his fourth wife, Alexis, and sons Christopher and Cory from his first marriage, to Joan "Jody" Wolcott. Another son, Richard, died in a car accident in 1991.

Despite decades on television, Carson was never open publicly with the details of his personal life.

"Nobody knew him," said Rivers, who often substituted for Carson as a "Tonight Show" guest host. "He was very private."

Carson began his show business career as a teenage magician and ventriloquist before serving in the Navy during World War II.

After the Navy, he attended the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1949 with a bachelor of arts degree.

While still in college, Carson took a job as an announcer with KFAB in Lincoln, Nebraska, and two years later moved to Los Angeles, California, where he took an announcer's job at KNXT-TV.

A year later, the boyish-looking budding comedian had his own show -- "Carson's Cellar" -- 15 minutes of poking fun at the news, on which Carson persuaded stars of the 1940s and 1950s to appear for free.

In the midst of the show's run, famed clown Red Skelton hired Carson as a writer -- and even put him on as host on live television when Skelton was injured during a rehearsal.

"The Johnny Carson Show" spent 39 weeks on CBS in 1955 and 1956, then he moved to New York, where he was host of ABC's quiz show "Who Do You Trust?" and met Ed McMahon, who became Carson's sidekick until Carson retired from "The Tonight Show" 35 years later.

Under Carson, "The Tonight Show" earned 42 Emmy nominations and won seven trophies. Carson picked up a Golden Globe nomination in 1975, three years after moving the show from New York to Hollywood.

Carson was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1987. An estimated 50 million people watched his final broadcast in 1992.

"And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I found something that I always wanted to do and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," Carson said to close his final show. "I bid you a very heartfelt goodnight."

Carson's departure led to a bitter battle to replace him, between David Letterman, whose "Late Night with David Letterman" followed "The Tonight Show" on NBC's schedule, and frequent guest host Jay Leno. Leno won and remains the host; Letterman jumped to CBS, where he is host of "The Late Show."

President George H.W. Bush awarded Carson the Medal of Freedom on December 11, 1992, and the following year he was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors Lifetime Achievement Award.

"He was kindness personified," said Dr. Joyce Brothers, who said she appeared on Carson's show about 90 times.[/b]

He was truely a very talented man. And will be missed by many, myself included. [/color]

[Doc]

[font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=dimgray]I too was shocked by this.... >_< I found a large article on CBS.com, and it includes a pretty long video clip of parts of his life, and his shows. The article is about the same as what Mrs. Chibi posted... but there are a few differences.[/color][/size][/font]

[url="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/23/entertainment/main668621.shtml"][font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=dimgray]http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/23/entertainment/main668621.shtml[/color][/size][/font][/url]

[font=Century Gothic][size=1][color=dimgray]He will be missed greatly... *Salutes... even though I'm not in an armed force* We shall always miss you sir.... *trails off...*[/color][/size][/font]

[M.Ali]

[COLOR=GREEN][FONT=TREBUCHET MS]It's a real shame that an American icon such as himself has passed. He was one of the few people who inspired me to want to become an actor. He will be greatly missed.....[/color][/font]

[elfpirate]

RIP...

It's truly a loss after so many years of brilliance...

When Johnny announced his retirement years ago, the El Paso news team was filming the public reaction to the announcement, and they asked my dad how he felt and his answer was something along the lines of "the man is irreplaceable... and 30 years of his entertainment just isn't enough...he will be greatly missed"

Emphysema is a horrid way to go- we can all be reassured that his suffering has ended...

[Panda]

He will be truly missed. I am going to share some of my memories of Johnny.

I remember watching the Tonight Show back in the day and loving it when he did his "Karnac the Magnificent" segment. He would dress up as this cheesy fortune teller and hold envelopes up to his forehead that "had been sealed in a mayonaise jar" in some guy's yard. He would say the punchline then open the envelope for the joke. It was always funny!

I also remember the last show he hosted. Bette Midler was the musical guest and it was just a really touching scene. They shot part of the segment over her shoulder towards him at his desk. Both were misty-eyed. At the end she ran off stage since she didn't want to cry infront of everyone. It was really hard not to be emotional watching that last show.

Johnny will be missed and never forgotten.

[Soliel]

[COLOR=GREEN]I was kind of surprised when I found out; I sort of did a double take as I was skimming through the TV channels a few nights ago. I didn't believe it.

Well, in case some of you haven't seen it yet, Adult Swim (on Cartoon Network) has been airing their own tribute to Johny, which I thought was very nice. I think it'll be running all this week.[/COLOR]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]Oh, did anyone catch the Tonight Show on Monday night? Jay Leno did a tribute to Carson and he had Ed McMan and Drew Carey among others on his show along with clips from the tonight show with Johny Carson.

I flipped to CBS where David Letterman has the Late Show and he was just doing regular programming. It kind of gave me a bit of a shock. Does anyone know if he did a tribute show Tuesday?[/color]