The TV shows were apart of my Verdun experience, although I had moved
by the time J.C. appeared on the tube.
S.A.
It's the birthday of the most popular talk show host in American
history, Johnny Carson, born in Corning, Iowa (1925). He was the son
of a utility company lineman, and he grew up an extremely shy boy.
But when he was 12 years old he happened to read a how-to book about
magic tricks and he became obsessed. He later said that it was the
discovery of magic that helped him relate to people. He sent away for
a mail-order magic kit and began following his family members around
the house, asking them to pick a card. He performed publicly for the
first time when he was 14 at the local rotary club. His mother sewed
him a cape embroidered with his name, "The Great Carsoni."
He took over hosting The Tonight Show from Jack Paar in 1962. By the
mid-1970s, more than 15 million people were watching The Tonight Show
every night before they went to bed. He hosted the show for 30 years,
which was two-thirds of the time that national TV has existed. He
retired from the show after having taped 4,531 shows, and almost
never appeared in public again.
THANKS for stopping by, I do my best to acknowledge when someone leaves a comment,you do not have to be a member here & everyone is welcome. Ps: This site is monitored but not actively posting on a regular basis. Mostly these are stories & some photos saved from a defunct site known as Verdun Connections which was on MSN Groups initially then on a social network called Multiply.
3 comments:
He was one of a kind. He'll never be duplicated. Watching his show late at night was almost religion. Not so now.
BobB
Bob did you ever see the the J.C. show with George Gobel as the first guest? He had such a low key humor which I loved. He was seated next to 3 giants of show business: Frank Sanatra, Dean Martin and Johnny Carson. George gets pushed down the couch as Dean Martin and then Frank Sanatra is introduced to huge appause. George says to no one in particular in that deadpan voice, "Ya ever get the feeling you are the only one in the room wearing brown shoes?" All 3 entertainers fell over laughing along with half the country. Good times.
Bill
Hi Bill
Yes, I saw that episode. I was addicted to Carson in the late 60's. That was great television. Wasn't that the episode where Dean Marttin flicks the ashes off his cigarette into George Gobel's drink when George wan't looking? Sounds hokey, but it was inspired TV. Carson knew haow to just let things happen.
And Carson had such class when he dealt with other comedians. He was never afraid to play the straight man. Whenever Rodney Dangerfield was on and finished his schtick, he's sit down and just continue in his chair. Johnny had no ego when it came to this stuff.. He'd feed Rodney the lines...."How you doing Rodney"...."Oh, really what's wrong?"....etc. It takes a very self confident guy to do that.
Ah, I miss him.
BobB
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