King of the Night: The Life of Johnny Carson

by Laurence Leamer

Johnny Carson was a phenomenon, the most successful performer in the history of television. For the better part of three decades, the enormously popular host of "The Tonight Show" was welcomed into millions of American homes -- as a friend, an entertainer, and an inexhaustibly sage and witty commentator on our lives and times. But there was a dark side to this charming and inscrutable enigma that only those closest to Carson ever saw -- a sadness, mistrust, and cruelty behind the glitter and glamour, intensified by a lifelong pursuit of power, wealth, and fame. Based on more than two years of intensive research including more than 700 personal interviews with ex-wives, ex-friends, colleagues, and celebrities -- with all-new, never-before-published material on Johnny's post-"Tonight Show" life, from his retirement through his final days -- Laurence Learner's King of the Night is an intimate and powerful portrait of an unforgettable personality, at once a tribute and a revelation.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, History, Humor

476 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Laurence Leamer is an award-winning journalist and historian who has written eighteen books including five New York Times bestsellers. He has worked in a factory in France, a coal mine in West Virginia and as a Peace Corps volunteer in a remote village in Nepal two days from a road. He has written two novels and an off Broadway play but is primarily known for his nonfiction. His most recent book, Capote's Women, is being made into an eight-part series starring Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Calista Flockhart, and Demi Moore.

Reviews

[LaurieH118 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sought this book out after seeing the PBS "American Masters" special on Johnny. He was a big part of my growing up. Being old enough to stay up and watch the monologue was a rite of passage. He was such a fixture on the scene, brought so much joy to so many, and had such pervasive influence on our popular culture that it made me sad to learn what an unhappy man he was. So remote. Unable to really connect with his sons and the women in his life but unable to let them alone, either. As I read, I didn't understand why he married Jody, Joanne, Joanna or Alex. (I don't know whether this is the fault of Leamer's narrative or the opaque nature of the subject.) The first three divorces seemed inevitable. My favorite characters were Ed McMahon -- kinder and more independent than I expected -- and one of his long-time mistresses, Em-Jay. He seemed happiest and most natural with her. So naturally, she's the one he didn't marry! The book ends before his retirement, so I'm left to hope that the last years finally brought him the peace that eluded him throughout so much of his life.

[Patrick Briggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truth be told, I was drawn to this book because of the salacious rumors surrounding Johnny's life. No comment as to their veracity, but he clearly had demons that he never shook. Writing was good, although at times story veered too far from his life and into the complexities of his business dealings. The book is exactly what I expected it to be.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit disappointed....I loved Johnny Carson's show and would rather not know all of his problems.

[Muffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was decent. A well-researched account of Carson’s life to the point of publication, at which point he still hosted the Tonight Show. While thorough, it would have been cool to see an accounting of his life more or less right after the book ends, too. His decision to leave the show and the twenty years off the air are less-covered territory. Still, this doesn’t hold back on what an awful, abusive person Carson is, and that’s very rare among works about him.

[Mark Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my summer-long quest to learn everything about Johnny Carson, I read Laurence Leamer’s 1989 biography of Carson, King of the Night: The Life of Johnny Carson. Even though it was published more than 25 years ago, Leamer’s book is the definitive biography of Carson. Leamer did his homework on Carson, as he interviewed hundreds of people who knew him.

King of the Night gives the reader a fascinating portrait of Johnny Carson, a man who was able to connect with millions of Americans every night as the host of The Tonight Show, but who found it difficult to connect with people in his private life. Carson was married four times, had difficult relationships with his three sons, and had very few longtime friends.

Leamer dissects Carson’s life in detail, and the reader is fully immersed, for better or worse, in the various investments and lawsuits that Carson was embroiled in. King of the Night makes an interesting counterpoint to Henry Bushkin’s 2013 memoir, Johnny Carson. Bushkin, who was Carson’s lawyer for many years, also handled many of Carson’s investments, and according the Bushkin, those investments were quite successful. However, Leamer paints a different picture, and after reading King of the Night it sounds like Bushkin’s investments were not very successful at all. Now I wonder how much of Bushkin’s book was an attempt to change his image from King of the Night.

Honestly, reading King of the Night made me a little sad for Johnny Carson. I hope he was a happy man, and yet I have the feeling, from all that I’ve read about him, that it was a challenge for him to find happiness. He brought such joy to so many people for so many years, and yet, like so many entertainers, it seems as though he had a difficult time finding a similar joy in his private life. Also, like so many entertainers, Carson was happy and fulfilled when he was doing The Tonight Show, but the other hours of the day were more difficult for him to fill.

Carson was brutally honest in a 1986 interview in which he said, “If I had given as much to marriage as I gave to The Tonight Show, I’d probably have a hell of a marriage. But the fact is I haven’t given that, and there you have the simple reason for the failure of my marriages. I put the energy into the show.” (p.352)

One of the most insightful quotes from King of the Night comes from Jeanne Prior, who was Carson’s secretary in the 1960’s. She told Leamer, “Except for the beginning years of his life, I don’t think Johnny has ever been rejected. Just think of the fact of going around for thirty years and never being rejected by almost anybody, not waiters, not anybody. What do you think would be easier to live with, his life or the life most of us live? There is a cost, and that’s why he insulates himself.” (p.160) I think that gives the reader some idea of what it would have been like to be Johnny Carson, and why success can be so difficult to deal with.

Whatever he was like off the screen, on screen Johnny Carson projected warmth and a likability that came through the television set. Shelly Schultz, a talent coordinator for The Tonight Show in the 1960’s, said of Carson, “I think that he is one of those rare phenomenal people who understood the medium.” (p.143) That’s very true, and Carson’s understanding of television served him well during his long career.

Johnny Carson presided over a media landscape that is totally different from 2016. King of the Night opens in 1987, as Carson is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his hosting The Tonight Show. Yet even then, as Leamer writes, “The networks had begun to decline, viewers lost to cable networks and video recorders. It was unlikely that any other performer would ever have the same hold over the American night.” (p.2) Of course that’s even more true now, as no one on late night television has the same reach that Johnny Carson did. Carson’s career is unique in late night television history, and it will remain so. Johnny Carson is the man who set the standard; he is the late night host that all others are measured against.

Johnny Carson was one of television’s biggest stars, and King of the Night allows us a look at his private and professional life. If you’re interested in Johnny Carson, King of the Night is the book that paints the most complete picture of Carson’s life.

[Bobette Giorgi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very little filler in this page-turner, lots of good juicy bits, some of which fans will not like, but it's the truth about Carson. The book is generally chronological, with some anecdotes (but not too many) from childhood through college and Navy days, followed by how Carson got to The Tonight Show. The book delves appropriately into Carson's private life and his four wives, showing a darker side to this comic talent. He was a mean drunk and a wife-beater who had many extramarital affairs (but was devastated when he found one wife was cheating on him, despite all of his hypocritical indiscretions), and he was not a good father. I never knew that he had a vasectomy, but it makes sense and we all should have assumed it; he acknowledged his own limitations as a father and most likely did not want permanent attachments to his subsequent wives. Like many children of entertainers, his 3 sons had a difficult time reconciling the differences between Carson as a father vs Carson the Entertainer; onscreen vs offscreen. (We see this with Rosie O'Donnell, whose young adoptees could not understand why she couldn't be Onscreen-Rosie with them. Offscreen, Rosie is generally morose and humorless.) With everyone around him, Carson could be strictly-demanding and alternately kind. Best thing about this book is that it came before other popular Carson bios, so there is little to no repetitive info presented. According to the author, Johnny had planned to write his own autobio, but as we know, that never happened. I doubt Carson ever mentioned this bio on-air, but I wonder if he ever read it. He contacted several people to suggest that they not talk to the author. In spite of that, a decent, researched portrait of Carson was achieved.

[Max Tachis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of what made Johnny Carson so universally loved on television was that he had an uncanny ability to be everything to everyone. This is no more present than in the multitudes of biographies written about him, every one fiercely contradicting the other. Henry Bushkin's was a name-dropping ego piece in which he alleged he was Johnny's only true friend. Ed McMahon's (which I've almost finished) was essentially a joke book in which he alleged he was Johnny's only true friend. Laurence Leamer brings us this biography, written at the height of Carson's popularity (or, rather, apotheosis), in which he alleged Johnny had no close friends and had a plethora of psychological hangups that prevented him from having any meaning relationships at all. It's absolute chaos but lends itself to the primary idea behind Leamer's biography, that 'Johnny Carson' was a fiction while Johnny Carson was a mystery.

More often than not it's a well-researched and ugly piece of work, utilizing interviews from those in Carson's past to piece together a revealing portrait of a man that everyone felt they knew but never did. Too often it tends to mosey, following a tangent that becomes so unrelated it feels very clunky upon returning to the main subject, but Leamer uncovers what may be the closest thing to the truth fans of Johnny Carson may ever get: The grand con of "Who is Johnny Carson?" was unanswerable even to the man himself.

[Bob Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like Pagliacci, A Sad And Lonely Clown

We all think we REALLY know the people who entertain us, especially those we see repeatedly on TV. Many long for the glamour, fame and money that visibility and popularity bring.
But peeking behind the curtain is sobering.
This book shows us that the man who dominated my youth and early adulthood - the one who brought us all into my college dorm’s TV lounge every night at 11:30 to see the latest round of celebrities and hijinks, was at heart a lonely, often lost, somewhat anti-social loner from the Nebraska plains, who didn’t much like his life. Only his show mattered.
Johnny Carson was an icon for 30 years and monetarily wealthy beyond description, but what we saw on TV was a mask, a sad one at that.
It was both fun and sad to remember as I read. But this book is a cautionary tale. Be careful what you wish for.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

If you think you know Johnny Carson from watching his show for thirty years, you're in for a surprise. He was a much more complicated man than he gave the appearance of being. This book is not a hatchet job, though it covers the bad with the good. It's well written and immensely entertainong.

[Dean Cummings · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Welcome to the grand illusion,
Come on in and see what’s happening…
Pay the price, get your tickets for the show.

The stage is set, the band starts playing,
Suddenly your heart is pounding,
Wishing secretly you were a star.

But don’t be fooled by the radio,
The TV or the magazines…

They show you photographs of how your life should be.
But they’re just someone else’s fantasy.

So, if you think your life is complete confusion,
Because you never win the game.

Just remember that it’s a grand illusion…
Deep inside we’re all the same…”

Styx

For me, reading Laurence Leamer’s book about the life of Johnny Carson was at many points disagreeable. Perhaps this was the result of some innocence…some naivete that had survived the journey from my youth till now.

After all, Johnny Carson, and the Tonight Show was the magical place where everything important seemed to happen. At least everything in the entertainment world. This was the man who interviewed Robin Williams and Steve Martin. This was the man Diane Lane talked about her eighteenth birthday, he was the man who stared down at the “false teeth” that the adorable little girl Drew Barrymore left on the top of his desk.

But some of his best moments came when he sat with everyday Americans, such as the “Potato Chip Lady.”

He was the man who played some of TV most memorable characters while surrounding himself with a loyal and steady cast of familiar faces such as sidekick Ed McMahon and the flashy dressed bandleader Doc Severinsen.

As a kid entering my teens, the Tonight Show was only accessible when there was no school the next day, (the show, as its title implies, ran quite late.) Watching the show with the lights out in the living room, the volume on low so as not to be discovered by my parents, was my way of feeling that I was “growing up” sitting there in the flickering blue light of adolescence.

Later, when I was older, sharing a very messy apartment with my brother and one of our friends, the Tonight Show was a welcome late-night form of entertainment after a long day working as a salesman in the retail clothing business. It was late-night work, tailor made for the airtime of Johnny Carson’s great show.

Throughout all of this time, Carson himself stood tall and proud as the “King” of all things TV, and even beyond, into the world of the great Hollywood films as he was and is still my favorite of all the greats who hosted the Academy Awards ceremony.

So, it was in light of all the wonderful moments I had watching Carson’s show, and the hundreds of times I laughed at his jokes or the atmosphere of mirth he created with his guests, that I, perhaps unconsciously, placed this iconic entertainer on a bit of a pedestal.

And to say that by reading Leamer’s book, Mr. Carson was knocked off this pedestal was an understatement…he was swatted off it.

It would be unfair for me to judge Mr. Leamer too harshly for revealing the less appealing side of Johnny Carson as he was, after all, attempting to craft an honest telling of the life of a real person. But after reading the book, I found myself disappointed as I read of Carson’s inability to foster the kind of warmth, I would’ve hoped he’d have enjoyed with his sons Chris, Cory and Richard, or at least found longer term happiness with any one of the four women, Jody, Joanne, Joanna or Alexis, who he’d married.

So, putting all things into perspective, while I must say that Laurence Leamer did an admirable job of writing this Carson story, I cannot “unread” it, and in a sense, the reading of it has caused me, perhaps against my will to close out my innocent look at one of the most iconic personalities to ever appear on the small screen.

[John P · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the life of an American icon. Importantly, the author reveals in the introduction that Mr. Carson refused to participate in the research for this book citing that he, Johnny, would be writing his own biography at some point.

In any case, there is a large amount of information included in the work that the author gleaned from friends (more about this later), relatives, coworkers, acquaintances, news clippings, interviews, and public records.

Of great interest to this reviewer was the fact that the gregarious and congenial Carson that we all saw on TV for all those years was a persona affected when in front of an audience and quite different from the personality of the man when 'off duty'.

He had few friends in the usual sense and very few close friends (the author suggests exactly one), was shy and retiring, and abhorred and avoided small talk and chit chat at all costs. He had stormy relationships with his wives and sad relationships with his children.

The book is well-written for the most part with a few minor proofreader misses.

The detail about Johnny's failed banking investment is unnecessary and goes on far too long IMHO.

The book ends before Carson's retirement; one would have to look elsewhere for the story of his final years.

[Mike Barat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book roughly ten years ago. I came across this book at a friend of mines store, which was not a bookstore. People of my generation watched Johnny Carson as if it was a religion. I will never forget how this book open my eyes to how Johnny Carson could be Mr. Humorous on TV and be Mr. Jerk off the air. As an example he did not allow Joan Rivers to be on his show because god for bid she the nerve to try her hand at her own talk show. His son had a child with a black women that he refused to acknowledge. They say never learn about or meet your heroes if you don't want to be disappointed. Not that Johnny Carson was ever a hero of mine. Over all I'm glad I read this book, simply because it's good for all of us to have our system shocked and shaken up once in a while to give us a new perspective once in a while and break up the boredom that sometimes comes with everyday life.

[Audhow660 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much research, good stories, repetitive themes at times

The author did a good job relaying stories of Johnny Carson's life and one can understand Johnny's drive and personality. It's a bittersweet story of such an iconic figure. There were several stories that revealed how cold and heartless Johnny was in his personal life and was also somewhat repetitive to point out that Johnny had no close friends. In the end, the author indicated that Johnny was going to write his own biography. I'll have to check to see if that ever happened. These repetitive messages in the book is the reason for 4 stars.

[Jason Hojnacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched A LOT of Tv when I was a child so I remember Johnny Carson on tv pretty vividly. I even did a book report on him in 6th grade! I read this book to find out more about him and was not disappointed. I enjoyed learning about both Johnnys; the one in TV and the one in real life who was married 4 times, drank too much, and had trouble connecting with his children. My only complaint is that the book sometimes gets bogged down in details about legal issues and lawsuits; I didn’t think all the detail was necessary.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up watching Johnny Carson and enjoyed him over the years especially so nice he grew up in Iowa and Nebraska. Although I had heard mention of some of his trials and tribulations, the book enlightened me on those topics. He was a driven success but not without life lessons to be learned. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others like me who were entertained by Johnny's unique approach to nighttime television.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up on “The Tonight Show”, my folks never missed it and like a lot of their generation, thought Johnny Carson was the end all, be all….wow, never knew he was such an as@ho#%, and a complete prick…..I don’t buy the excuses about his upbringing, he had so much and could have done a lot good with it….you reap what you sow…..

[G. Goodson · Rating 4 out of 5]

He was a narcissistic prick!

Book proved that the rumors were really true. Good read and insight on a very complicated moody person in real life.

[Cheryl Barrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

changed my opinion of Johnny.

[Andrew Dascola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor little rich man….

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of info on childhood, divorces, and finances. Would have liked more info on backstage Tonight Show.

[Samantha Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because I loved the author’s book on Truman Capote and the Swans. This biography was not as well written and engaging.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Had recently watched the PBS American Masters documentary about Johnny Carson and then read the new book out by Henry Bushkin, "Johnny Carson". I started looking for a book that gave me more of Johnny Carson back story and that is how I came upon this book written in 1989. According to one review, this author did not ever meet or talk to Johnny Carson. Have to say that I loved watching Carson's Tonight show and still love watching clips today, but both this book and Bushkin's book confirm that Mr. Carson was not the person that we saw nighty. He was a very private person (can understand that) and apparently a very cold and often rude person.....yet on his own, with no publicity, he often did some very nice things for people. Interesting book, taken "with a grain of salt", I have tried to find more information on his last years of the Tonight Show, but haven't really found anything that has piqued my interest. I think he may always be "the King of Night Time talk shows", no one has captivated the audience as he did.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Growing up, I was a fan of Johnny Carson. Watching The Tonight Show with my grandparents, parents, and aunt, I was looking forward to reading about the King of Late Night television.

I don't know if I can put my finger on why I didn't like it. The writing is dry, much drier than I would have expected - Carson is a comedy legend. It was almost like reading an encyclopedic view of his life, lacking warmth, humor, and all the things that I associate with Johnny Carson. That said, Carson the man is much different than Carson the person. Perhaps it was that conflict that lowered my enjoyment of the book. It's never fun when you find out that someone you admire is (was) not a very nice person. Even legends have their demons.

I really liked the Carson that came into so many homes during his reign of The Tonight Show, Carson the entertainer. Carson the human had issues. I prefer to keep my memories of laughter he brought to the masses, not the troubled, and sometimes cruel man brought to the pages of this book.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

One thing this book as going for it is anecdotes, as its practically full of them. It's downside is that these are all unprovable tales told from untrustworthy sources, (ex-wives, ex-lovers, ex-friends, ex-business partners and colleagues), all of which have been scorned by Carson and probably couldn't help to feel contempt, which could lead to bias. Having had a book entitled "King of the Night", I went in reading this book with the goal of learning how this King came to be, and more about "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", though I did expect some backstory of his life in the earlier chapters. Upon reading the early chapters, I soon learned that this would be more on the biographical side, however, I edged on reading. Upon concluding, I'd noticed that the book was neither, and truly nothing more than an odd combination accounts of ill-fated victims throughout the life of Johnny Carson.

[Andre_foofoo · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you're looking for information about the Tonight Show or a history of early TV, this ain't it. It's about a man who's not very interesting and his marriage problems, with lots of misquoted transcripts from forgettable Tonight shows. There's a couple of good bits - a quote on Saturday Night Live: "Basically they do a lot of drug jokes...a lot of stuff I would consider being exceptionally cruel under the guise of being hip...they can't ad-lib a fart at a bean-eating contest". At a party, Carson said something dirty to Jaquline Sussann. "You are unbearably rude", she said. "Please leave". Then there's the time he started crying during a monologue when Buddy Rich died.

By the by, this book has "hot tid-bits" says Los Angeles magazine.

"As Johnny zipped up, the gentleman on the left turned his head toward him, then looked down...and shook his head admiringly. 'You sure pee faster than you used to'. Johnny didn't acknowledge the compliment". The end.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Johnny Carson was a man of two faces - one made up of the congenial man who forged an intimate relationship with his late night audience and one who was incapable of a healthy relationship with men or women who was paranoid and untrusting, cold and aloof. While I didn't like the man the author portrayed, he posed some interesting questions about the type of fame that Johnny Carson attained in his career. He was an institution who expected to be treated as such. Could anyone live that way and retain a sene of normalcy or humility?

[Straker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decidedly unfriendly biography of the longtime late-night host. It contains numerous salaciously entertaining if unprovable anecdotes, most sourced from various ex-wives and lovers. Much of the second half is devoted to Carson's financial and legal misadventures, which you may or may not find interesting. His final Tonight Show years and his post-television life are not covered as the book was written in the late 1980s.

[Ireneirenegoodman.com · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is as good as a biography as you're ever going to get, considering that the author never met his subject. Be careful what you wish for. If you want to get a portrait of the "real" Carson, you may not like what you find. Remember him as he was on TV. That's how he wanted to be remembered, and it's only fair if you didn't know him.

[Sherri Beazley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never wanted to know this side of Johnny Carson, since I was a huge fan of his when he was alive. I was disappointed to learn that his played around on all of his wives, he was cold to people, and was very much a Scorpio. Meaning, once you cross a Scorpio you will never ever get forgiven. The book was insightful about the man, but disappointing to learn what he was truly like.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's Johnny! An insightful biography of an American Institution. The book covers Carson's life growing up in the Midwest through his early TV career to becoming the host of the Tonight Show in 1962. The sordid and the superficial aspects of Carson's life are noted, and the point is well-made that nobody ever really got to know this guy.