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JOHNNY CARSON PA
“A close look at how show business power corrupts . . . The dishiest read of the year.” – Janet Maslin, “Ten Favorite Books of the Year,” New York Times
“Here’s Johnny!” Probably everyone in America knows the phrase, whether they watched every episode of The Tonight Show or none because they had to go to bed early on school nights. From 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show dominated the American consciousness.
Henry Bushkin was Carson’s best friend and lawyer during that period, and his book is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why. Bushkin explains why Carson, a voracious (and very talented) womanizer, felt he always had to be married; why he couldn’t visit his son in the hospital and wouldn’t attend his mother’s funeral; and much more. Johnny Carson is by turns shocking, poignant, and uproarious — written with a novelist’s eye for detail, a screenwriter’s ear for dialogue, and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish.
“A fascinating book about a complex man.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Like The Tonight Show , the book has many a merry moment . . . [Johnny Carson] was also one of a kind, and is missed. This book brings a bit of him back.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A People magazine Top Ten Book of the Year
“Here’s Johnny!” Probably everyone in America knows the phrase, whether they watched every episode of The Tonight Show or none because they had to go to bed early on school nights. From 1962 to 1992, Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show dominated the American consciousness.
Henry Bushkin was Carson’s best friend and lawyer during that period, and his book is a tautly rendered and remarkably nuanced portrait of Carson, revealing not only how he truly was, but why. Bushkin explains why Carson, a voracious (and very talented) womanizer, felt he always had to be married; why he couldn’t visit his son in the hospital and wouldn’t attend his mother’s funeral; and much more. Johnny Carson is by turns shocking, poignant, and uproarious — written with a novelist’s eye for detail, a screenwriter’s ear for dialogue, and a knack for comic timing that Carson himself would relish.
“A fascinating book about a complex man.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“Like The Tonight Show , the book has many a merry moment . . . [Johnny Carson] was also one of a kind, and is missed. This book brings a bit of him back.” — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
A People magazine Top Ten Book of the Year
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 994 reviews
October 13, 2021
Johnny Carson is best known as a comedian and host of the 'The Tonight Show', which he emceed from 1962 to 1992.
When I plucked this (audio) book off the library shelf I thought it was a biography of the entertainer. It's not. Rather it's a memoir written by Carson's lawyer Henry Bushkin, who worked for Johnny from 1970 to 1988.
Bushkin's employment began when he was in his late twenties and not very experienced with entertainment law. The young attorney caught on quickly though and discovered that some of Johnny's advisors and employers were enriching themselves at Carson's expense. (According to himself) Bushkin quickly put all this to rights and soon became Johnny's loyal companion - functioning as 'lawyer, advisor, assistant, companion, fixer, tennis buddy, drinking partner' and so on.
Henry Bushkin (left) with Johnny Carson
On television Johnny came across as genial, intelligent, and funny...and his nightly monologue was 'must-see TV' for millions of people. Off the air though, Carson was uncomfortable with people, prickly, and quick to take offense.
Johnny Carson doing his monologue
In addition, his personal life was turbulent. Johnny married four times but was a distant father and serial cheater who hardly hid his indiscretions.
Johnny Carson and his first wife Jody Morrill Wolcott
Johnny Carson, his first wife Jody, and their three sons
Johnny Carson and his second wife Joanne Copeland
Johnny Carson and his third wife Joanna Holland
Johnny Carson and his fourth wife Alexis Maas
Johnny's problems are often attributed (in large part) to his cold withholding mother, and Bushkin's anecdotes seem to support this view.
Johnny Carson with his mother and father
The book doesn't especially enlighten the reader about Carson but it does provide a little information about his wives, sons, luxurious homes, expensive cars, affairs, agents, managers, visits to Las Vegas, casino performances, production company (which mostly managed to sponsor flop sitcoms and mediocre movies), etc.
Johnny Carson frequently appeared in Las Vegas
Bushkin also details a few visits from Johnny's parents, which never went well. In fact, Carson did not attend the funeral of either of his parents when they died. On the lighter side, Bushkin sprinkles some of Carson's jokes through the book, though they really don't seem to fit the narrative.
The book is largely about Bushkin himself, and being Johnny's attorney/friend/companion provided a lot of perks for the lawyer. These included: a hefty salary; a trip to the Wimbledon tennis tournament every year; cruises on yachts; dining in the best restaurants; access to classy tennis clubs; tickets to the Oscars; hob-nobbing with celebrities; visits to Las Vegas; lucrative business opportunities; etc.
Johnny Carson and Henry Bushkin on a cruise
Johnny Carson, Henry Bushkin, and actress Joyce DeWitt (Bushkin's girlfriend)
Bushkin also describes how - with constant access to beautiful women - he became a cheating husband and neglectful father himself. Looking back Bushkin chides himself about this.....but he certainly seemed to enjoy it at the time. In this vein Bushkin also details how he did his best to manipulate business opportunities so that his and Johnny's future ex-wives would be cut out of the big profits. All this didn't endear the author to me but I guess his honesty should be acknowledged.
Though Bushkin sincerely praises Johnny's immense talent this book is not flattering to the entertainer. Carson is portrayed as pampered, self-centered, entitled, unreasonable, quick-tempered, nasty, vengeful, and so on. Moreover, anyone who got on Carson's bad side was cut off completely; Johnny never spoke to him/her again. In the end, this is what happened to Bushkin.
In 1988 Bushkin attempted to negotiate a business deal that Carson interpreted as trying to cheat him. Johnny immediately fired Bushkin and (except for a misdial) never exchanged another word with him. Even worse, Carson initiated a series of lawsuits that caused tremendous trouble and angst for Bushkin and his law partners. Later, when Carson died of emphysema in 2005, Bushkin asserts that he 'felt nothing.' A sad ending to a once warm relationship.
Henry Bushkin fell out with Johnny Carson after 18 years of friendship and employment
The book is interesting in a kind of voyeuristic, gossipy way. I was aware that Carson had a reputation as a skirt chaser but I was not aware of the rest of his bad behavior, and it detracts from my opinion of him. Still, Johnny Carson was a talented performer who made a lot of people laugh and he deserves kudos for that.
If you're interested in knowing how Henry Bushkin became successful and rich this is the book for you. If you want to know more about Johnny Carson's real life, this book won't be especially helpful.
One more thought: I listened to the audiobook read by Dick Hill. Hill has won awards for his audiobook narration but his VERY DRAMATIC style seems more appropriate for a wartime epic than this celebrity exposé. I found it off-putting.
You can follow my reviews at: http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/
November 4, 2013
Just know what you're getting here. While the book is titled "Johnny Carson," it more accurately would be called "Bombastic Bushkin: The True-Life Story of What It Was Like To Be Johnny Carson's Lawyer."
In other words, there is little insight about Carson the icon, the entertainer, or the man. Learn instead about what it was like to be a satellite to Carson's burning sun. Did you know that after dumping his college sweetheart, Bushkin dated Three's Company's Joyce DeWitt? It's true!
Weirdly entertaining.
In other words, there is little insight about Carson the icon, the entertainer, or the man. Learn instead about what it was like to be a satellite to Carson's burning sun. Did you know that after dumping his college sweetheart, Bushkin dated Three's Company's Joyce DeWitt? It's true!
Weirdly entertaining.
January 4, 2017
Johnny Carson was a loner. This was understood. Perhaps nowhere more so than in the city he chose to make his home.
Los Angeles, as every transplant will be quick to perceive, is a very small town. It is a burg in which those six degrees of separation are pared to three, and the fundamental lesson learned by the up-and-comer is that bridges will be burned - most frequently by those in charge, and for the most practical reason of all: to keep the table settings to a minimum. Manhattan likes to lay claim to the culture's shark-infested waters. Los Angeles, if it bothered to respond, would slyly offer up late night's king in his bespoke suit, his Malibu tan and his innocently arched eyebrow. No one held more power in this cutthroat industry - no actor, no director, no studio head - than did Mr. Carson in his ascendancy. Careers were made on the offer of a seat at his side, and broken by its denial. Such influence, while hungered after, doesn't lend itself to creating a wide circle of friends. Which was, intriguingly enough, just fine with him.
There are two points here to consider. The first will be the paucity of first-hand accounts on life with Johnny Carson. Few possessed the privilege, and even fewer hold the urge to write about it. Second, allowances should be made for the type of individual who did. Because it stands to reason that the person who obtained admittance to this rarefied arena, and was permitted to remain within it over time, would own certain qualities or traits that set him apart from other men.
Henry Bushkin was Carson's lawyer, and a good deal more besides. But nothing shocked him quite so much as reading in an interview that Johnny considered him his best friend. Forty-three years after they met, eight years after Carson's death, amidst the writing of this book, Bushkin is still obsessed with his client's declaration. He returns to it over and over again, mystified by Carson's perception; unwilling to find it troublesome or tragic or by any means informative. It's simply strange to him - due largely, of course, to Bushkin's own social dysfunction. A dysfunction illustrated (rather unwittingly) in the recollection of an early meeting:
"The more Johnny talked, the weirder this moment seemed. People I'd known all my life, my best friends, none of them would ever unburden themselves to me. But here's a man I'd known for two days baring his soul, and I had nothing to say? Maybe that's why I was here."
This memoir can best be appreciated, and perhaps only be appreciated, through the recognition of its being written by an unreliable narrator. Pull back far enough and you'll find the fascinations abound.
Bushkin seems to me a man, and there are many of them, whose identity grafted on to the alpha force of the most powerful figure in his vicinity. Carson caught him at twenty-seven in New York, fresh to entertainment law and dazzled by the plucking. He doesn't give a lot of thought to the "Why me?" element of the equation, but instead rolls with the 1970s celebrity flow. Legal and financial maneuvers are made, temperaments are tolerated, questionable moral choices overlooked; Bushkin is well on the way to becoming indispensable. And with this comes the magic carpet ride of fame, wealth and excess. He embraces the move to Hollywood, the trips to Vegas and London; tennis with Johnny, parties with Johnny, negotiations on Johnny's behalf. There are Friar's Roasts and Academy Awards and presidential inaugurations - and there are late nights, and last minutes, and unreasonable demands; and there are women, because there are always women, and this is always part of the code. (The Rat Pack misogyny gets a little irksome.) And somewhere in all of this he loses a wife and a life of his own, but he'll be damned if he gives a flip. He's "Bombastic Bushkin" after all, so knighted by the king on network television; part of the monologue patter now, right there in the swing.
The relationship begins to sour when the men enter into business together - a development Bushkin refuses, even today, to view with an eye toward conflict of interest. He tries to own the white hat as the union crumbles, but that's awfully hard to do when one's sharing the headboard with the black. Bitterness and its soulmate, a heated self-defense, bleed forth in the recounting of the crash and burn. You might expect some moment of clarity or hard-won insight, but Bushkin's not in that place yet and may never be. The closest he comes is a bizarre attempt to lay it all on Carson's mother, Ruth, and the legacy of her heartlessness toward this singularly-favored son. He can't blame Johnny, I suspect, because in some decidedly twisted way it would be too much like blaming himself.
That he titled the book Johnny Carson, in the absence of all but the most rudimentary biographical sketch, delivers proof enough for me of his difficulty in distinguishing the difference.
Los Angeles, as every transplant will be quick to perceive, is a very small town. It is a burg in which those six degrees of separation are pared to three, and the fundamental lesson learned by the up-and-comer is that bridges will be burned - most frequently by those in charge, and for the most practical reason of all: to keep the table settings to a minimum. Manhattan likes to lay claim to the culture's shark-infested waters. Los Angeles, if it bothered to respond, would slyly offer up late night's king in his bespoke suit, his Malibu tan and his innocently arched eyebrow. No one held more power in this cutthroat industry - no actor, no director, no studio head - than did Mr. Carson in his ascendancy. Careers were made on the offer of a seat at his side, and broken by its denial. Such influence, while hungered after, doesn't lend itself to creating a wide circle of friends. Which was, intriguingly enough, just fine with him.
There are two points here to consider. The first will be the paucity of first-hand accounts on life with Johnny Carson. Few possessed the privilege, and even fewer hold the urge to write about it. Second, allowances should be made for the type of individual who did. Because it stands to reason that the person who obtained admittance to this rarefied arena, and was permitted to remain within it over time, would own certain qualities or traits that set him apart from other men.
Henry Bushkin was Carson's lawyer, and a good deal more besides. But nothing shocked him quite so much as reading in an interview that Johnny considered him his best friend. Forty-three years after they met, eight years after Carson's death, amidst the writing of this book, Bushkin is still obsessed with his client's declaration. He returns to it over and over again, mystified by Carson's perception; unwilling to find it troublesome or tragic or by any means informative. It's simply strange to him - due largely, of course, to Bushkin's own social dysfunction. A dysfunction illustrated (rather unwittingly) in the recollection of an early meeting:
"The more Johnny talked, the weirder this moment seemed. People I'd known all my life, my best friends, none of them would ever unburden themselves to me. But here's a man I'd known for two days baring his soul, and I had nothing to say? Maybe that's why I was here."
This memoir can best be appreciated, and perhaps only be appreciated, through the recognition of its being written by an unreliable narrator. Pull back far enough and you'll find the fascinations abound.
Bushkin seems to me a man, and there are many of them, whose identity grafted on to the alpha force of the most powerful figure in his vicinity. Carson caught him at twenty-seven in New York, fresh to entertainment law and dazzled by the plucking. He doesn't give a lot of thought to the "Why me?" element of the equation, but instead rolls with the 1970s celebrity flow. Legal and financial maneuvers are made, temperaments are tolerated, questionable moral choices overlooked; Bushkin is well on the way to becoming indispensable. And with this comes the magic carpet ride of fame, wealth and excess. He embraces the move to Hollywood, the trips to Vegas and London; tennis with Johnny, parties with Johnny, negotiations on Johnny's behalf. There are Friar's Roasts and Academy Awards and presidential inaugurations - and there are late nights, and last minutes, and unreasonable demands; and there are women, because there are always women, and this is always part of the code. (The Rat Pack misogyny gets a little irksome.) And somewhere in all of this he loses a wife and a life of his own, but he'll be damned if he gives a flip. He's "Bombastic Bushkin" after all, so knighted by the king on network television; part of the monologue patter now, right there in the swing.
The relationship begins to sour when the men enter into business together - a development Bushkin refuses, even today, to view with an eye toward conflict of interest. He tries to own the white hat as the union crumbles, but that's awfully hard to do when one's sharing the headboard with the black. Bitterness and its soulmate, a heated self-defense, bleed forth in the recounting of the crash and burn. You might expect some moment of clarity or hard-won insight, but Bushkin's not in that place yet and may never be. The closest he comes is a bizarre attempt to lay it all on Carson's mother, Ruth, and the legacy of her heartlessness toward this singularly-favored son. He can't blame Johnny, I suspect, because in some decidedly twisted way it would be too much like blaming himself.
That he titled the book Johnny Carson, in the absence of all but the most rudimentary biographical sketch, delivers proof enough for me of his difficulty in distinguishing the difference.
March 17, 2014
Proving exactly what kind of a clever lawyer he is, Henry Bushkin waited until Johnny Carson was dead and cold in his grave before publishing this book, giving Bushkin some measure of protection against any possible charges of libel or violating Carson’s attorney-client confidentiality. Very professional, Bushkin.
Here is Bombastic Bushkin’s book, in a nutshell: When he first met Bushkin, Johnny Carson led a cold, lonely, suspicious life, and he was surrounded by incompetence and corruption. Bushkin managed to almost single-handedly save Carson, by immediately getting rid of the other idiots in Carson’s entourage, and straightening out Carson’s financial and legal activities. But years later, when Carson was getting old and cranky, he came to mistrust the innocent, hardworking, and results-producing Bushkin, and unwisely got rid of him. And as a result, Carson died alone and lonely, without the wisdom and comfort of Bushkin to get him through his final years.
I never knew Carson, beyond the talented and engaging performer I used to watch on television, but this book seemed ridiculous on its face. (That’s “prima facie” if Bushkin’s reading this.) I’m sure that, as one of the youngest members of Carson’s team, he was counting on the other members of the Carson entourage to be too old, or too dead, to respond to some of his more ludicrous stories. But Doc Severinson, who was Carson’s legendary band leader and at 86 is still very active, had this to say about Bushkin’s book:
“I know Henry Bushkin and I knew Johnny Carson. And the idea that anybody would ask any single person to write a book about Johnny Carson and have it be Bushkin is beyond disgusting.”
BOTTOM LINE: Bushkin was cuckolded by Carson, and this book is his cowardly revenge. Please read it in that light. And please take it out from a library, or borrow it from a friend. Don’t contribute to the royalties of a grave robber.
Here is Bombastic Bushkin’s book, in a nutshell: When he first met Bushkin, Johnny Carson led a cold, lonely, suspicious life, and he was surrounded by incompetence and corruption. Bushkin managed to almost single-handedly save Carson, by immediately getting rid of the other idiots in Carson’s entourage, and straightening out Carson’s financial and legal activities. But years later, when Carson was getting old and cranky, he came to mistrust the innocent, hardworking, and results-producing Bushkin, and unwisely got rid of him. And as a result, Carson died alone and lonely, without the wisdom and comfort of Bushkin to get him through his final years.
I never knew Carson, beyond the talented and engaging performer I used to watch on television, but this book seemed ridiculous on its face. (That’s “prima facie” if Bushkin’s reading this.) I’m sure that, as one of the youngest members of Carson’s team, he was counting on the other members of the Carson entourage to be too old, or too dead, to respond to some of his more ludicrous stories. But Doc Severinson, who was Carson’s legendary band leader and at 86 is still very active, had this to say about Bushkin’s book:
“I know Henry Bushkin and I knew Johnny Carson. And the idea that anybody would ask any single person to write a book about Johnny Carson and have it be Bushkin is beyond disgusting.”
BOTTOM LINE: Bushkin was cuckolded by Carson, and this book is his cowardly revenge. Please read it in that light. And please take it out from a library, or borrow it from a friend. Don’t contribute to the royalties of a grave robber.
December 26, 2013
Who wants to read about a demanding, difficult, and damaged person with a suave, confident persona on air and a shy, sad, isolated life when not before an audience? Who wants to read about such a mercurial personality who hurts others, fires people, and divorces wives with cruel, bitter remarks? Who wants to read about someone who so cavalierly cheats on his wives and ignores his children? And who wants to listen to a self-serving author who believes Johnny would be pleased the book is cruelly revealing and not a gloss?
Well, I do (though I'm embarrassed to admit it). I liked the insights into Johnny's personalities, the anecdotes, the dialogue, the negotiating, the high life, and the petty jealousies. Johnny Carson is not good literature, but it is a good read.
Some editorial comments: What happened to Ed McMahon? It's almost as if he never existed.
Henry, I guess you should get some props for admitting you acted poorly during you time with Johnny, cheating on your wife and ignoring your family. But your apology seems pro forma, and you make no apology for having betrayed so many confidences in this book and for having betrayed Johnny himself, a man who above all valued loyalty.
And Henry, some advice for your next book. If you're going to break from the chronological structure (an effective structure in this case), please do a better job of letting us know where you are in your digressions. In Johnny Carson, some events are introduced, or repeated, out of their natural order; it's confusing and disconcerting.
Well, I do (though I'm embarrassed to admit it). I liked the insights into Johnny's personalities, the anecdotes, the dialogue, the negotiating, the high life, and the petty jealousies. Johnny Carson is not good literature, but it is a good read.
Some editorial comments: What happened to Ed McMahon? It's almost as if he never existed.
Henry, I guess you should get some props for admitting you acted poorly during you time with Johnny, cheating on your wife and ignoring your family. But your apology seems pro forma, and you make no apology for having betrayed so many confidences in this book and for having betrayed Johnny himself, a man who above all valued loyalty.
And Henry, some advice for your next book. If you're going to break from the chronological structure (an effective structure in this case), please do a better job of letting us know where you are in your digressions. In Johnny Carson, some events are introduced, or repeated, out of their natural order; it's confusing and disconcerting.
July 3, 2020
Book started out strong and ended poorly. I did not expect a book of Carson jokes or every inside detail but as the book went on it became more about the author. As Johnny got more tired of the show, the author seemed to get more tired of writing. OK, but not great.
February 6, 2015
While the book and information about Carson was mildly interesting, the repetitive back patting of this book forced me to scan more than read. I found one awesome quote by Carson: If things were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.
September 21, 2021
More of a memoir than a true biography, Bushkin wrote about his experiences with Carson as his attorney and friend. Although some of Carson's previous life is mentioned, the focus is from when Bushkin met Carson and started working for him in 1979, and through the late 1980s when they had a falling out.
I don't usually read books about celebrities--sort of the dish-the-dirt genre, but I always thought Carson was interesting and I didn't know much about him personally. A complex man, that seemed to be searching for happiness, and not knowing when he was living in the midst of it. Bushkin does some analyzing of why Carson was self-destructive in this way. Apparently he had a mother that he could never get approval from. The book mentions Carson served in the US Navy during WWII, but not much other than that. I discovered from other sources that he enlisted in hopes of being trained as a pilot, but instead became a communications officer in charge of decoding messages aboard the USS Pennsylvania. He also had a 10-0 amateur boxing record, with most of his bouts taking place aboard ship. If you want to know about one of the late night hosts from back when they were actually funny, this book is a good place to start.
I don't usually read books about celebrities--sort of the dish-the-dirt genre, but I always thought Carson was interesting and I didn't know much about him personally. A complex man, that seemed to be searching for happiness, and not knowing when he was living in the midst of it. Bushkin does some analyzing of why Carson was self-destructive in this way. Apparently he had a mother that he could never get approval from. The book mentions Carson served in the US Navy during WWII, but not much other than that. I discovered from other sources that he enlisted in hopes of being trained as a pilot, but instead became a communications officer in charge of decoding messages aboard the USS Pennsylvania. He also had a 10-0 amateur boxing record, with most of his bouts taking place aboard ship. If you want to know about one of the late night hosts from back when they were actually funny, this book is a good place to start.
November 13, 2013
JOHNNY CARSON
Henry Bushkin
I'm going to remember Johnny Carson as the master of the late night talk shows. Other than that there's not much to say about him personally.
He was a remote, angry, drinker and womanizer with very little warmth. He himself said he was not a good husband or father. He was not a nice man, and I'm surprised his attorney and friend Henry Bushkin wrote this book revealing so much especially considering his great personal losses due to his relationship with Mr. Carson.
Henry Bushkin
I'm going to remember Johnny Carson as the master of the late night talk shows. Other than that there's not much to say about him personally.
He was a remote, angry, drinker and womanizer with very little warmth. He himself said he was not a good husband or father. He was not a nice man, and I'm surprised his attorney and friend Henry Bushkin wrote this book revealing so much especially considering his great personal losses due to his relationship with Mr. Carson.
October 9, 2022
Carson indisputably was suave and commanding on the air and sad and isolated behind the scenes. His massive success of course came with a price. NBC's desire to continue making millions of dollars by keep Carson happy had a predictably corrosive effect on the entertainer, making him more difficult and demanding than can be imagined. Newly inaugurated president Ronald Reagan had to call him personally to apologize for the inferior seat Carson's third wife had at the pre-inaugural festivities. Ed McMahon's wife supposedly had a better seat than Mrs. Carson's and I find it chilling that on a day when the hostages were being released, Reagan was absorbed with sucking up to Carson and massaging his massive ego.
However reprehensible Carson was, his lawyer and the author of this book is vastly more despicable. Bushkin blames others and always lets himself off the hook for his own bad behavior in his personal and professional ife. While this might be a moderately juicy read, the book itself is a questionable work, self-serving in the extreme and violating attorney-client privilege. Conveniently published when the subject was dead and the author in need of (yet another) quick buck, I'm sorry to say I read it, but am glad at least I only borrowed it from the library.
However reprehensible Carson was, his lawyer and the author of this book is vastly more despicable. Bushkin blames others and always lets himself off the hook for his own bad behavior in his personal and professional ife. While this might be a moderately juicy read, the book itself is a questionable work, self-serving in the extreme and violating attorney-client privilege. Conveniently published when the subject was dead and the author in need of (yet another) quick buck, I'm sorry to say I read it, but am glad at least I only borrowed it from the library.
August 5, 2016
As a child my very first hero was Johnny. If anyone ever asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would always say, I want to be a comedian like Johnny Carson.
It's not hard to see why he would be such a fascinating figure to a small Nebraskan boy. He too came from a small Nebraskan town and made a living making people laugh. Let's just say, that sounded like the greatest thing in the world to a strange, silly kid who enjoyed making his brother laugh with (usually comically bad) impressions of various authority figures. Johnny Carson was a hometown boy made good. He was living proof that the dream of Hollywood was real and could happen to anyone!
It also helps that he was one of the funniest performers I've ever seen in my life. To this day, no one can work an audience like Johnny. He had the fantastic talent of actually being funnier when the material bombed, a trick later picked up by so many other comedians from Conan O'Brien to Aziz Ansari. I have always considered that skill what makes a performer truly gifted because if you can still make people laugh under those circumstances, then it is you that is funny, not just the material.
I say all this information only as an introduction. Everybody knows, or kind of remembers, or think they know who Johnny Carson was. That's where Henry Bushkin comes in. Bushkin was a young attorney plucked out of obscurity by Carson who went on to have a personal and professional relationship with him for over 20 years.
Bushkin waited for 8 years after Carson died to publish this book. Upon reading it, I can see why. Some people will be mad at him for putting many of these stories in the book. Stories that show Johnny to be cold, harsh, mean, drunk, petulant, and emotionally immature. But the stories also show him to be generous, hilarious, sharp, and at the top of his game.
Going into this book, I held Johnny in the highest regard and still do. It was so interesting to read about his relationship with his mother and how he was never able to get her approval. How he used his humor which seemed so warm and inviting to keep people at arms length. After all, if everybody felt like they knew him, then no one would ever actually try to get to know him. Johnny was hiding right out in the open and the public never realized it. He didn't let anybody inside his head because nobody hated Johnny more than Johnny.
I highly recommend this read to anyone who wants to understand humor and the dark costs and causes that can sometimes lurk behind that veneer.
Even after all this, I still want to be Johnny when I grow up.
It's not hard to see why he would be such a fascinating figure to a small Nebraskan boy. He too came from a small Nebraskan town and made a living making people laugh. Let's just say, that sounded like the greatest thing in the world to a strange, silly kid who enjoyed making his brother laugh with (usually comically bad) impressions of various authority figures. Johnny Carson was a hometown boy made good. He was living proof that the dream of Hollywood was real and could happen to anyone!
It also helps that he was one of the funniest performers I've ever seen in my life. To this day, no one can work an audience like Johnny. He had the fantastic talent of actually being funnier when the material bombed, a trick later picked up by so many other comedians from Conan O'Brien to Aziz Ansari. I have always considered that skill what makes a performer truly gifted because if you can still make people laugh under those circumstances, then it is you that is funny, not just the material.
I say all this information only as an introduction. Everybody knows, or kind of remembers, or think they know who Johnny Carson was. That's where Henry Bushkin comes in. Bushkin was a young attorney plucked out of obscurity by Carson who went on to have a personal and professional relationship with him for over 20 years.
Bushkin waited for 8 years after Carson died to publish this book. Upon reading it, I can see why. Some people will be mad at him for putting many of these stories in the book. Stories that show Johnny to be cold, harsh, mean, drunk, petulant, and emotionally immature. But the stories also show him to be generous, hilarious, sharp, and at the top of his game.
Going into this book, I held Johnny in the highest regard and still do. It was so interesting to read about his relationship with his mother and how he was never able to get her approval. How he used his humor which seemed so warm and inviting to keep people at arms length. After all, if everybody felt like they knew him, then no one would ever actually try to get to know him. Johnny was hiding right out in the open and the public never realized it. He didn't let anybody inside his head because nobody hated Johnny more than Johnny.
I highly recommend this read to anyone who wants to understand humor and the dark costs and causes that can sometimes lurk behind that veneer.
Even after all this, I still want to be Johnny when I grow up.
December 21, 2013
I kind of felt weird about this, because it was fascinating, but I was keenly aware that Carson would've been furious about having his secrets told. I also wondered about the author saying he's the only one who never took advantage of Carson (as so many people did), but here's this book...
October 25, 2013
A story of an unrequited love.
I think we all have stories that we hear our elders tell about us when we were younger that we have to smile at, even if we're not sure they're true. One story along those lines for me is about how the mother of one of my childhood friend's came into her living room at 11:45 to find me sitting on the floor watching The Tonight Show. She said when she asked me what I was doing up, I replied "Watching Johnny." Apparently, there was no reasoning with me when I was watching Johnny Carson and she left me to my show. From a young age, I was fascinated with Johnny Carson.
This book did a brilliant job of enhancing that fascination and pulling those memories back to the front of my mind. Henry Bushkin tells multiple stories of his time as Carson's lawyer. Bushkin was more than just his lawyer -- he was his confidant, his business manager, his friend and, in the end, another broken heart left behind by Carson.
The book was well written and drew me into the stories. I felt like I was there with Bushkin and Carson, experiencing contract negotiations, Wimbledon, and so much more. If you are a Carson fan, I highly recommend this book. It made me laugh, smile and, at one point, cry because it hurt my heart.
I think we all have stories that we hear our elders tell about us when we were younger that we have to smile at, even if we're not sure they're true. One story along those lines for me is about how the mother of one of my childhood friend's came into her living room at 11:45 to find me sitting on the floor watching The Tonight Show. She said when she asked me what I was doing up, I replied "Watching Johnny." Apparently, there was no reasoning with me when I was watching Johnny Carson and she left me to my show. From a young age, I was fascinated with Johnny Carson.
This book did a brilliant job of enhancing that fascination and pulling those memories back to the front of my mind. Henry Bushkin tells multiple stories of his time as Carson's lawyer. Bushkin was more than just his lawyer -- he was his confidant, his business manager, his friend and, in the end, another broken heart left behind by Carson.
The book was well written and drew me into the stories. I felt like I was there with Bushkin and Carson, experiencing contract negotiations, Wimbledon, and so much more. If you are a Carson fan, I highly recommend this book. It made me laugh, smile and, at one point, cry because it hurt my heart.
November 25, 2013
This is a book written by Henry Bushkin. He was Johnny Carson's Lawyer for almost 20 years. Mr.Bushkin was more than just a lawyer. He was with Carson constantly, Playing tennis, traveling on vacations and many more chores than just his lawyer. he witnessed first hand what Johnny Carson was like in person. He was the lawyer for two of Carson's divorces and was hired to handle many other business deals for Carson. he gives an up close behind the doors description of Carson. Johnny could be a generous man at times and cruel and vindictive other times. I think Bushkin tried to be fair in this book. I know this is Henry Bushkin's opinion of the man he knew for 20 years before Carson fired him. A pretty interesting read. I was a fan of Johnny Carson and his show. still am.
November 8, 2017
I don't think Johnny would have liked the book, but I did.
October 27, 2025
Do not read this book if you are a big fan of Johnny Carson. In that case, it's best to just remember him as you do--the funny and very talented host of The Tonight Show. This book covers that side of Carson but it uncovers less desirable personality traits and actions. While I would assume that most of the narrative is at least based in near-truth, it is written from his lawyer and friend's experience so some things may be just one man's opinion. The largest negative factor of this telling is that it focuses too much on this relationship and shared history than on Johnny's life. It was written after his passing so he has no input. This is a read for those in the 60 and over age range due to the timeline of events and name-dropping of other famous people that will be unfamiliar to younger people.
July 9, 2020
This isn't really a biography of Johnny Carson, not in the way you're thinking. This is a memoir written by Carson's lawyer chronicling the relationship between the two men. This behind-the-scenes account is at times fascinating, and it offers some interesting insight into Carson, who seems to have been a deeply unhappy and not so nice man.
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September 2, 2016My end of year reading left big holes in my reading heart. It's my own fault. what was i expecting from books entitled "merde" and "johnny carson" ? oh well - at least i didn't buy this book. i did however expect to laugh at "johnny carson". (I also expected to laugh at "merde"). But I didn't laugh once. Not once. Although I was very young when this man was in his prime, I watched and liked his show. I expected to like the book. Bushkin does not want that; his goal is to dispel generally favorable public opinion of the man and reveal the flawed person behind the personality. (why do I feel like i'm writing for a tabloid?)
The book takes a reader back to a mad men era of one on one lawyering, opulence (in one of the pictures carson looks like liberace) and hypocrisies. It seems like bushkin turned out to be a good lawyer for carson, until the end where he starts to negotiate the sale of carson's company where he would secure a position without disclosing the fact to his client. that's an ethical conflict. anyway, what's lacking, aside from a narrative, is the recognition of a different era, when men were less than people. at least bushkin could have acknowledged his own screwed up values and how they meshed well with his boss's. Instead, bushkin blame carson for his own poor choices, including his infidelities and lack of devotion to his own family. Last time i checked a penis belongs to just one man. But hey, i'm not expert. Bushkin nonetheless apologizes to his ex-wife and a former friend. But what good is an apology when it's accompanied with a pointed finger toward a grave? Buskhin returns repeatedly to the theme of carson's terrible mother and how she made him the incapable of happiness and satisfaction. something about that is rather rotten. he was a grown ass man by the age of 60. maybe his midwestern sensible mother was rightly disappointed to have raised a son who couldn't keep his dick in his pants despite his desire to have a family and marry again and again. maybe she didn't approve of how he failed to raise his own family and knew that throwing money at a problem helps but is no substitute for presence. anyway, i'm diverging from the point here. the point is that bushkin makes excuses for his friend while blaming him at the same time. which makes this reader feel bad. I suspect that bushkin meant to paint such an terrible portrait of his purported best friend for 18 years. which is all very sad, not funny.
The book takes a reader back to a mad men era of one on one lawyering, opulence (in one of the pictures carson looks like liberace) and hypocrisies. It seems like bushkin turned out to be a good lawyer for carson, until the end where he starts to negotiate the sale of carson's company where he would secure a position without disclosing the fact to his client. that's an ethical conflict. anyway, what's lacking, aside from a narrative, is the recognition of a different era, when men were less than people. at least bushkin could have acknowledged his own screwed up values and how they meshed well with his boss's. Instead, bushkin blame carson for his own poor choices, including his infidelities and lack of devotion to his own family. Last time i checked a penis belongs to just one man. But hey, i'm not expert. Bushkin nonetheless apologizes to his ex-wife and a former friend. But what good is an apology when it's accompanied with a pointed finger toward a grave? Buskhin returns repeatedly to the theme of carson's terrible mother and how she made him the incapable of happiness and satisfaction. something about that is rather rotten. he was a grown ass man by the age of 60. maybe his midwestern sensible mother was rightly disappointed to have raised a son who couldn't keep his dick in his pants despite his desire to have a family and marry again and again. maybe she didn't approve of how he failed to raise his own family and knew that throwing money at a problem helps but is no substitute for presence. anyway, i'm diverging from the point here. the point is that bushkin makes excuses for his friend while blaming him at the same time. which makes this reader feel bad. I suspect that bushkin meant to paint such an terrible portrait of his purported best friend for 18 years. which is all very sad, not funny.
January 28, 2014
Interesting to read this during the handoff of Leno to Fallon; the ads playing while I read the book showed Carson, Leno and Fallon, suggesting generation-passing of the Carson legacy. The book is a fascinating read on a figure that dominated the 1960s and 1970s. It gives a better view of Carson as a person than anything I've read. It is, by necessity, a biography only of the 18 years that Bushkin was Carson's lawyer and confidant, but those are the critical years of Carson's career. There are several reason I found this fascinating. Carson was a part of my life, at least if media is a part of it. Bushkin (who himself became an element in Carson monologues) is a very natural writer, which made this an easy read, more like a conversation. Bushkin does an interesting admission of his own problems upon being brought into Carson's orbit, and how he couldn't move away but also paid a price for being committed to an "always #1 client". Additionally, Carson seems to be a really interesting perspective on how someone can respond to an upbringing where he felt he was never able to get his mother's approval. I don't think Carson's failure at relationships and need to both perform and to be in control are the only possible impacts from such a psychological imprint, but I think that I've seen many others react in similar fashions. In the end, though, I came to feel that I learned more about Bushkin than Carson, because I'm not sure anyone fully understood Carson -- even Johnny himself.
August 31, 2024
It's not what I would consider a true biography of Johnny Carson because it only covers roughly the 16 to 18 years that the author was his lawyer and go to guy for everything. There are lots of great stories throughout the book. Unfortunately, it's one of those where you find out that the celebrity that you loved all these years isn’t the warm personality that you saw on The Tonight Show for what seemed like forever. About 152 pages into the book starts the whining from the author about the relationship going downhill. Too much about the lawyer and how Johnny made him a rich man. Who can trust what a lawyer says anyhow?
I don't feel that the Johnny Carson that I grew to love was not represented here hardly at all. I’ll probably be looking for another biography of him eventually. I can't say that I would recommend buying this unless you can get it for under five bucks.
I don't feel that the Johnny Carson that I grew to love was not represented here hardly at all. I’ll probably be looking for another biography of him eventually. I can't say that I would recommend buying this unless you can get it for under five bucks.
October 24, 2013
If you have read any of the recent articles reviewing this book, you won't be surprised by much. I think everything remotely shocking was covered and exaggerated to its fullest before this book hit the shelves. Yes, Johnny was at times nice and at times nasty. Yes, the mob makes a scary appearance, and so does Frank Gifford, or at least his apartment.
Johnny was the most generous man in the world one minute, yet cold-blooded and ruthless the next. Friendships end and begin on a dime. Yes, Johnny was more comfortable in front of a million viewers than a handful of admirers. Essentially this is the same story you'll find if you look at Elvis, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan or any other big-time entertainment personality at the top of their field. It seems to be a necessary pattern of traits even for those who make it so big.
I found this book extremely comparable to Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra. Both were up-close accounts from people with all-access passes to the lives of their famous employers, and both eventually wound up dumped, forgotten and never spoken to again. Curiously enough, both seemed to enjoy the good times so much though that any ill-will they had for their subject eventually faded.
Given how interesting it must have been traipsing around the world with Carson, I can't blame Bushkin much. Add to that the fact that he made many millions doing it, and you start to wonder why he even bothered with the work of writing this book. He surely doesn't need the money. My guess is that he had a lot of fun reminiscing, and that fortunately translates into a nice, breezy read.
Johnny was the most generous man in the world one minute, yet cold-blooded and ruthless the next. Friendships end and begin on a dime. Yes, Johnny was more comfortable in front of a million viewers than a handful of admirers. Essentially this is the same story you'll find if you look at Elvis, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan or any other big-time entertainment personality at the top of their field. It seems to be a necessary pattern of traits even for those who make it so big.
I found this book extremely comparable to Mr. S: My Life with Frank Sinatra. Both were up-close accounts from people with all-access passes to the lives of their famous employers, and both eventually wound up dumped, forgotten and never spoken to again. Curiously enough, both seemed to enjoy the good times so much though that any ill-will they had for their subject eventually faded.
Given how interesting it must have been traipsing around the world with Carson, I can't blame Bushkin much. Add to that the fact that he made many millions doing it, and you start to wonder why he even bothered with the work of writing this book. He surely doesn't need the money. My guess is that he had a lot of fun reminiscing, and that fortunately translates into a nice, breezy read.
March 1, 2020
Enough previously unpublished stories to be a worthwhile, quick read. Clarifies the Wayne Newton feud as well.
September 6, 2023
A few weeks ago, I was watching on YouTube a 2013 interview from radio station WNYC that the comedienne Joan Rivers had with the author about this book. I was much intrigued by the interview, because I had grown up watching The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson on the NBC TV network during the 1970s and 1980s. For those people who didn't grow up in the U.S. at the time there was a 3-channel TV media universe (NBC, CBS, and ABC), they cannot appreciate the considerable influence and respect that Johnny Carson garnered during his 30 years of hosting The Tonight Show (1962-1992). Carson set the standard for all TV hosts to this day. Indeed, for any aspiring musician or comedian invited to appear on his show, a nod from Carson could make his/her career for life.
The interview rekindled my interest in Carson which had gone largely dormant from the time of his death in January 2005, age 79. So, I bought this book and WOW! did I ever learn much more about Johnny Carson the private man than I could've ever imagined while he was alive. His drinking problems and shyness (Carson was an introvert and very much a product of the Midwest where he grew up during the Depression), I knew something about from a rare public interview he gave the journalist Mike Wallace on the national TV program 60 Minutes back in 1979.
Henry Bushkin was a newly minted lawyer in New York City when he first made the acquaintance of Johnny Carson in 1970 through his best friend Arthur Kassel, "[a] security expert/crime photographer/police groupie with slightly grandiose ambitions" who had befriended Carson at a police benefit. The meeting between Bushkin and Carson was a brief one, and all-business. Yet from this meeting would develop over the next 18 years a close relationship between both men in which Bushkin faithfully served Carson's interests as his legal advisor (first in New York and later in Los Angeles after The Tonight Show had relocated to the West Coast), fixer, confidant, and close friend. Yet, it was a friendship wholly on Carson's terms. For Carson liked to be in control and could at turns be extremely generous or cold, abrupt, and unforgiving with people whom he felt betrayed him or failed to adequately serve his interests.
This was a delightful book to read because Bushkin showed in the telling that he has a novelist's eye for detail, making Johnny Carson come alive on the page. Frankly, I was surprised to learn that Carson was a voracious (and talented) womanizer who wasn't above fooling around, even when he was married. "Bushkin [also] explains why Carson felt he always had to be married, why he couldn't visit his son in the hospital and wouldn't attend his mother's funeral [Ruth Carson was very much a cold fish who never showed Carson any affection, no matter what he did for his parents after he had become a megastar], and much more."
Simply put, Johnny Carson is one of the best revelatory, readable, poignant, and uproarious books of its kind that I've ever read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about a man who, even after his death, continues to serve as a guiding star for TV hosts today.
The interview rekindled my interest in Carson which had gone largely dormant from the time of his death in January 2005, age 79. So, I bought this book and WOW! did I ever learn much more about Johnny Carson the private man than I could've ever imagined while he was alive. His drinking problems and shyness (Carson was an introvert and very much a product of the Midwest where he grew up during the Depression), I knew something about from a rare public interview he gave the journalist Mike Wallace on the national TV program 60 Minutes back in 1979.
Henry Bushkin was a newly minted lawyer in New York City when he first made the acquaintance of Johnny Carson in 1970 through his best friend Arthur Kassel, "[a] security expert/crime photographer/police groupie with slightly grandiose ambitions" who had befriended Carson at a police benefit. The meeting between Bushkin and Carson was a brief one, and all-business. Yet from this meeting would develop over the next 18 years a close relationship between both men in which Bushkin faithfully served Carson's interests as his legal advisor (first in New York and later in Los Angeles after The Tonight Show had relocated to the West Coast), fixer, confidant, and close friend. Yet, it was a friendship wholly on Carson's terms. For Carson liked to be in control and could at turns be extremely generous or cold, abrupt, and unforgiving with people whom he felt betrayed him or failed to adequately serve his interests.
This was a delightful book to read because Bushkin showed in the telling that he has a novelist's eye for detail, making Johnny Carson come alive on the page. Frankly, I was surprised to learn that Carson was a voracious (and talented) womanizer who wasn't above fooling around, even when he was married. "Bushkin [also] explains why Carson felt he always had to be married, why he couldn't visit his son in the hospital and wouldn't attend his mother's funeral [Ruth Carson was very much a cold fish who never showed Carson any affection, no matter what he did for his parents after he had become a megastar], and much more."
Simply put, Johnny Carson is one of the best revelatory, readable, poignant, and uproarious books of its kind that I've ever read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about a man who, even after his death, continues to serve as a guiding star for TV hosts today.
December 27, 2013
For a lifelong fan of Johnny Carson like me this was an interesting but bittersweet read. Johnny helped me through many an evening back in the day when there was nothing to do and little to watch on the three or four channels in existence at the time. Henry Bushkin - I remember Johnny's references on the show to "Bombastic Bushkin" - started as Johnny's lawyer but quickly became his tennis partner, advisor, even business partner. Although The Tonight Show is discussed, Bushkin's real contribution is a detailed behind-the-scenes look at the rest of Johnny's life: his relationships with his wives, parents, children, friends and other celebrities; and his business dealings. Bushkin loved Johnny but pulls no punches.
I say the book is bittersweet because it is not easy to read convincing evidence that the person I idolized growing up was in many ways a complete asshole. The blame is often put, including by Bushkin, on his mother, who seemed incapable of providing the love and support one expects; Johnny emerged emotionally scarred and cynical of the motives of anyone close to him. I am not a psychiatrist but Carson comes across as a person who only valued relationships where he was the primary beneficiary. He was chronically unfaithful to his wives. He accepted as "friends" only those who stroked his ego and prioritized Johnny above all else. He dumped, instantly, anyone who he determined failed that standard. Quite the jerk.
And yet there was also a good side (apart from his being the brightest of the stars of his generation). Bushkin documents, for example, numerous acts of generosity, from consistently large tipping to surprise cash gifts to acquaintances in need. There are also charming stories of Johnny holding court with his celebrity colleagues - and as bright as their lights shined they found themselves irresistibly drawn to Johnny.
By the end, however, he had burnt all his bridges. The book mentions a comparison that had been made to Jay Gatsby, craving adulation but unable to connect on a personal level. But Gatsby deliberately drew the crowds to his house; Johnny detested being in such an unstructured setting, where he might have to converse with a fan or a stranger. Reading of Johnny’s dying alone I thought instead of the closing scene of Citizen Kane, where the dying Kane desperately remembers the time in his childhood when he was truly happy. I wonder if such a time existed in Johnny’s mind.
I say the book is bittersweet because it is not easy to read convincing evidence that the person I idolized growing up was in many ways a complete asshole. The blame is often put, including by Bushkin, on his mother, who seemed incapable of providing the love and support one expects; Johnny emerged emotionally scarred and cynical of the motives of anyone close to him. I am not a psychiatrist but Carson comes across as a person who only valued relationships where he was the primary beneficiary. He was chronically unfaithful to his wives. He accepted as "friends" only those who stroked his ego and prioritized Johnny above all else. He dumped, instantly, anyone who he determined failed that standard. Quite the jerk.
And yet there was also a good side (apart from his being the brightest of the stars of his generation). Bushkin documents, for example, numerous acts of generosity, from consistently large tipping to surprise cash gifts to acquaintances in need. There are also charming stories of Johnny holding court with his celebrity colleagues - and as bright as their lights shined they found themselves irresistibly drawn to Johnny.
By the end, however, he had burnt all his bridges. The book mentions a comparison that had been made to Jay Gatsby, craving adulation but unable to connect on a personal level. But Gatsby deliberately drew the crowds to his house; Johnny detested being in such an unstructured setting, where he might have to converse with a fan or a stranger. Reading of Johnny’s dying alone I thought instead of the closing scene of Citizen Kane, where the dying Kane desperately remembers the time in his childhood when he was truly happy. I wonder if such a time existed in Johnny’s mind.
January 27, 2014
This book has all the inside dirt and gossipy details a Tonight Show fan could ask for. Johnny Carson was one of the greatest TV personalities of all time - I watched the Tonight Show from the 1970s to Carson's final show on May 22, 1992. No one's come close to having his wit or style. As this book details, written by his lawyer of 18 years, Henry Bushkin - Carson wasn't a very happy man and died alone. He was a wild womanizer, probably an alcoholic, with a mean streak that could turn on a dime. Is this surprising at all? Not so much, if you knew anything about Carson, you were aware of his problems with marriage (being divorced 3 times, a subject he often mentioned on the Tonight Show) and that he caroused with various Hollywood stars. He openly flirted with ladies like Angie Dickinson and Ann-Margaret. I knew he had problems relating to his children after witnessing a tribute to his departed son Rick in 1991. It doesn't really cheapen or take away from his accomplishments in TV; Johnny was just part of that post WW 2 era Mad Men generation.
Bushkin's tale of how he met Carson and got involved with breaking into Joanne Carson's love nest really sets the stage for what is to come. More than just Carson's lawyer, Bushkin became his one-man entourage, his tennis partner, go-between, etc. When NBC moves Carson from New York to Los Angeles, Bushkin receives a prince of a deal from Johnny to move his family out as well. Carson absorbs so much of Bushkin's life that he loses his first marriage - although he goes on to date Joyce DeWitt (Three's Company) and Mary Hart (Entertainment Tonight). Bushkin saves Carson from financial ruin and negotiates deals that make Carson one of the richest men in Hollywood. Yet, when their relationship is severed, Bushkin pays a heavy financial price.
Would love for this to be made into a movie with Kevin Spacey playing Carson. He does a killer impression of him already.
Bushkin's tale of how he met Carson and got involved with breaking into Joanne Carson's love nest really sets the stage for what is to come. More than just Carson's lawyer, Bushkin became his one-man entourage, his tennis partner, go-between, etc. When NBC moves Carson from New York to Los Angeles, Bushkin receives a prince of a deal from Johnny to move his family out as well. Carson absorbs so much of Bushkin's life that he loses his first marriage - although he goes on to date Joyce DeWitt (Three's Company) and Mary Hart (Entertainment Tonight). Bushkin saves Carson from financial ruin and negotiates deals that make Carson one of the richest men in Hollywood. Yet, when their relationship is severed, Bushkin pays a heavy financial price.
Would love for this to be made into a movie with Kevin Spacey playing Carson. He does a killer impression of him already.
December 31, 2015
I hoped for better. This is not a biography of Johnny since it starts at the height of Johnny's success. It's really a memoir of the author, Johnny's lawyer, of his time working with Johnny. The subjects are primarily Johnny's marriages and entertainment contracts. In fact, the first 25% of the book is only about Johnny's second marriage's divorce and the beginning of his third marriage. Then the author turns to the new contracts he developed for Johnny and the sleazy life of Johnny (and the author, who let his marriage break up over being Johnny's nursemaid). There is no real insight into Johnny's talent, how it was developed, who discovered it, etc - all the stuff you'd expect in a real biography except a few comments about how nasty Johnny's mother was. Indeed, it's strange that his friend and attorney would write this book because it seems to betray all the confidences of a good friend and personal attorney, stressing the negative instead of the positive except for a few good jokes. But then at the end the author explains that Johnny dumped him and hurt him, which then colors the truth of everything you just read though if Johnny was as nasty as the book says, he certainly was a sad figure. I didn't particularly like the book or learn from it but stayed with it because my family has Johnny fans who were curious enough to want to finish it. If you like entertainment law or reading about the sleazy life of a very rich and very famous star, then you might like it.
December 3, 2013
A light little read about Johnny Carson that didn't satisfy. I had heard he was a rotten person and this really backed it up. Henry Bushkin was a money grubbing, fame seeking young lawyer when he met Carson and became part of his entourage. Carson pretty much said "jump" and Bushkin said "how high"? However, Bushkin says he loved the guy - they did have a falling out with money, etc. and eventually the friendship ended just like most relationships Carson had. Sad man, but haunted by demons of his youth, which I would've liked to know more about as well as his first marriage. However, he treated people like dirt while being loved by the entire country as they watched the Tonight Show for about 30 years as the host. Talented and funny man who hid behind a mask. Bushkin even sold his wife down the river to spend his time with Carson, carousing with other women. I found Bushkin to be too much of a name dropper and a showoff, so the book had little appeal for me. It was also less about Johnny Carson and more about television in the 70's and 80's. It was a page turner , but I was looking forward to the conclusion, so I could go onto something with more substance.
November 21, 2013
Terrific read for anyone old enough to have been able to appreciate what a rare talent Carson was as host of a tv talk show.
Review to follow.
Well ... if it's a review you want check out my updates.
I do want to clarify/correct one important fact I got wrong in one of the updates.
The former Carson wife who cared for Truman Capote in his fading months was Joanne -wife #2- NOT Joanna -wife #3-.
All that vampire ever did was teach Johnny the difference between Boone's Farm and Château Haut-Brion and how to over-bid on a Picasso at a Sotheby's free-for-all.
This book is best taken in stiff little shots -no beer chaser.
The vignettes are just dandy if at times a tad tawdry but when Bushkin goes defending an honor (his own) he feels was impugned wrongly in previous books about Johnny Carson the going gets froggy.
Hardboiled/Pulp fans will like one aspect of this memoir: Johnny sure gets beat up a lot. Quick wit - no moves.
Review to follow.
Well ... if it's a review you want check out my updates.
I do want to clarify/correct one important fact I got wrong in one of the updates.
The former Carson wife who cared for Truman Capote in his fading months was Joanne -wife #2- NOT Joanna -wife #3-.
All that vampire ever did was teach Johnny the difference between Boone's Farm and Château Haut-Brion and how to over-bid on a Picasso at a Sotheby's free-for-all.
This book is best taken in stiff little shots -no beer chaser.
The vignettes are just dandy if at times a tad tawdry but when Bushkin goes defending an honor (his own) he feels was impugned wrongly in previous books about Johnny Carson the going gets froggy.
Hardboiled/Pulp fans will like one aspect of this memoir: Johnny sure gets beat up a lot. Quick wit - no moves.
December 30, 2013
If you want to read a biography of Henry Bushkin, then by all means, read this book! There is not much in it that fans of Johnny Carson did not already know about HIM (except for some business dealings). We learn more than we ever wanted to know about Bushkin!
I wonder how Bushkin is able to write about the legalities between them when it is clear that the attorney-client privilege survives the death of the client. A lawyer should always maintain the confidences and secrets of the client even after the death of the client, unless ordered otherwise by a court.
It is widely known that Carson's family was with him at his death rather than his being totally alone and ignored as Bushkin states. This makes me wonder how many other "facts" were misstated in the book.
I wonder how Bushkin is able to write about the legalities between them when it is clear that the attorney-client privilege survives the death of the client. A lawyer should always maintain the confidences and secrets of the client even after the death of the client, unless ordered otherwise by a court.
It is widely known that Carson's family was with him at his death rather than his being totally alone and ignored as Bushkin states. This makes me wonder how many other "facts" were misstated in the book.
February 19, 2014
I guess that old adage about knowing your heroes holds true. I knew Johnny wasn't a peach but holy moly! Am just not sure this book really needed to be written. About 3/4 through I realized I was really repulsed by all of the main players: Johnny, his 3rd wife & his lawyer (the author). The lawyer excused his infidelity with a "That's what Johnny expected, so..." And the 3rd wife - she would receive expensive jewelry after a fight with Carson, wear them a few times, return them to the jeweler & then STASH THE CASH. Oh and Johnny's vindictiveness was just unbelievable. Just some really selfish, petty & lousy people on the whole. Not really worth the time unless you dislike Carson & want that to be confirmed.
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