Johnny Carson Was ‘A Bit Emotionally Separated’ From His Wives and Children Until Tragedy Struck

From 1962 to 1992, America went to bed with The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. On the show, Johnny perfected the art of the topical opening monologue, performed in long-running comedy sketches and made nearly everyone who sat down on his couch appear interesting. “He always thought his superpower was his empathy with his audience,” says Mike Thomas, coauthor with the late Bill Zehme of the new biography Carson the Magnificent, which aims to share the human side of the show business legend.

It’s a tall order, because despite Johnny’s success and fame, he remained a deeply private person. “He knew plenty of showbiz types, but he didn’t need to cohort with them,” says Thomas, who adds that Johnny enjoyed the company of magicians and musicians most. He was also perfectly content on his own. “He didn’t mind spending his days reading and being out on his yacht,” he says. “He was always reading books, newspapers, magazines — just hoovering knowledge up.”

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Born in Iowa but raised in Nebraska after the age of 8, Johnny was the middle child in his family. “He had a largely idyllic childhood,” says Thomas, who notes that Johnny took an interest in performing and magic very early. “He was so obsessed with magic that his mother recalled in an early magazine article that it became annoying. He was always saying, ‘Look at me. Watch this.’”

Johnny “idolized” his father, a power company lineman, notes Thomas, but his relationship with his mother was cooler. “His mother could be domineering, emotionally withholding and hard to please,” he says. “That breeds insecurity in a child.” It was only after her death that Johnny learned that she had kept a scrapbook of articles about him.

That troubled relationship might have made it hard for Johnny to relate to his four wives and three children. “He was always a bit emotionally separated,” says Thomas, who explains that during his years on The Tonight Show, Johnny’s job dominated his life. “When his son Ricky died in 1991, you could see the depth of love Johnny had for him,” he says. “He lamented the fact that he hadn’t been a better father.”

Johnny never quite got marriage right either — although he gave up drinking hard liquor in his later years to try to bring more stability into his life. “He was a bad drinker with a low tolerance,” explains Thomas. “It only took three vodkas and the switch was flipped. He knew it affected him poorly, so he lessened his drinking.”

The performer, who died in 2005 at age 79, also made an effort to make the world a better place after he was gone. “He did everything from building theaters to medical centers,” says Thomas. “Johnny’s giving was not done in a loud way. He supported scholarships, his college, his high school and ACLU causes. It was a far more generous outlay than anyone realized.”