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Famed US TV entertainer Johnny Carson dead
Comedian Johnny Carson, the king of U.S. late-night television as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" for nearly 30 years -- and the last face millions of Americans saw before drifting off to sleep -- died on Sunday at age 79.
Carson's topical opening monologues and on-air banter with sidekick Ed McMahon and bandleader Doc Severinsen made his show a cultural touchstone, and his death saddened many in Hollywood who got their first big break on the program.
"Mr. Carson passed away peacefully early Sunday morning" surrounded by family members, nephew Jeff Sotzing said in a statement. He died from emphysema at his Malibu, California, home, NBC said.
Carson hosted "The Tonight Show" from the fall of 1962 to the spring of 1992, dominating late-night TV and helping launch the careers of dozens of entertainers, including Joan Rivers, David Letterman, Robin Williams, George Carlin and Carson's successor, Jay Leno.
"No single individual has had as great an impact on television as Johnny. He was the gold standard," Leno said in a statement. "This is a tremendous loss for everyone who Johnny made laugh for so many years."
Aspiring comedians knew that being motioned over to the guest couch by Carson after performing their stand-up routine could instantly transform them from virtual unknowns to stars.
"This is the end of an era," Rivers, a frequent guest host on the show, told Reuters. "With Carson you went on once. You had his blessing, and the world knew you were funny."
Talent booked on Carson's show spanned generations. His very first guest in 1962 was Groucho Marx. Seven years later, some 45 million viewers tuned in to the on-air wedding of the falsetto-singing Tiny Tim to flower-child bride Miss Vicki.
SIGNATURE SWING
Introduced by McMahon nightly with the rallying cry of "Heeeeeeere's Johnny!," the lanky Carson would saunter onto the stage to open the show with his monologue, capped by his signature golf swing to usher in the rest of the show.
Known for his boyish looks and low-key, Midwestern charm, Carson was the perfect foil for a wide range of guests -- from movie stars to small-town eccentrics and wild animals. He was a master ad-libber, and many of the show's most celebrated moments were unscripted.
Carson said one of his favorites was a segment in which actor Ed Ames, who played Daniel Boone's Indian sidekick on a 1960s TV show, threw a tomahawk at a cowboy target, landing the weapon in the crotch area of the drawing.
As sustained peels of laughter died down, Carson quipped, "I didn't even know you were Jewish," igniting another round of guffaws from the audience.
Other memorable routines included "Stump the Band," sketch comedy bits performed by "The Mighty Carson Art Players" and "Carnac the Magnificent," in which Carson would sit at his desk in a large turban to guess the punch lines of jokes contained in envelopes presented to him by McMahon.
Carson's final "Tonight Show" broadcast aired on Friday, May 22, 1992, and was seen by 55 million viewers.
"I am one of the lucky people in the world. I have found something I liked to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it," a teary-eyed Carson said as he closed the show for the last time. "I bid you a very heartfelt good night."
In later years, Carson rarely ventured into the public eye. In a 2002 Esquire magazine interview, Carson said he was content spending his retirement occupied with boating and playing poker with friends. He even refused a personal appeal from NBC Chairman Bob Wright to join in celebrating the network's 75th anniversary in an all-star special.
After a 1999 quadruple bypass heart operation, Carson cut back on his tennis and travel. An on-air smoker for many years in an era before cigarettes were taboo on TV, he was diagnosed with emphysema in 2002. But friends said he kept up with current events. Former producer and friend Peter Lassally said recently that Carson occasionally wrote jokes that he would send to Letterman, who lost out to Leno in the competition to replace Carson at NBC but whom Carson regarded as his rightful heir. "All of us who came after are pretenders," Letterman told the syndicated TV show "Access Hollywood." "We will not see the likes of him again. He gave me a shot on his show and in doing so gave me a career. A night doesn't go by that I don't ask myself, 'What would Johnny have done?"' A former amateur magician and ventriloquist, Carson began his career as a radio announcer in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1948 after a stint in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was a writer on the popular variety series "The Red Skelton Show" and hosted his first TV show, "Carson's Cellar," in 1951. He also hosted the early ABC game show, "Who Do You Trust," where he was paired with McMahon for the first time in 1958. Carson replaced Jack Paar as "The Tonight Show" host in October 1962, bringing a cooler and more easy-going demeanor to the job. Paar died last January. Steve Allen, the show's first permanent host, died in October of 2000. Carson's family said there would be no memorial service.
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