Johnny Carson was a genuine phenomenon. Despite widespread changes in politics, culture, and America itself over the course of the thirty years he reigned supreme as the unofficial "king of late night," Carson retained his popularity. He could tell the lamest, cringe-worthiest joke and make the audience explode in hilarity just by raising his eyebrow, deadpan-style. Carson could brilliantly shoot the breeze with any guest - a Hollywood headliner or a citizen from Main Street, USA.
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When he stepped down from hosting The Tonight Show in 1992, an era sadly came to a close. His name will always be writ large and reverently in the television history books. It's hard to picture this strait-laced man cutting loose on the town, but he allegedly did.
Johnny Carson's Friend And Former Neighbor Has Written A Book About Him
This year marks exactly two decades since Johnny Carson passed away. He died in 2005 at the age of 79. One of his neighbors and close friends from the tony enclave of Malibu, California, Howard Smith, has written a new book about the TV star called My Friend Johnny.
Per nypost.com, Smith shared, "Knowing John for 25 years, when I used to go over to his house and we'd sit around and talk about different things and life, the wonderful thing that I've found while writing this book to me is I've reminisced and gone back to these memories,"
Author Howard Smith Describes An Encounter With A Sheriff After He And The TV Host Had A Bit Too Much To Drink
According to the outlet, in his book, Smith writes about an evening at La Scala, a popular restaurant, with Carson. An admirer of the TV host bought him a drink. That one led to more and more drinking by the chummy pair. Finally, Smith asked a sheriff who was also in the restaurant if he could possibly give them a lift home. They were definitely not sober enough to get there themselves.
As Smith tells it, the sheriff adamantly said no at first. Then Johnny Carson finally coaxed him into transporting them home. Guess the legendary TV star turned on that famous charm - and it worked!
