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from the issue of October 11, 2007
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From the Archives - Johnny Carson
John Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, on Oct. 23, 1925, and grew up in Norfolk, Neb. He began his career at age 14 with a magic act called "The Great Carsoni" in Norfolk. Carson served in World War II in the Navy as an ensign, before enrolling at NU in 1947. He received his bachelor of arts degree in radio and speech (with a minor in physics) in 1949.
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| | | Johnny Carson signs an autograph during the 1971 homecoming football game at Memorial Stadium.
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Carson served as Master of Ceremonies for the male dramatic society Kosmet Klub shows from 1947-1949, and he once dressed in drag to become the first man to ever emcee the female Co-Ed Follies Show in 1948.
Carson starred in the Fiji's Kosmet Klub skits. The fraternity won first place in the 1947 Kosmet Klub fall revue for their skit, "She Was Only a Pharaoh's Daughter, But She Never Became a Mummy," which featured Carson as Cleopatra.
While at NU, Carson performed locally at the American Legion, VFW and local clubs in Lincoln at night. Carson also wrote and did shows for KFAB radio in Lincoln.
Following his graduation from NU, he worked at WOW Television in Omaha. Deciding that his future was in California, he landed a job in 1950 as staff announcer for KNXT (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles, where he soon hosted his own program, "Carson's Cellar." It ran until mid 1953.
He temporarily stopped his on-camera appearances to write material for Red Skelton's TV program. One night, just before air time, Skelton ran into a break-away door and suffered a concussion. On short notice, Johnny went on in Red Skelton's place, opening the show with a monologue he had put together while driving to the studio.
At 29, Carson became host of his own network show, "Earn Your Vacation," while also appearing as a substitute host for another up and coming TV personality, Jack Paar, on CBS's "The Morning Show." Carson continued to appear on CBS until 1956.
In 1957 he moved to ABC as host of a new daytime game show, "Who Do You Trust?." It was his first teaming with his future "Tonight" announcer, Ed McMahon. In 1958 he was again asked to fill in for Paar, this time on NBC's "The Tonight Show." On Oct. 1, 1962, Groucho Marx introduced Carson to the nation's late-night television audience as the new host of "The Tonight Show."
He died Jan. 23, 2005.
"From the Archives" is a regular feature of the Scarlet. Images provided by the College of Fine and Performing Arts. Submit items to tfedderson2@unl.edu or 472-8515.
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From the Archives - Johnny Carson
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