Jack Paar

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Who could forget the smooth sound of Ed McMahon's voice announcing with practiced timbre, "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" each night to millions of Americans as they sat up in their living rooms ready to watch another round of Johnny Carson giving his low-key monologue with the hard-to-resist deadpan delivery that we all came to know and love. Even today in the new millennium, thanks to classic TV DVDs, we are still able to see the comedic genius at work, albeit it doesn't have to be in the wee hours of the morning.

Johnny Carson's primary claim to fame was as America's late night king of comedy. For thirty years he hosted NBC television's Tonight Show, and because of his up-to-the-minute monologues, flippant characters and lighthearted sketches he entered more homes via the television than any other performer had ever done before. His late night set provided the launching pad for many budding stars and starlets, gave widespread publicity for hundreds of books, movies and gadgets and never failed to offer a laugh (or two or three) to the millions of viewers tuned in.

Carson was well known as getting his start in the world of magic at a very young age in his hometown of Norfolk, Nebraska. Performing feats of prestidigitation was his first love, but that was interrupted by World War II and a couple of years in the US Navy. After the war, Carson decided to attend college and chose the field of radio as his major. This proved to be a good choice for a young guy who had no idea of the impact that entertainment, particularly television, was about to have on the world at large as well has his home soil. After graduation he started a job as a radio deejay, but shortly thereafter the advent of TV began to take the country by storm.

Starting out with television at its inception must have been an exciting time. Johnny Carson got in on the true ground floor and never left until his retirement some 40 years later. What a mark he left on the industry. His first stint on the visual air was hosting an afternoon program broadcast out of Omaha, Nebraska, called The Squirrel's Nest. He pretty much had the run of that show doing local interviews, practicing his vast array of characters by performing skits and sketches and learning how to perfect his inimitable timing in the delivery of jokes and stories. Today some of his earliest works can be seen on classic TV DVD selections where a young Carson displays the same endearing grin he charmed audiences with decades later.

Johnny Carson decided to try television in a big way when he made the decision to move to Hollywood in the 1950s. During his fledgling years in Hollywood, Carson hosted a gamut of television shows ranging from such titles as Carson's Cellar, two different versions of the Johnny Carson Show, and two quiz shows called Earn Your Vacation and Who Do You Trust? During this time he also worked as a writer for the Red Skelton Show. All of this was merely practice for what many say is his greatest achievement - replacing the retiring Jack Paar and hosting the Tonight Show.

It was in the Fall of 1962 that Carson took the seat behind the famous desk that was to be his for the next 30 years. Even though he had a completely opposite style from Paar, Carson did not need long to win over his audience. Before a half year had passed, the Tonight Show ratings were exceeding Paar's by almost 500,000 viewers. It was an unprecedented event when within a decade and a half on the air, the Tonight Show doubled its audience numbers. Johnny Carson had left his mark on the world and became an icon of classic television. Film critic, David Edelstein, put it so well when he wrote Carson was the "naughty genius of late night".

Johnny Carson was an entertainer who drew viewers in night after night with his droll expressions, edgy comedic sketches and compelling, humorous interviews. His comedy was as timeless as his slim, dapper, boyish good looks. Through the emergence of classic television on DVD, Johnny Carson's comedy is being relived by his fans and seen for the first time by a new generation.

~Ben Anton, 2007

If you enjoyed this article and appreciate quality classic television we invite to you to visit our site and read more about Johnny Carson classics on DVD [http://www.classictelevisionblog.com/tv/johnny_carson/index.html]

Learn Who The Famous People Born On February 14Th Are – Jack Benny And More!!!

Learn Who The Famous People Born on February 14th Are – Jack Benny And More!!!

 BENJAMIN KUBELSKY (JACK BENNY)  was a comedian, vaudevillian, and an actor for radio, television and film.  He’s considered one of the leading entertainers of the 20th century.   His usual role was that of  someone who was comically “tight” with his money and insisting that he was 39 years old whatever his actual age might have been.  He also tried the violin but played it badly.  He was born in 1984, in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of a Jewish saloonkeeper/haberdasher who came to America from Poland.  His mother came from Lithuania.  His weekly radio show, The Jack Benny Program (NBS-1932-1948 & CBS-1949-1955) was one of radio’s highest rated programs.  It made Benny famous. Then there was the television version of his program that aired from 1950-1965.   He also acted in movies, including The Hollywood Revue of 1929  which won an Academy Award.  (d. 1974)

 HUGH MALCOLM DOWNS  was born in Akron, Ohio in 1921.  He is a retired broadcaster, TV host, producer and author.  He’s been anchor of 20/20, (1978-1999), host of The Today Show, announcer for The Tonight Show (w/ Jack Paar), host of the Concentration game show, host of PBS talk show Over Easy (1977-1983).  He earned a degree in gerontology from Hunter College while he was doing the PBS show.  He also was  co-host of the talk show Not for Women Only.  He was a special  consultant to the UN for refugee problems (1961-1964) and as Chairman of the Board of the United States Committee for UNICEF.  He is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Space Society and president and chair of its predecessor National Space Institute.  There is an asteroid named after him;  71000 Hughdowns.

 PAUL EFTHEMIOS TSONGAS  was born in 1941 in Lowell, Massachusetts.  He was educated at Dartmouth, Yale Law School, and Kennedy School of Government (Harvard).   Tsongas served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1975-1979;  the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1962-1964;  and as the Peace Corps Country Director in the West Indies from 1967-1968.   He was a United States Democratic Senator from Massachusetts from 1979-1985.  The diagnosis of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1984 caused him to retire from the senate to fit his illness.  In 1992 he ran for the Democratic nomination for president.  He lost out to Bill Clinton.  In 1997 the cancer came back.  He died of pneumonia and liver failure on January 18.

 DAVID FRANCIS DRAVECKY is a Christian motivational speaker, an author and former Major League Baseball player for the San Diego Padres (1982-1987) and the San Francisco Giants (1987-1989).  He is remembered for his fight against cancer that ended his career as his team was reaching the World Series.  A cancerous desmoids tumor was found in his pitching arm.  In October 1988 he underwent surgery on the arm to eliminate the cancer cells.  However, in July 1989, as he was pitching in a game, his bone snapped and he Dravecky collapsed.  His left arm and shoulder were amputated in 1991.   The baseball career was finished.  He became a motivational speaker and an author about his battle with cancer, his book Comeback  was published in 1990, and When You Can’t Come Back in 1992, written with his wife Jan and Ken Gire.  He’s also written a Christian motivational book titled Called Up  and Comeback has been republished as a ‘self-titled autobiography for children in 1992.  He won the 1989 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.

 RENEE FLEMING was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1959.  She is a Grammy Award winning (3 times) soprano who specializes in opera and lieder.  She has a full lyric soprano voice.  She studied at the Crane School of Music, State University of  New York at Potsdam.  She won a Fulbright Scholarship enabling her to work in Europe and then followed up by studies at The Juilliard School.    Fleming has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian and English.  Her roles include Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello, Violetta in Verdi’s La traviata, the title role in Dvolak’s Rusalka, the title role in Massenet’s Manon, and Thais,  the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, and the title heroine in Arabella.  She performs in opera houses and concert halls all over the world.   She was awarded the Swedish Polar Prize in 2008,

  GREGORY OLIVER HINES  was born in New York City in 1946.  He is an actor, singer, dancer and choreographer. With his brother Maurice,  Hines started at early  studying with choreographer Henry LeTang.  He was lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance (1975-1976).  His movie debut was in Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part 1 and later on appeared in movies such as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared, Tap and Waiting to Exhale.  In 1997 he had his own series, The Gregory Hines Show on CBS.  He also had a recurring role on Will & Grace.  His Broadway debut happened in The Girl in Pink Tights, (1954) and for his earned Tony Award nominations for  Eubie (1979) and Comin’ Uptown (1980).  For Jelly’s Last Jam he earned the Drama Desk Award and a Tony.  Hines died of liver cancer on August 3, 2003.

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What were the roles of guest hosts on the Tonight Show?

I was reading about the Tonight Show on NBC and it said that back when Jack Paar and Johnny Carson hosted the show they would often have guest hosts on the show. Jack Paar and Johnny Carson were slightly before my time so I never watched them myself, but I'm curious as to what the role of these guest hosts were.

Guest hosts would host the show (usually with Ed) when Johnny wanted the night off. Jack Paar was before my time so I can't answer on that one.

Have a Conversation Instead of Writing Questions for Interviews [Interviewing]
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