Johnny Carson used his affable personality and keen talent for comedy to become a cultural icon as the King of Late-night Television and host. The Tonight Show For almost three decades, from 1962 to 1992. Gorgeous Carson As Bill Zehme (Nov. 5) details, Private Carson, who died of emphysema in 2005 at the age of 79, was elusive — relatively shy — and had some very troubled personal relationships.

A lifelong Carson fan and longtime renowned journalist, Zehme nevertheless spent years uncovering the man behind the legend. But he wrote only three-quarters of the biography before he died of cancer last year, aged 64. Chicago Sun Timescompleted the book.

In the foreword, Thomas explains why Zehme (and probably many other fans) respect Carson: The host assured viewers, “Tomorrow will come and we can laugh about what happened today and we can get up in the morning and everything will be okay, so here we go again.”

It would be hard to overstate the influence of the Nebraska-born celebrity. Aspect New York Times He wrote in his obituary: “(Carson) became the biggest, most popular star American television has ever known…. “At his peak, between 10 and 15 million Americans slept better on weeknights because of him.”

But who it was is this cultural icon off-screen?

Here are 11 things we learned about Carson from his new biography:

Homer Carson and his wife Ruth Carson, parents of Johnny Carson, in 1974.

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1. He had a complicated relationship with his mother

Ruth Carson was a tough, domineering woman with a sarcastic, sarcastic sense of humor and a quick temper. (He is said to have once smashed a set of plates against the kitchen wall.) Even after Johnny’s success, he largely withheld his praise, and she spent her life trying to please him: In 1980, she earned a coveted Governors nomination from the Television Academy. When you receive your award. He called her to tell her it was part of his job. His mild response: “I guess they know what they’re doing.” According to Carson’s acquaintance Burt Reynolds, when his mother died, Carson said, “The evil witch is dead!”

Johnny Carson, seen in this undated photograph from his childhood, was known as “The Great Carson” while performing magic shows.

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2. Magic was his first love and primary interest

Carson described being almost pathologically shy throughout his life (parties made him extremely uncomfortable). Los Angeles Times In 1986, he said, “I think it’s a book I read when I was 12. Hoffmann’s Book of Spells “It probably changed the course of my life.” From then on, Big Carsoni, as the young man called himself, became obsessed, using every opportunity he could get and practicing on his family. Although when he was off the air he was almost as reclusive as Howard Hughes. The Tonight Show The following year, Carson invited leading magicians to his home in Malibu to show and demonstrate the latest advances in the art.

Johnny Carson in the Navy during World War II.

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3. He learned the necessity of laughter the hard way

During World War II, he enlisted in the Navy and became a communications officer deciphering encrypted messages. At one point, he was assigned to descend into a hole in the stern of a bombed ship and supervise the recovery of 20 bodies. “God, that was a terrible experience,” he recounted Time magazine in an unpublished interview. “They had been there for 18 days by then, and let me tell you, it was a terrible job.” Author Zehme wrote: “He came to deeply understand the greater importance of encouraging laughter as an essential distraction from daily human fatigue and lonely misery.”