Johnny Carson Quotes from Academy Archive Interviewees

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television mourns the passing of Johnny Carson and regrets that it was unable to interview him. Below are some excerpts from the Archive’s collection featuring interviewees who spoke about working with Mr. Carson. The entire collection may be screened at the archive offices in North Hollywood. For more information, call (818) 509-2260

Seaman Jacobs (Comedy Writer)
“It was the early ’50s. The game show Earn Your Vacation was a house package of CBS, and Johnny Carson got the job. Contestants came on, and if they answered the questions properly they won a trip. Johnny used to do a joke about it later on. He said, ‘One of the contestants won a trip to Australia and he’s still down there trying to win a trip back.’”

Ed McMahon (Announcer) Watch the interview clip in Quicktime
[Talking about the first Tonight Show with Carson.]

Fred de Cordova (Producer) Watch the interview clip in Quicktime

“I think there are a lot of people on the air today who do jokes and get laughs with material that Johnny would say, ‘I don't think it's suitable.’ Johnny was the best-read person I've ever known. You could not bring up an article, and certainly not a book or magazine, that he hadn't read. He had an enormous desire to be up on everything, and he actually was. There were jokes made that you could go into a dentist office one day and pick up the Plumbers Monthly Digest and leaf through it until the dentist was ready for you. Then you’d go see Johnny, who says, ‘I was reading the Plumbers Digest the other day. That article about that screwdriver thing? That's very interesting.’ There was nothing he hadn't read. And that's historical, astronomical, sports. I can get a little bit overboard on this—but it's not overboard in my heart. He’s just about the most remarkable man I've ever known.”

Steve Allen (Host)
“Some people say, ‘Oh, I bet you wouldn’t give up the Tonight Show.’ No, I would give it up, as fast as I gave it up the first time. In fact, how Johnny Carson, how any human being, was able to stay behind that desk for thirty years—I could have never had done that. It would have driven me crazy. Johnny did it, and did it great.”

Florence Henderson (Performer)
“Johnny was brilliant, and I don’t think anyone has lasted much longer, and is missed as much as he is. And I think all of us who had the good fortune to work with him wish that he would come back, wish Johnny would do this interview, let people know. But he is a very shy man. He was never really comfortable making small talk, chit-chat. But he was very comfortable doing what he knew how to do so well, and that was interviewing people, being funny. He was brilliant. And I think he’s greatly missed on television. Because he had so much class. He gave so many people a break, and so many comedians got their start on his show—including Jay Leno and David Letterman, and all those people that are around today.”

Hugh Downs (Host)
“Johnny Carson was another person that didn’t wear out his welcome. In his thirty years, nobody was tired of him when he left. He put the spotlight on his guests. He wasn’t trying to hog it. His ego didn’t get in the way.”

Lyle “Skitch” Henderson (Music Director)
“The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson legacy…if Steve Allen was the Model A, Carson was probably the Cadillac. Everything was in place, organized—the takes, the camera the shots, everything.”

Phyllis Diller (Comedienne)
“Oh, how I respect this man! Genius. Brilliant. Genius. A gentleman, a scholar, a private person. So brilliant. And physically fearless. He did a lot of things that were really hard to do, and he used to keep himself in such wonderful shape. He may never be topped as a monologist on television on a regular basis.”

Fred Rogers (Host)
“I remember one time going out on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He said to me, ‘You know, Fred, we wouldn't do these parodies if we didn't like you.’ And I at first didn't understand what he meant. And somebody said to me, ‘Well, my goodness, he's making you famous.’ But what he meant is this is a form of flattery.”

Tony Mottola (Guitarist)
“Johnny was so interested in doing things. He took flying lessons, so he had to fly with the Blue Devils, just to prove that he could do it. He said to me one time, ‘How long do you think it would take me to learn to accompany myself on a song on a guitar?’ He has no idea how to play the guitar at all. He said, ‘I want to be serious. I want to do something beautiful like ‘What’s New,’ or ‘Misty.’ We worked for about six months, and he got it down pretty good. He did it on the show one night. I wish I had a tape of that show, because he explained to the audience what he was going to do, and he explained who I was, and they had a shot of me. I was so proud of my pupil. He did a hell of a job. He went out to Vegas, he did it one time and never did it again. But, that’s Johnny—when there’s a challenge, he’s ready for it.”

Bob Newhart (Comedian) Watch the interview clip in Quicktime

“As I understand it, he once said if he devoted the time to his marriages that he had devoted to the Tonight Show, he’d still be married to his first wife. The Tonight Show was his mistress. And he devoted a lot of time to making it work.”