This was an excellently researched book, and was written objectively, but also admiringly about the subject. Sometimes the writer’s style got a little too loquacious, but overall a very good read.
Carson the Magnificent
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars | 249 ratings
Price: 17.05
Last update: 12-20-2024
About this item
A much-anticipated biography—twenty years in the making—of the entertainer who redefined late-night television and reshaped American culture.
In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Zehme was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles, and the resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005 and urged on by many of those closest to Carson, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade—interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends and filling up a storage locker with his voluminous research—before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. When he died in 2023 his obituaries mentioned the Carson book, with New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman calling it “one of the great unfinished biographies.”
Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history: A man who brought so much joy and laughter to so many millions but was himself exceedingly shy and private. Zehme traces Carson’s rise from a magic-obsessed Nebraska boy to a Navy ensign in World War II to a burgeoning radio and TV personality to, eventually, host of The Tonight Show—which he transformed, along with the entirety of American popular culture, over the next three decades. Without Carson, there would be no late-night television as we know it. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also captures the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages, troubles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of a child.
In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer in the mid-80s for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.” Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.
Top reviews from the United States
Barbara p.5.0 out of 5 stars insightful bio
Irkle Berserkle3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I've read several Carson biographies and pre-ordered this one long in advance. I expected it to be chock full of new information. Otherwise, why do we need another Carson biography?
The lead author died before the book was completed, but that's neither here nor there. The main problems with the book are two:
1. The writing style and organization are distinctly odd. It definitely does not flow anything like a conventional biography. The writing style seems self-consciously quirky, to the point that I sometimes had to re-read a sentence or paragraph to try to make sense of it.
2. For all the original research that supposedly went into this book, there is scant evidence of it. If I learned anything new, it was no more than a handful of tidbits. It's really a very sketchy overview of Carson's life.
The reality is, I believe, that the private Carson was unknowable - and intentionally so. What emerges, then, is the standard portrait of a deeply troubled and conflicted character almost completely at odds with the public host of the Tonight show. This book doesn't unravel the mystery any better than the others.
Hence my disappointment. For a biography published by a major publisher in 2024, I expected considerably more.
The lead author died before the book was completed, but that's neither here nor there. The main problems with the book are two:
1. The writing style and organization are distinctly odd. It definitely does not flow anything like a conventional biography. The writing style seems self-consciously quirky, to the point that I sometimes had to re-read a sentence or paragraph to try to make sense of it.
2. For all the original research that supposedly went into this book, there is scant evidence of it. If I learned anything new, it was no more than a handful of tidbits. It's really a very sketchy overview of Carson's life.
The reality is, I believe, that the private Carson was unknowable - and intentionally so. What emerges, then, is the standard portrait of a deeply troubled and conflicted character almost completely at odds with the public host of the Tonight show. This book doesn't unravel the mystery any better than the others.
Hence my disappointment. For a biography published by a major publisher in 2024, I expected considerably more.
Robert W. Kates4.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Carson Biography, But Not the Best One Out There
This Johnny Carson biography has been long awaited. It was released on election day, November 5, 2024. Bill Zehme wrote a good portion of the book, then contracted cancer. He passed away in 2023 at age 64 and his assistant, Mike Thomas, finished the book. Zehme had written books about show biz giants such as Frank Sinatra, Andy Kaufman, Hugh Hefner and Jay Leno. I expected this book to be longer, especially since Zehme worked on it for many years. The book did a good job of covering the major events in Johnny’s life, from his time growing up in Nebraska, to his various TV shows that he hosted and touched on his retirement years. Many people have questions about Johnny’s 13 retirement years (1992-2005) after The Tonight Show ended. Apparently, he spent a lot of time on his 130 foot yacht, Serengeti. The book mentioned how Johnny and his fourth wife Alex had some challenges, but he did not want to be a guy who got divorced four times. I would have liked Zehme to go into more detail about Johnny’s different shows, such as Carson’s Cellar, The Johnny Carson Show, Earn Your Vacation, Who Do You Trust and of course The Tonight Show. The Carson biography by his talent coordinator Craig Tennis went into more detail about the behind-the-scenes aspects that went into producing The Tonight Show. The book talked about Johnny’s challenging relationship with his mother and how that led to shape his view of women. This can be linked to the fact that he had four marriages and had problems with infidelity. His drinking got in the way of building strong relationships with women, so did the fact that he was married to his job. But that was common with many men of his generation. In his 60 Minutes interview with Mike Wallace, Johnny discussed how he did not handle alcohol well. The book talked about his four wives, how he met them, the differences between them, and factors that led to the marriages ending. The end of Johnny’s first marriage was devastating to him, probably since they had three kids together, and she was with him through the early days of his career. Some may think that Johnny was always rich and famous, but he was not. He had to pay his dues like anyone else. He had shows that were not successful. I wish the book would have talked more about people like Ed McMahon, Doc Severinsen, Fred de Cordova, Peter Lassally, etc. This book did not delve into the psychological analysis of Johnny to the degree that other books did, especially the book by his lawyer Henry Bushkin. The book had some email quotes from Johnny’s son which I don’t think we have seen before. It's not a revelation that Johnny was not a great father or husband, but his son realizes that he did the best he could under the circumstances. It would be nice to get a definitive biography of Johnny that went into extensive detail about every aspect of his life, but it remains to be seen whether that will happen.
There have been many biographies of Johnny Carson over the years. Some others that I’d recommend include:
Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin
King of the Night by Laurence Leamer
And Now…Here’s Johnny! By Nora Ephron
Johnny Tonight by Craig Tennis
Carson: The Unauthorized Biography by Paul Corkery
So, there are many ways to learn about the fascinating life of a supremely talented but complicated man who many view as the undisputed king of late-night TV.
People who crave a deep dive into the life of Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show should check out Mark Malkoff’s Carson Podcast. This podcast was produced from 2014-2022 and totaled almost 400 episodes. Many prominent celebrities were interviewed who appeared on Johnny’s show. In addition, several people who were crew members on Johnny’s show discuss what it was like behind-the-scenes on such an iconic program.
There have been many biographies of Johnny Carson over the years. Some others that I’d recommend include:
Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin
King of the Night by Laurence Leamer
And Now…Here’s Johnny! By Nora Ephron
Johnny Tonight by Craig Tennis
Carson: The Unauthorized Biography by Paul Corkery
So, there are many ways to learn about the fascinating life of a supremely talented but complicated man who many view as the undisputed king of late-night TV.
People who crave a deep dive into the life of Johnny Carson and his Tonight Show should check out Mark Malkoff’s Carson Podcast. This podcast was produced from 2014-2022 and totaled almost 400 episodes. Many prominent celebrities were interviewed who appeared on Johnny’s show. In addition, several people who were crew members on Johnny’s show discuss what it was like behind-the-scenes on such an iconic program.
Kent Sanders5.0 out of 5 stars A stellar biography of an entertainment legend!
When this book was announced nearly 20 years ago, I could barely contain my excitement. I'd read Bill Zehme's Esquire piece on Carson (the only interview he'd granted post-Tonight Show) and loved it. And I couldn't wait for the full book to come out since I'd been a Carson fan for a long time.
However, as the years went by and the book didn't come out, I mostly lost hope it would ever see the light of day. Then when I heard that Zehme was battling cancer and the book was on hold, I figured it would never be published--particularly after Zehme's death last year.
That's why I was thrilled to learn earlier this year that Mike Thomas would be completing the book, and that it would finally be released. Thomas accomplished two incredible feats in completing this long-gestating book.
First, he wrapped up the story of Carson's life--no small feat considering he was a TV giant for 30 years and has influenced every late-night talk show host since then. Thomas did an incredible job making the seamless transition from Bill's portion of the book (about the first three quarters) to his.
And second, Thomas paid a beautiful tribute to Zehme, particularly in the Prologue. I never knew Zehme personally, but I can't help but think he'd be incredibly proud of this book and how Thomas completed the task he'd started so many years before.
If you love Carson or entertainment biographies, you'll love "Carson the Magnificent." If you're a ghostwriter, editor, or biographer, you'll love the book even more because it's a perfect example of telling someone's story without getting in the way. In this case, Thomas had the double task of telling two stories: Caron's life story, and the story of Zehme's journey to complete the book.
Hats off to Thomas, Zehme, and Simon & Schuster for ensuring this book was still released after quite a long and winding road to publication.
Kent Sanders
Ghostwriter & Host of The Profitable Writer podcast
However, as the years went by and the book didn't come out, I mostly lost hope it would ever see the light of day. Then when I heard that Zehme was battling cancer and the book was on hold, I figured it would never be published--particularly after Zehme's death last year.
That's why I was thrilled to learn earlier this year that Mike Thomas would be completing the book, and that it would finally be released. Thomas accomplished two incredible feats in completing this long-gestating book.
First, he wrapped up the story of Carson's life--no small feat considering he was a TV giant for 30 years and has influenced every late-night talk show host since then. Thomas did an incredible job making the seamless transition from Bill's portion of the book (about the first three quarters) to his.
And second, Thomas paid a beautiful tribute to Zehme, particularly in the Prologue. I never knew Zehme personally, but I can't help but think he'd be incredibly proud of this book and how Thomas completed the task he'd started so many years before.
If you love Carson or entertainment biographies, you'll love "Carson the Magnificent." If you're a ghostwriter, editor, or biographer, you'll love the book even more because it's a perfect example of telling someone's story without getting in the way. In this case, Thomas had the double task of telling two stories: Caron's life story, and the story of Zehme's journey to complete the book.
Hats off to Thomas, Zehme, and Simon & Schuster for ensuring this book was still released after quite a long and winding road to publication.
Kent Sanders
Ghostwriter & Host of The Profitable Writer podcast