Johnny Carson- Book

Johnny Carson by Henry Bushkin

I generally like autobiographies.  All kinds of autobiographies.  Celebrities, sports, politics, I like them all.  Kirk Douglas, Andre Agassi, Gene Simmons, Shannon Tweed,  Bob Barker, Barbara Walters, Jimmy Conners, Mike Piazza, Javy Lopez, Ellen DeGeneres, Adam Carolla, Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Director Kevin Smith,  Bear Grylls, Regis Philbin, Steve Jobs, just to name several.  I have enjoyed most every one.

When I was a kid there was only one late night guy, Johnny Carson.  If you were going to watch tv after 11p it was watching Johnny or watching late night movies.  He was the King.  I listened to Ed McMahon's book Here's Johnny.  I thought it was interesting yet to me seemed like a real puff piece.  I thought it was funny that it was released months after Carson's death in 2005.  Ed had nothing but wonderful things to say about Johnny and what a great guy he was.

This book is written by Henry Bushkin.  He was Johnny's right hand man and lead lawyer.  While I found it interesting and it does tell a good bit of the behind the scenes with Carson and the Tonight Show.  It is clear from the start that Bushkin has a score to settle with Johnny.  By the end of the book you see why.  I'm surprised it took him so long to write the book.  Bushkin is more than happy to tell what a controlling jerk Carson was.  He talks freely about all of the times Johnny cheated on his wives (often) and how rude he was to people when he wasn't in front of the camera making America laugh.

I'm always leery about books where people recall exact conversations had 40+ years ago down to the hold the mayo on the ham sandwich.  I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday.  Bushkin made million$ off of Carson and enjoyed many all expense paid luxury vacations on his tab.  Yet he has little good to say about him.  He blames much of Carsons stand offish personality on his very cold mother whom he could never please no matter how hard he tried.

At his peak the money Carson was making is hard to comprehend.  In the 80s Johnny was making $25 million a year for a three day work week, thirty seven weeks a year.  Vegas was paying him $250,000 a week with plenty of perks to do his show four nights.  Johnny had his own clothing line of high end suits.  He was making $2 million a year and all he had to do was pose for pictures two days a year.  He found that to be too much trouble for those two days and shut down the company. Three ex-wives. The last wife cost him $38 million.

If you are a Johnny Carson fan you will like the walk down memory lane.  I have no doubt Johnny was as rough as Bushkin makes him out to be.  I just think he could have balanced it out by throwing in some good here and there too.

It was sad that when Johnny died of lung cancer (four pack a day smoker) in January of 2005 neither his wife or any of his kids were at his side.  He was alone.  Maybe Bushkin was right...