'The best, a star and a gentleman'
Johnny Carson may never have played Toronto, but the people of this city welcomed him into their homes for 30 years.The long-time host of The Tonight Show died of emphysema yesterday morning in his Malibu home at the age of 79.
"This is the end of an era," said comic Joan Rivers, who credited her 1965 appearance on Carson's show with launching her career. "If you had his blessing, the whole world knew you were funny."
From 1962 through 1992, he held late-night North American television audiences enthralled. Many challengers tried to unseat the king from his throne, but no one even came close.
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He made his debut on Oct. 1, 1962, and his first guest was comedy legend Groucho Marx.At the height of the show's fame, Carson had 15 million viewers nightly, generated 17 per cent of NBC's profit and was the single most lucrative show in the network's history.
Carson was a class act. He'll be missed. In fact, he's already been missed since no one else doing late night television comes close to replacing him.
