As the 30-year host of The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson began his time behind the desk in the early ’60s. And shortly into his iconic run, he said he’d get about “500 letters complaining that [he was] ...

Johnny Carson takes a break during a Las Vegas rehearsal in 1967, with his second wife, Joanne. She was instrumental in persuading NBC to consider Carson as host of "The Tonight Show" after Jack Paar ...

Sir: I am stunned! The cover story on Johnny Carson [May 19] was not up to TIME’s “putdown profiles.” It was quite objective. It is nice to know that Carson “packs a tight suitcase.” It takes talent ...

One of the most unusual images of Johnny Carson appeared on the cover of the May 19, 1967 issue of TIME. Carson had just received a million-dollar contract to continue The Tonight Show on NBC, and ...