Carson's brother made name for himself in Hollywood

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Dick Carson seems uneasy talking about himself.

Instead of reminiscing about the years he spent directing some of television’s most notable shows, he often turned the conversation back to his brother, Johnny Carson, the man who, for 30 years, cast a spell on late-night television viewers.

So well known was the elder Carson that many people may have overlooked Dick Carson, who — while Johnny hosted “The Tonight Show — directed shows like the “Tonight Show,” “Merv Griffin Show” and “Wheel of Fortune,” earning him five Emmy Awards.

“In college, I was a radio and speech major and spent most of my extracurricular time in theater productions as an actor. My exposure to entertainment through Johnny probably was the catalyst for my going into the field of entertainment,” Carson said during a telephone interview from his home in California.

Yes, Dick Carson considers California home.

Nebraskans may scoff at the idea that one of the Carson boys could call any place other than the Cornhusker state home. After all, Dick was just 5 years old and Johnny was just 9 in 1934 when they moved to Norfolk from Corning, Iowa, with their parents.

Dick Carson graduated from Norfolk High School in 1947, attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and then entered the U.S. Navy, which landed him in California.

Nebraska hasn’t been his official home since.

Still, Carson’s voice betrays his longing for the “Leave it to Beaver” type of childhood he experienced in Norfolk.

“It was the perfect existence,” he said. “We walked to school and walked home. In the fall, John and I would rake leaves into piles and play football. It was great.”

And even though California is now home, Carson and his wife, Karlyn, will be returning to Norfolk next month to attend part of the 2010 Viaero Great American Comedy Festival.

Carson will receive the festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award during the finals of the competition on Saturday, June 19, at the theater named for his brother. That event will also feature comedy legend award recipient Ed Asner and headliner and host Larry Miller.

The five-day festival begins on Wednesday, June 16, and concludes on Sunday, June 20.
“TV stars don’t last forever,” Carson said of the comedy festival. “I think it’s wonderful that you’re keeping Johnny’s name alive. And I think he would be proud of the festival.”

In return, Norfolkans are proud of Johnny. But they also should be proud of Dick Carson, whose accomplishments are noteworthy, too.

The younger Carson got his first glimpse of Hollywood while stationed with the Navy in southern California, just down the road from Los Angeles where Johnny was working on his own local TV show.
“I would come up and visit Johnny while he was working on ‘Carson’s Cellar,’ ” Carson said.

When Carson’s stint in the service ended, he traveled north to L.A. where he landed a job directing the “Soupy Sales Show.” When Johnny got his “big break” in the Big Apple in 1962, he asked his brother to join “The Tonight Show” team as a director.

There, the brothers continued the close relationship they had enjoyed as children. In addition to working together every day, they sometimes dined at a favorite restaurant after work, Carson said. “Johnny was very well read and well informed, so he was always a great dinner partner,” Carson said.

After seven years in New York City, Carson and his late wife, Patricia, who was a Columbus native, returned to California, where he “signed up” to do the “Merv Griffin Show.”

While working on the “Tonight Show” and “Merv Griffin Show,” Carson was associated with some of the most well-known personalities in show business, politics and sports — including President Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Charlton Heston, Bill Cosby and Mel Brooks.

“Merv and Nancy Reagan were close, longtime friends from their shared Warner Brothers Studio days,” Carson said.

Despite the miles that separated them physically after Dick Carson returned to California, the brothers remained close.

“My rather flip answer to the ‘closeness’ question is sometimes ‘I was best man at three of his four weddings,’ ” Carson quipped.

When Johnny moved his show to the West Coast, the brothers rekindled their frequent family gatherings, which often included tennis parties at one of their homes and sailing in Johnny’s boat.

“The many kindnesses Johnny showed us and other family members are so memorable. He took me on a wonderful trip to Europe the summer after I was widowed by my first wife’s death,” Carson said. “When my present wife, Karlyn, and I got married in California, he and his wife, Alex, hosted a beautiful wedding celebration for us at their Malibu estate.”

While Johnny’s star rose high in the entertainment sky, Carson’s star glowed behind the scenes, although there were times during his career when he tried to move to the front of the camera.

He and comedian Don Rickles worked together on a show that had a short run, Carson said. And he did a pilot for a game show that wasn’t picked up by the networks.

“It looks so simple when you watch them (game show hosts). But it’s difficult to walk out and do it well. Still, I’m glad I got it out of my system,” he joked.

In 1978, Carson joined the staff as director of “Wheel of Fortune,” the still-popular game show created by Griffin.

He was able to juggle both shows because multiple episodes were taped in one day, he said.

Griffin’s show ended in 1986, after 15 years and 3,600 episodes. So Carson turned his full attention to “Wheel of Fortune.” And in 2000, after more than 5,000 “Wheel” episodes, Carson decided he had “had enough.”

Now, he stays busy playing golf and tennis, bicycling, reading and spending time his three children and two granddaughters. He and his wife also make frequent trips back to Nebraska to visit family and friends.
But during those visits, it’s unlikely that many of the conversations center on Carson or his accomplishments.


“People see pictures of me with Orson Welles or Ronald Reagan . . . they see the Emmys and they’re surprised. I never talk about what I’ve done, but it’s been a wonderful career. I have a lot of good memories,” he said.

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Want to learn more?
For more information about the 2010 Viaero Great American Comedy Festival, go to www.greatamericancomedyfestival.com or call 877-371-2932.