Johnny Carson Regretted His Failures As A Father
Johnny Carson’s oldest son, Chris, ed away earlier this year at the age of 74, as reported by multiple sources. Chris had two younger brothers — Cory, still alive, and Rick, who died in a car accident in 1991. The death was a reminder that the late Tonight Show host had several regrets as a father.
Carson divorced Chris’ mother while Chris and his brothers were still young, rationalizing that it was the best thing for his sons. “They're far better off if there’s an honest, clean divorce,” Carson told Playboy in 1967. “I’m happy to notice that my boys don’t seem to be negatively affected by mine. I think they’re getting along fine.”
But how would Carson know? “He was married to The Tonight Show. That was his life,” Carson the Magnificent co-author Mike Thomas told Fox News. “Johnny lamented the fact that he was not much closer to his sons.”
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Carson simply didn’t have whatever it took “to be a father the way he wanted to be a father or the way he thought he should be a father,” Thomas explained.
“That sense of failure overcomes you,” Carson later told Barbara Walters about his first divorce. “That you have been less than you should have, as a husband or father. Those guilt feelings can be overwhelming at times — especially if the children are young.”
Carson’s relationship with his boys “was difficult and bittersweet, especially knowing that he hadn’t given what they deserved to have,” said actress Suzanne Pleshette, a friend of the family. “These kids have a lot of legitimate complaints — and yet, it’s these guys’ demons that made them who they are.”
Cory Carson agreed that his father was a better talk show host than a parent. “My feelings about my dad are quite mixed,” he said in a 2005 email, according to Carson the Magnificent. “Professionally, he was without a doubt most suited for the career he sought. The right man for the job and ... at the right time in history. On the personal side of the coin, he left his kids and family as a consequence to (pursue) that professional end and, as a result, made life most difficult for those left to watch the ‘magic’ unfold without the benefit of experiencing it with him.”
As a father, Carson wasn’t unlike other entertainers of his generation, Cory reasoned. “So whaddaya gonna do?”
At the taping of his final Tonight Show, in the presence of Chris and Cory, Carson offered a public apology of sorts. “I realize that being the offspring of somebody who is constantly in the public eye is not easy,” he said. “So guys, I want you to know that I love you, and I hope your old man hasn’t caused you too much discomfort.”
