
Carson the Magnificent
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Narrated by:
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Johnny Heller
About this listen
A much-anticipated biography—twenty years in the making—of the entertainer who redefined late-night television and reshaped American culture.
In 2002, Bill Zehme landed one of the most coveted assignments for a magazine writer: an interview with Johnny Carson—the only one he’d granted since retiring from hosting The Tonight Show a decade earlier. Zehme was tapped for the Esquire feature story thanks to his years of legendary celebrity profiles, and the resulting piece portrayed Carson as more human being than showbiz legend. Shortly after Carson’s death in 2005 and urged on by many of those closest to Carson, Zehme signed a contract to do an expansive biography. He toiled on the book for nearly a decade—interviewing dozens of Carson’s colleagues and friends and filling up a storage locker with his voluminous research—before a cancer diagnosis and ongoing treatments halted his progress. When he died in 2023 his obituaries mentioned the Carson book, with New York Times comedy critic Jason Zinoman calling it “one of the great unfinished biographies.”
Yet the hundreds of pages Zehme managed to complete are astounding both for the caliber of their writing and how they illuminate one of the most inscrutable figures in entertainment history: A man who brought so much joy and laughter to so many millions but was himself exceedingly shy and private. Zehme traces Carson’s rise from a magic-obsessed Nebraska boy to a Navy ensign in World War II to a burgeoning radio and TV personality to, eventually, host of The Tonight Show—which he transformed, along with the entirety of American popular culture, over the next three decades. Without Carson, there would be no late-night television as we know it. On a much more intimate level, Zehme also captures the turmoil and anguish that accompanied the success: four marriages, troubles with alcohol, and the devastating loss of a child.
In one passage, Zehme notes that when asked by an interviewer in the mid-80s for the secret to his success, Carson replied simply, “Be yourself and tell the truth.” Completed with help from journalist and Zehme’s former research assistant Mike Thomas, Carson the Magnificent offers just that: an honest assessment of who Johnny Carson really was.
©2024 Bill Zehme (P)2024 Simon & Schuster AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
For the past seven decades, Tim Matheson has been an on-screen favorite in Hollywood. In his debut memoir, Tim takes fans behind-the-scenes of his illustrious career, and reveals what it was like to learn from and work alongside the greats, including Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke, Steven Spielberg, and Aaron Sorkin. Tim also talks about how he transitioned from acting to directing, the role in The West Wing that nabbed him two Emmy nominations–and so much more.
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Crazy life and live to talk about it
- By Charles on 11-20-24
By: Tim Matheson
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The Fixer
- Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn
- By: Josh Young, Manfred Westphal
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays, Manfred Westphal
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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During the height of Hollywood’s golden age, one man lorded over the city’s lurid underbelly of forbidden sin and celebrity scandal like no other: Fred Otash. An ex-Marine turned L.A.P.D. vice cop, Otash became the most sought-after private detective and fixer to the stars by specializing in the dark arts that would soon dominate the entertainment industry. The Fixer delves into the extraordinary life of Hollywood’s most infamous private detective and “fixer” to the stars, revealing newly discovered shocking revelations from his never-before-seen investigative files.
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For Hollywood gossip lovers!
- By Janna Wong Healy on 06-01-24
By: Josh Young, and others
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Citizen
- My Life After the White House
- By: Bill Clinton
- Narrated by: Steven Weber, Bill Clinton
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Citizen is Clinton’s front-row, first-person chronicle of his post-presidential years and the most significant events of the twenty-first century, including 9/11 and the runup to the Iraq War, the Haiti earthquake, the Great Recession, COVID-19, the January 6th insurrection, and the enduring culture wars of our times. Yet Citizen is more than a presidential memoir. This book captures Clinton in a rare and unforgettable light: not only as celebrated former president and foundation leader, but also as a father, grandfather, and husband.
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Thought-provoking and Inspiring!
- By Mark A. Titsworth on 11-21-24
By: Bill Clinton
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Love Johnny Carson
- One Obsessive Fan's Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend
- By: Mark Malkoff, David Ritz
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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A wildly entertaining book by one of the most obsessed and informed fans on the planet of TV icon Johnny Carson, setting the record straight on Carson's legacy and shining light on the personality behind the legendary comedian and talk show host.
By: Mark Malkoff, and others
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Tied Up in Knotts
- By: Karen Knotts
- Narrated by: Karen Knotts
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about Don Knotts's career, especially about his iconic role as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, but personal views into the man himself are few and far between. In Tied Up in Knotts, a loving daughter provides a full-life narrative of her father: Don's difficult childhood in an abusive home, his escape into comedic performance, becoming a household name, his growth as a feature film actor, his failing health, and his family life throughout, leading to touching and hilarious moments that will make the listener laugh and cry.
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For diehard Don Knotts fans only
- By JIM HOWELL on 08-31-24
By: Karen Knotts
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The Comedians
- Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy
- By: Kliph Nesteroff
- Narrated by: Kliph Nesteroff
- Length: 15 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Comedians, comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff brings to life a century of American comedy with real-life characters, forgotten stars, mainstream heroes and counterculture iconoclasts. Based on over 200 original interviews and extensive archival research, Nesteroff's groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past 100 years.
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Performance issues
- By E. A. Smith on 09-02-19
By: Kliph Nesteroff
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Inside Gilligan's Island
- From Creation to Syndication
- By: Sherwood Schwartz
- Narrated by: Mike Hennessy
- Length: 9 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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While every new TV series has to face some problems, no show had to overcome greater obstacles than Gilligan's Island. In spite of that, no series has achieved greater success, as measured by the fact that Gilligan's Island has given rise to three TV movies, two animated series, and is the most rerun program in the entire history of television.
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The complete Gilligan's Island story
- By Steven Gerweck on 03-24-24
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The JFK Conspiracy
- The Secret Plot to Kill Kennedy—and Why It Failed
- By: Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Kennedy, the thirty-fifth president of the United States, is often ranked among Americans’ most well-liked presidents. Yet what most Americans don’t know is that JFK’s historic presidency almost ended before it began—at the hands of a disgruntled sociopathic loner armed with dynamite. On December 11, 1960, shortly after Kennedy’s election and before his inauguration, a retired postal worker named Richard Pavlick waited in his car—a parked Buick—on a quiet street in Palm Beach, Florida.
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Pretty Good But With Some Errors
- By Scott on 01-29-25
By: Brad Meltzer, and others
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Surely You Can't Be Serious
- The True Story of Airplane!
- By: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
- Narrated by: "Weird Al" Yankovic, Arne Schmidt, Barry Diller, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Surely You Can’t Be Serious is the first-ever oral history of the making of Airplane! by the creators, and of the beginnings of the ZAZ trio (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) – charting the rise of their comedy troupe Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin all the way to premiere night. The directors explain what drew them to filmmaking and in particular, comedy.
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Absolutely fantastic
- By A. Soergel on 10-11-23
By: David Zucker, and others
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Sonny Boy
- A Memoir
- By: Al Pacino
- Narrated by: Al Pacino
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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To the wider world, Al Pacino exploded onto the scene like a supernova. He landed his first leading role, in The Panic in Needle Park, in 1971, and by 1975, he had starred in four movies—The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, Serpico, and Dog Day Afternoon—that were not just successes but landmarks in the history of film. Those performances became legendary and changed his life forever. Not since Marlon Brando and James Dean in the late 1950s had an actor landed in the culture with such force.
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I loved this so much!!! But….
- By paintgal on 10-24-24
By: Al Pacino
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Nora Ephron at the Movies
- A Visual Celebration of the Writer and Director Behind When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and More
- By: Ilana Kaplan, Jason Diamond - foreword
- Narrated by: Mara Wilson
- Length: 6 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Nora Ephron at the Movies offers an unfiltered look at Ephron as a champion of the rom-com and as a feminist Hollywood trailblazer. It explores her life and work by pairing detailed criticism with exclusive interviews with Ephron’s key collaborators, including Andie MacDowell and Jenn Kaytin Robinson, to add color and nuance to her life and legacy. With her singular voice, Nora Ephron flourished as a dominant force in the entertainment industry, focusing on the idiosyncrasies of romance that were universally relatable.
By: Ilana Kaplan, and others
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Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
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Boring and dull
- By Tech Guy on 05-29-25
By: Tim Robey
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The Wall of Life
- Pictures and Stories from This Marvelous Lifetime
- By: Shirley Maclaine
- Narrated by: Shirley MacLaine
- Length: 1 hr and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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With more than seventy years on the silver screen, Shirley MacLaine has, as she says, seen it all, done it all, been everywhere, and met everyone. Since making her Hollywood debut in 1955, her popularity has only grown as she’s amassed a stunning collection of awards and written multiple bestselling memoirs. Now, at ninety years old, MacLaine has more stories to tell and the pictures to bring them to life.
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Interesting but too short.
- By Lou G. on 11-04-24
By: Shirley Maclaine
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James Arness
- An Autobiography
- By: James Arness, James E. Wise Jr.
- Narrated by: Mike Hennessy
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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James Arness gives the full story on his early years, his family, his military career and his film work in Hollywood, including appearances in the cult-favorite science fiction movies Them! and The Thing. He had a very long run on television’s Gunsmoke and a role in the miniseries How The West Was Won. His post-theatrical period is also covered. This is the long anticipated account of one of the icons of 20th–century television.
By: James Arness, and others
Magnificent
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Young people have no idea of the staggering talent of Johnny Carson.
What I miss the most is Johnny Carson‘s ability to interview a young child. And his opening monologue.
The Gutfeld show has opened the door for a possible new Johnny Carson show on network TV. He has two of the things I like the most about Johnny Carson show. Sometimes all the people on the couch on the Johnny Carson show would join in and it would be a comedy riff of jokes. Johnny Carson was not afraid to be politically incorrect. The current nighttime comedy shows have to compromise and hire someone who is less talented and woke.
A new Johnny Carson is possible
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Good story and great material.
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the completeness
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Nothing new regarding “Here’s Johnny”!
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When this is in its 100th printing decades from now, there still won’t have been another like him.
An inside look at a man we all thought we knew
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details
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Meh
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Heeeeeeere’a Johnny!
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Narration
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