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Christopher Carson, the eldest son of the late The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, reportedly died over two months ago at the age of 74 in Florida. Howard Smith, a friend of Johnny Carson, broke the news of his son's death during a recent episode of the Nostalgia Tonight podcast.
Johnny Carson and his first wife, Joan Wolcott, shared three sons. Their eldest, Christopher, was born in 1950, and the Carsons welcomed their second son, Rick, in 1951. Their third son, Cory, was born in 1953. Cory is the last surviving child of the Carson family, as Rick had previously died in a car accident in 1991.
On June 2, 2025, Howard Smith joined host Joe Sibilia on the Nostalgia Tonight podcast. During the conversation, he revealed that he learned about Christopher's death from Johnny Carson's nephew, Jeff Sotzing, about a couple of months ago.
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"When John died, I tried to keep in communication with Chris. I moved and bought a house outside of Fort Lauderdale. And at this golf club that I joined, I said to the guys, ‘You guys know Chris Carson?’ The guy said, ‘Oh yeah, he's a member here.’ And I go, ‘Oh God.’ I said, ‘Well, I'm trying, you know, I'm a friend of his dad and all that. And I've been trying to get a hold of Chris, and Chris never got back with me,’" Smith said.
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He continued:
“When I went to this show that Jeff put on about John, and it was a fantastic, two-hour show that he did for about 100 people, and I said, ‘So Jeff, what's happening with Chris?’ And he looks at me, goes, ‘Howard, Chris just died last week.’ ‘Really?’ I go, ‘Oh no.’ ”
Howard Smith added that Cory Carson was still alive, however, he shied away from the public spotlight and kept to himself. Elsewhere in the podcast, Smith explained how he developed a friendship with Christopher, adding that the two bonded during Johnny Carson's golf trips.
Johnny Carson invited his sons onstage during his last episode of The Tonight Show
Johnny Carson reportedly had a strained relationship with his sons. In the late television host's 2024 biography, Carson the Magnificent, his son Cory is quoted as saying, "Work was easy for him, family was not."
“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," Cory continued.
Christopher Carson was reportedly a golf instructor. He and his then-longtime girlfriend welcomed a daughter, Christal Love Carson, sometime in the 1980s, however, the couple soon split up and were engaged in a contentious legal battle over child support.
Not much is known about Chris Carson as he liked to keep away from the spotlight. In a 2005 interview with People Magazine following his father's death, he mentioned that he and his brother, Cory, "must have inherited the privacy gene."
Johnny Carson's second son, Rick, reportedly served in the US Navy before becoming a photographer. According to People Magazine, Rick died in a car accident in 1991, and authorities claimed his car fell from an embankment while he was taking pictures on California’s Central Coast.
Johnny Carson reportedly did not attend his son's memorial service to evade the media attention. The television host paid tribute to his son when he returned to The Tonight Show after his death, calling Rick "an exuberant young man, fun to be around." Cory, Carson's youngest son, is a recording artist and classical guitarist.
According to Carson the Magnificent, Johny Carson invited his fourth wife, Alexis Maas, and sons, Cory and Chris, during the broadcast of his finale episode of The Tonight Show in 1992. While bidding farewell, the late television host reportedly said:
"I realize that being the offspring of somebody who is constantly in the public eye is not easy. So guys, I want you to know I love you, and I hope your old man hasn't caused you too much discomfort. It would have been a perfect evening if their brother, Rick, had been here with us. But I guess life does what it’s supposed to do, and you accept it and go on."
For the unversed, Johnny Carson reportedly died due to complications from emphysema in 2005 at the age of 79. He was reportedly surrounded by his sons and his fourth wife as he breathed his last at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Johnny Carson was most famously known as the host of NBC's The Tonight Show, a position he held for almost three decades between 1962 and 1992.
