Johnny Carson’s life was different from what was seen on TV. He had some special details written in his biography, Carson The Magnificent by Bill Zehme (before he died in 2023) and Mike Thomas. Having hosted late-night television, The Tonight Show, for about 30 years, the recently published biography exposes parts of Carson’s struggles.
Carson was married four times and got divorced thrice, the cause of his failed marriages being alcoholism. However, much of his relationship with his spouses was concealed until Carson The Magnificent was published, although all knew about his struggle with drinking into a stupor.
Johnny Carson: Alcoholism and Marital Relationships
Carson and Jody Wolcott, his first wife, had a rough marriage of about fourteen years that eventually ended in a divorce due to his bad drinking habit. Zehme noted that it was difficult for Wolcott to cope with his conflicting personalities, especially when he was wasted. He would do all sorts of shameful things, including hurting his wife, which later came to taunt him when he was sober.
Meanwhile, Wolcott also flirted with other men during those times, and after having three sons, the marriage ended in 1963. The same year, Carson married Joanne Copeland, who did not take long to discover the “Jekyll and Hyde figure” that alcohol brought out in him. She recalled his unusual behavior and noted that living with Carson was as though she was “married to two people.”
The similar violence he had displayed toward Wolcott continued until Carson and Copeland separated in 1972, and he tied the knot with Joanna Holland in the same year. Holland would later report how scared she was because of Carson’s addiction, which resulted in his third divorce in 1985.
His Arrest and Alcohol Education
Alcohol not only caused harm to Carson’s three marriages, but he also got arrested for reckless driving in 1982, fined, and placed on probation for three years. And though he was ordered to join an alcohol education class and his license was restricted for 90 days, Carson’s fourth and last marriage to Alexis Maas in 1987 was not entirely different. He retired shortly after their marriage.
However, a turning point came in Carson’s life when he lost one of his three sons, Richard Wolcott Carson, in a tragic car accident in 1991. The grief of losing him reduced his addiction and helped him reflect as he grieved, wishing he had spent more time with his children.