Results tagged “johnnycarson”

Yesterday Merv Griffin lost his battle to prostate cancer at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 82. He received his first treatment for this in 1996 and in late July of this year it was publicized that the cancer had come back. In a statement on Merv.com his son Tony said: "My father was a visionary. He loved business and continued his many projects and holdings even while hospitalized. We take solace in knowing that until the end he had his two favorites by his side--his family and his work. His legacy will be honored through the continuing operations of The Griffin Group under its current leadership and by the millions of lives he continues to affect through entertainment."

Tom Snyder died today, at age 71, after losing a long battle with leukemia. There are many videos with footage of his long career, because just about everyone wanted to talk to him (especially on "The Tomorrow Show" which aired after Johnny Carson in the '70s and '80s).

Last night Beverly Sills lost her battle with lung cancer, she died at her home in Manhattan at the age of 78. While she was a lifelong non-smoker and only found out about the cancer a few weeks ago, this wasn't her first experience with it - she underwent a successful surgery for cancer in 1974.

Updated: The NY Times has its obituary up; expect quotes and news of tribute shows tomorrow. Here's the The Official Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson site. And here's the Wikipedia entry on Carson. And did you know that he hosted the Tonight Show in NYC for 7 years, before the move to Burbank? [Related: Conan O'Brien will take over Tonight Show duties in 2009.]

Carter reports on the TV business for the NY Times and wrote a book about the Leno-Letterman fight, The Late Shift. In our opinion, it's the best book about issues in current state of television - money, talent, and ego. And in today's paper, Carter analyzes the decision to give Leno a five year good-bye. The NY Daily News' TV critic, David Bianculli, who had complained about NBC giving the Tonight Show's 50th Birthday the short shrift the day before, thinks that NBC made the right decision. And after the jump, NBC's press release of Conan's statement last night:

Here's the NY Times obituary, as well as the Times' extensive Reagan article archive, including an interesting interactive feature about Reagan from Times reporter Steven R. Weisman. Check out the Washington Post's coverage, including articles about his legacy as the Great Communicator, as the White House's best actor, as an optimist, as the key in the rebuilding of the GOP.