Johnny Carson’s Son Chris Has Died

Christopher Carson, the eldest son of late-night TV legend Johnny Carson, has died. He was 74.

His father’s longtime friend, Howard Smith, revealed the news on an episode of Joe Sibilia’s Nostalgia Tonight podcast. No cause of death was announced.

His father Johnny, who hosted his last Tonight Show episode on May 22, 1992, died in January 2005 at the age of 79.

“When John died, I tried to keep in communication with Chris,” Smith said on the podcast. “I moved and bought a house outside of Fort Lauderdale.”

After joining a golf club that Chris was once a member of, and seeking out Johnny Carson’s nephew Jeff Sotzing, Smith finally heard the news at one of Sotzing’s shows.

“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,’” he said.

The Tonight Show legend had three sons with his first wife, Joan Morrill Wolcott: Chris in 1950, Rick in 1951, and Cory in 1953. Rick previously died in 1991 after a car accident.

“Cory is still alive,” Smith said. “But I don’t know. They don’t see anybody that much.”

Chris intentionally stayed out of the public eye during his life, although he made headlines in the 1980s after a tumultuous custody battle with his ex Tanena Green over the custody of their daughter Christal Love Carson. The trial revealed that Chris primarily worked as a golf instructor at private clubs.