JOHNNY CAME LATELY: An Autobiography

by Fred de Cordova ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1988

Another book about Johnny Carson, this time by the executive producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson--the guy directly in Johnny's line of sight who keeps the show running but whom we rarely see. De Cordova is not about to bite the hand that butters his bank account, and so his ""Johnny,"" or ""J.C.,"" is less rounded than Ronald L. Smith's Johnny Carson (1987) or Paul Corkery's Carson: The Unauthorized Biography (1987). About the worst thing to be said about this Carson is that Johnny is testy--at nearly any time of the day or night. Carson is, after all, his own package and packager; and for the past few years, with his alcohol intake next to nil, he keeps a tight package. With de Cordova, ""testiness""--as well as quiet generosity--stands for the whole man. Instead of insight, then, we are given a text in which nearly everyone mentioned is charmingly photograph-deep. Even de Cordova's insider's view of the Joan Rivers-Carson feud is handled with a light slap on naughty Joan's wrist and a suggestion that site speaks with forked tongue. Johnny emerges as baffled but noble, and aware that any entertainer with chutzpah can go head to head against The Tonight Show. Mainly, de Cordova details the nuts and bolts of putting on a show each night, choosing guests, riding herd on the writers, and gives a minute-by-minute run-through of a few shows. His later chapters tell about his early career as a director in Hollywood and television--and his funniest moment describes a night of wooing busy Tallaluh Bankhead in to bed, with Talloo saying, ""Fred dahling, why don't you hop into bed, I'll send my maid in to get things started, and as soon as I've done my work, I'll join you all."" Dabs on crackers, no dinner.

Pub Date: March 1, 1988

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1988

Categories: NONFICTION