Chris Carson, the eldest son of legendary Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, has died at the age of 74.
The news wasn’t publicly known until June 2, when Howard Smith, a longtime friend of Johnny, revealed it during an episode of the Nostalgia Tonight podcast hosted by Joe Sibilia. According to Smith, he found out about Chris’s passing about two months ago from Johnny’s nephew, Jeff Sotzing.
Smith recounted how he had been trying to get in touch with Chris after moving to a new house outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He joined a local golf club and mentioned Chris to some fellow members, only to learn that Chris had actually been a member there too. “When John died, I tried to keep in communication with Chris,” Smith explained. “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 ahold of Chris, and Chris never got back with me’.”
It was at a special tribute event for Johnny Carson, hosted by Sotzing and attended by about 100 people, that Smith finally got an update on Chris. “I said, ‘So Jeff, what’s happening with Chris?’ And he looks at me and goes, ‘Howard, Chris just died last week.’ ‘Really?’ I go, “Oh no’.”
Chris was born in 1950, the first of Johnny’s three sons with his first wife, Joan “Jody” Morrill Wolcott. His younger brothers were Rick, born in 1951, and Cory, born in 1953. Tragically, Rick died in a car crash on June 21, 1991, at the age of 39. Cory, now the only surviving sibling, has also remained out of the public eye. “Cory is still alive,” Smith noted during the podcast. “But I don’t know. They don’t see anybody that much.”
Smith recalled the bond he and Chris once shared through golf. “Chris was an avid golfer, and so when he used to come, he lived in Florida, Fort Lauderdale, when he used to come to visit his dad, he would bring his clubs, because I would take them,” he said. “We would play golf together, and John wouldn’t play golf. John did play golf at one time, but he would just ride along with us.”
Chris mostly kept to himself over the years, staying away from the public spotlight except for a brief period in the 1980s when he made headlines due to a messy child support battle. He and his long-time girlfriend, Tanena Love Green, had a daughter together named Christal Love Carson. The couple split not long after her birth, leading to a very public court case. During the proceedings, it came out that Chris was working as a golf instructor and was being financially supported by his famous father. Johnny Carson had reportedly provided Chris with cars, a house, and an annual sum of $35,000.
Despite his connection to one of the most famous TV personalities of all time, Chris never really embraced the celebrity lifestyle. Like his brother Cory, he chose to live privately and didn’t seek attention. That desire for privacy seems to run in the family. When Johnny Carson died in 2005, his family made it clear they wanted to honor his wishes to let his work speak for itself rather than open up about personal memories. Jeff Sotzing told PEOPLE at the time, “Sharing memories with the public would be the last thing Johnny would want any of us to do. He wanted his work to speak for him. That is what he would want me to tell you. Let his work speak for him.” Cory also added, “We must have inherited the privacy gene.”
At this time, there hasn’t been any formal statement from the Carson family about Chris’s passing, nor has the specific date of his death been shared publicly. It’s another quiet, somber moment in the Carson family’s history, one that fans are only now hearing about due to a passing mention by someone who had been part of their lives long ago.
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