"Grim Reaper" wrote in message
news:4QUId.350$wA5.299@newssvr33.news.prodigy.com...
> Emphysema would lead me to believe he might have been.
>
>

Yes he was... when the show was still on he would try and quit and then
fall off the wagon. Whether he actually finally successfully quit I don't
know.

Chris in Pearland, TX

From:	Uhhuh47300
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	23 Jan 2005 22:56:40 GMT

I know he was a smoker, because cigarettes had to do with one of the funniest
moments on his show.

Carson came back from vacation, and noticed, on air, that his wooden cigarette
box was broken. Ed McMahon explained that guest host Don Rickles had broken it.
Carson then had a camera follow him, as he burst onto the set of Rickles'
sitcom CPO SHARKEY, across the hall.

Carson imitated Rickles, insulting everyone in sight, while the real Rickles
was speechless, and convulsed with laughter.

Trace

From:	Rob Petrie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:20:34 GMT

x-no-archive: yes

"Uhhuh47300" wrote in message
news:20050123175640.05955.00000166@mb-m20.aol.com...
>I know he was a smoker, because cigarettes had to do with one of the
>funniest
> moments on his show.
>
> Carson came back from vacation, and noticed, on air, that his wooden
> cigarette
> box was broken. Ed McMahon explained that guest host Don Rickles had
> broken it.
> Carson then had a camera follow him, as he burst onto the set of Rickles'
> sitcom CPO SHARKEY, across the hall.
>
> Carson imitated Rickles, insulting everyone in sight, while the real
> Rickles
> was speechless, and convulsed with laughter.
>
> Trace

That bit was replayed on some of Johnny's annual shows during the years
when NBC would play a retrospective of some highpoints of The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson.

The other Don Rickles' highlight on his show was when Rickles showed up
with Johnny getting a backrub from a Japanese geisha girl, and Johnny
ultimately dumped Rickles in a bathtub full of water, and they subsequently
threw buckets of water at each other.
Great stuff and slapstick comedy you just don't see on the late night
talk shows anymore.

From:	MC Boone
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:14:30 -0500

"Rob Petrie" wrote in message
news:6jWId.3893$r27.1207@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>
> The other Don Rickles' highlight on his show was when Rickles showed
up
> with Johnny getting a backrub from a Japanese geisha girl, and Johnny
> ultimately dumped Rickles in a bathtub full of water, and they
subsequently
> threw buckets of water at each other.
> Great stuff and slapstick comedy you just don't see on the late night
> talk shows anymore.
>
David Letterman was like that during his early 80s NBC days. But the
novelty wore off and it became more or less like any other talk show.

From:	King Daevid MacKenzie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 15:53:51 -0600

Christine quotes 'n sez:

>>Emphysema would lead me to believe he might have been.
>>
>>
>
>
> Yes he was... when the show was still on he would try and quit and then
> fall off the wagon. Whether he actually finally successfully quit I don't
> know.

....Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --
although it is ironic that Carson outlived Randall anyway...as I recall,
Randall quit bringing it up when he himself admitted to Tom Snyder on
one "Tomorrow" show that he would smoke a cigar after a Thanksgiving or
Christmas dinner (seems to me Randall stopped being a PSA spokesman for
the American Lung Association shortly after that, too)...

--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
http://wpr.org/music/ http://ultimajock.blogspot.com
"Why do people take drugs anymore, when reality has become a
hallucination?" LEWIS BLACK

From:	teleflora
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:15:47 -0600

"King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
news:41F41CEF.8020604@centurytel.net...
>
> ...Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
> guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
> continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --

I say this as a person "who chooses not to smoke anymore" when I say, What
kind of Idiot, who lives in this century could possibly think that Tony
Randal was wrong (about the effects of cigarette smoking)?

Of course he was right. And Carson knew it and couldn't stop. Until the
damage had been done.

Cindy

From:	Rob Petrie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:52:27 GMT

x-no-archive: yes

"King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
news:41F41CEF.8020604@centurytel.net...
> Christine quotes 'n sez:
>
>>>Emphysema would lead me to believe he might have been.

>> Yes he was... when the show was still on he would try and quit and then
>> fall off the wagon. Whether he actually finally successfully quit I
>> don't know.

> ...Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
> guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
> continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --
> although it is ironic that Carson outlived Randall anyway...

Tony was 84 (b. 1920). Johnny only got to be 79 (b. 1925).
Who really outlived who in terms of longevity?

> as I recall, Randall quit bringing it up when he himself admitted to Tom
> Snyder on one "Tomorrow" show that he would smoke a cigar after a
> Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (seems to me Randall stopped being a PSA
> spokesman for the American Lung Association shortly after that, too)...

From:	King Daevid MacKenzie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 17:03:39 -0600

Rob Petrie quotes me 'n sez:

>>...Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
>>guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
>>continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --
>>although it is ironic that Carson outlived Randall anyway...
>
>
> Tony was 84 (b. 1920). Johnny only got to be 79 (b. 1925).
> Who really outlived who in terms of longevity?

....granted. But Carson was an active cigarette smoker long after Randall
quit. Then again, George Burns made it to 100 after all those cigars, so---

--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
http://wpr.org/music/ http://ultimajock.blogspot.com
"Why do people take drugs anymore, when reality has become a
hallucination?" LEWIS BLACK

From:	Rob Petrie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:14:38 GMT

x-no-archive: yes

"King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
news:41F42D4B.6020701@centurytel.net...
> Rob Petrie quotes me 'n sez:
>
>>>...Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
>>>guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
>>>continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --
>>>although it is ironic that Carson outlived Randall anyway...
>>
>>
>> Tony was 84 (b. 1920). Johnny only got to be 79 (b. 1925).
>> Who really outlived who in terms of longevity?
>
> ...granted. But Carson was an active cigarette smoker long after Randall
> quit. Then again, George Burns made it to 100 after all those cigars,
> so---

Cigars aren't quite as bad for your health as cigarettes are.
Why do you think George got to be 100?

From:	Christine
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:22:25 GMT

"Rob Petrie" wrote in message
news:ydWId.3791$YD5.1306@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> x-no-archive: yes
>
> "King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
> news:41F42D4B.6020701@centurytel.net...
>> Rob Petrie quotes me 'n sez:
>>
>>>>...Tony Randall would chide Carson about it whenever he showed up for a
>>>>guest spot. That Carson had Randall back so many times while Tony
>>>>continued to do it possibly indicates Johnny knew Tony was right --
>>>>although it is ironic that Carson outlived Randall anyway...
>>>
>>>
>>> Tony was 84 (b. 1920). Johnny only got to be 79 (b. 1925).
>>> Who really outlived who in terms of longevity?
>>
>> ...granted. But Carson was an active cigarette smoker long after Randall
>> quit. Then again, George Burns made it to 100 after all those cigars,
>> so---
>
> Cigars aren't quite as bad for your health as cigarettes are.
> Why do you think George got to be 100?

Didn't he say the reason for his longevity was cigars and a couple of
martinis a day. When asked what his doctor said about this didn't he have a
quote that went something like "oh, he died a long time ago".

Chris in Pearland, TX

From:	marilynajohnson at aol.com
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	23 Jan 2005 14:49:16 -0800

remember the ad where an obstetrician leaned over his desk to light his
pregnant patient's cigarette? not so long ago -- cars had been
invented, for instance....
MJ

From:	Mpoconnor7
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	23 Jan 2005 21:58:50 GMT

>Yes he was... when the show was still on he would try and quit and then
>fall off the wagon. Whether he actually finally successfully quit I don't
>know.

I've heard he kept an ashtray under the desk and smoked during the commercial
breaks.

Michael O'Connor - Modern Renaissance Man

"The likelihood of one individual being right increases in a direct proportion
to the intensity with which others try to prove him wrong."

From:	Brad Ferguson
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 17:42:17 -0500

In article <20050123165850.11039.00000194@mb-m18.aol.com>, Mpoconnor7
wrote:

> >Yes he was... when the show was still on he would try and quit and then
> >fall off the wagon. Whether he actually finally successfully quit I don't
> >know.
>
> I've heard he kept an ashtray under the desk and smoked during the commercial
> breaks.

That's true. Also, those of us of a certain age remember that Carson
and his guests would smoke during interviews, and there was nothing
special about it. It seems unbelievable now.

From:	King Daevid MacKenzie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:56:24 -0600

Brad Ferguson sez:

> That's true. Also, those of us of a certain age remember that Carson
> and his guests would smoke during interviews, and there was nothing
> special about it. It seems unbelievable now.

...as late as '77, you could see tell-tale wafts of cigarette smoke
arising from Richard Dawson's spot on the panel of "Match Game." Seeing
those on reruns on Game Show Network were quite a jar for me a few years
back -- but not as much as seeing Garry Moore, another emphysema victim,
light up Winstons on "I've Got a Secret" and give contestants cartons of
the damned things as parting gifts...

--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
http://wpr.org/music/ http://ultimajock.blogspot.com
"Why do people take drugs anymore, when reality has become a
hallucination?" LEWIS BLACK

From:	MC Boone
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 23:16:49 -0500

"King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
news:41F42B98.4070900@centurytel.net...
>>
> ..as late as '77, you could see tell-tale wafts of cigarette smoke
> arising from Richard Dawson's spot on the panel of "Match Game." Seeing
> those on reruns on Game Show Network were quite a jar for me a few years
> back -- but not as much as seeing Garry Moore, another emphysema victim,
> light up Winstons on "I've Got a Secret" and give contestants cartons of
> the damned things as parting gifts...
>
I have an old magazine from the mid 1950s, and in the back there is
this print ad with a smiling doctor with the old style light reflector on
his head and with a cigarette in his hand, and it has a caption with
him saying "Surveys show that nine out of ten doctors prefer
Chesterfield Cigarettes". I wish I had a scanner so I could show it.

From:	JoeThomas
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Sun, 23 Jan 2005 22:56:43 -0600

Well, that ad is very deceptive. This was around the time people were being
told that maybe cigarette smoking was bad for them. So, the tobacco
companies unleashed a new slew of ads like this one. It was also the
preferred brand of lawyers, dentists, etc. The ad hinted that if doctors
smoked them, they just had to be good for you.
"MC Boone" wrote in message
news:ct1sqg013rp@news2.newsguy.com...
>
> "King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
> news:41F42B98.4070900@centurytel.net...
>>>
>> ..as late as '77, you could see tell-tale wafts of cigarette smoke
>> arising from Richard Dawson's spot on the panel of "Match Game." Seeing
>> those on reruns on Game Show Network were quite a jar for me a few years
>> back -- but not as much as seeing Garry Moore, another emphysema victim,
>> light up Winstons on "I've Got a Secret" and give contestants cartons of
>> the damned things as parting gifts...
>>
> I have an old magazine from the mid 1950s, and in the back there is
> this print ad with a smiling doctor with the old style light reflector on
> his head and with a cigarette in his hand, and it has a caption with
> him saying "Surveys show that nine out of ten doctors prefer
> Chesterfield Cigarettes". I wish I had a scanner so I could show it.
>
>

From:	Rob Petrie
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	Mon, 24 Jan 2005 05:46:44 GMT

x-no-archive: yes

"JoeThomas" wrote in message
news:c8adnYq26_-iHWncRVn-tg@comcast.com...

> Well, that ad is very deceptive. This was around the time people were
> being told that maybe cigarette smoking was bad for them.

In The Three Stooges' short, "I'll Never Heil Again" (1941)[*], Curly
says clearly and succinctly to no one in particular but the camera after
trying to smoke a 'peace pipe': "Time to get out those coffin nails."

People instinctively knew way-back-then how unhealthy cigarettes were
for them.

[*] unless it was possibly the original, previously released, "You Natzy
Spy!" (1940), but I'm pretty sure it was "INHA" (1941).

So, the tobacco
> companies unleashed a new slew of ads like this one. It was also the
> preferred brand of lawyers, dentists, etc. The ad hinted that if doctors
> smoked them, they just had to be good for you.
> "MC Boone" wrote in message
> news:ct1sqg013rp@news2.newsguy.com...
>>
>> "King Daevid MacKenzie" wrote in message
>> news:41F42B98.4070900@centurytel.net...
>>>>
>>> ..as late as '77, you could see tell-tale wafts of cigarette smoke
>>> arising from Richard Dawson's spot on the panel of "Match Game." Seeing
>>> those on reruns on Game Show Network were quite a jar for me a few years
>>> back -- but not as much as seeing Garry Moore, another emphysema victim,
>>> light up Winstons on "I've Got a Secret" and give contestants cartons of
>>> the damned things as parting gifts...
>>>
>> I have an old magazine from the mid 1950s, and in the back there is
>> this print ad with a smiling doctor with the old style light reflector on
>> his head and with a cigarette in his hand, and it has a caption with
>> him saying "Surveys show that nine out of ten doctors prefer
>> Chesterfield Cigarettes". I wish I had a scanner so I could show it.

From:	Laurie Mann
Subject:	Re: Was Carson a smoker?
Date:	23 Jan 2005 15:22:32 -0800

The initial poster in this thread must be very young. I think Carson
was still smoking on the air in the early '80s. At least, I remember
seeing him smoking a few times on the air. Likewise, I remember the
game show/talk show smoking that was reasonably common through the
'70s.

Laurie Mann
Dead People Server
http://www.deadpeople.info