Johnny Carson

About Johnny Carson

Lights! Camera! Divorce action! If anyone knows the steep cost of love hitting the rocks, it's certainly one-time "Tonight Show" host, Johnny Carson. This legendary TV personality had a tumultuous love life and it's no secret that he met his comic grist in the vista of divorce court more than once. But it's the divorce from his 3rd wife, Joanna Holland, which takes the top slot in matters of the heart and the wallet in Johnny's "Beloved Theatre."

In 1985, Joanna Holland burst through the curtain and divorced Carson, ending an eleven-year show-run full of highs and lows. Try not to crack up, but when the gavel came down on the price of Carson’s 3rd marital misstep, the dazzling number proved that love might be blind, but divorce clearly isn’t. Holland took away an eye-popping reality check of $20 million! Ouch! Now flash forward to Johnny performing his monologue with a signature straight face, "Do you know how hard it is to make your ex $20 million worth of happy? But at least I got some jokes out of it."

Despite a significant financial hit to his enduring legacy (even a small ripple in his massive net worth), Carson went onto marry fourth wife Alexis Maas and spend the final years of his retirement offscreen blissfully married. I guess the saying is true, "The best things in married life don't come easy or free." And Johnny, even after parting with that whopping $20 million in 'divorce markers', couldn’t help but invite love (and potentially heartache) back, landing every pun, interview jab and love relationship punchline along the way.