The list most likely wasn’t written down, although both Rich Little and Burt Reynolds claimed they’d seen a hard copy. The forbidden lineup allegedly made more than thirty celebrities off-limits, although exceptions could be made if a guest host was filling in for Johnny. Here are some of the famous names that Carson put on his verboten list.
Orson Welles
Carson, an amateur magician, hated entertainers who claimed to have actual supernatural powers. Both Uri Geller and the Amazing Kreskin were banned for this deceit.
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So it was a surprise to Carson when Orson Welles, multi-hyphenate creator of Citizen Kane, tried a similar hoax while guest-hosting the show in 1978. The bit went like this: Welles tossed several ping-pong balls into the audience, each containing a five-digit number. When audience members caught the balls, they hollered out the corresponding numbers. Welles then added the numbers in his head at an impossible speed and wrote the sum on a blackboard.
Except he got the answer wrong. Welles had two confederates in the audience, adding the numbers on pocket calculators — they got the digits mixed up and signaled the wrong answer. Humiliation all around. Carson was furious, not that the trick had failed but that Welles lied to the audience. He never came back.
Jerry Lewis
Carson and Lewis admired one another, and through the summer of 1975, Lewis had guested or filled in for Johnny more than 80 times. That came to an end when Lewis abused Carson’s cue-card man, Don Schiff.
One night, while guest-hosting, Lewis came in 90 minutes before a show with a typed monologue and four single-spaced pages of additional material. Schiff told Lewis he’d get the monologue on cards, but due to the time crunch, he wouldn’t have time to transcribe the rest. Lewis blew his stack and screamed at Schiff.
When Johnny got wind of the abusive behavior, Lewis was done. “Carson did not abide bad manners. Nor did he tolerate anyone who disrespected his staff and crew, stars be damned.”
Billy Preston
Preston is one of Carson’s weirdest bans, getting the ax for being … too entertaining? He appeared in August 1973, rocking the house with “Will It Go Round In Circles” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.” The night marked two firsts in Tonight Show history — the audience got on their feet during Preston’s performances, and the musical guest received a standing ovation. So what was the problem?
Carson believed his audience was getting ready for bed, in no mood for raucous music that might keep them awake. Carson never invited Preston back for one of his shows (although the fifth Beatle appeared with guest hosts). From that point forward, Carson was hesitant to book rock-and-roll acts at all. Tonight Show viewers needed their shut-eye.
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