Carson may not have cared about show business, but show business cared about him — as the aftermath of his retirement announcement proved. He had two heirs apparent, David Letterman and Jay Leno, and he never publicly admitted to a preference. But the war these princes of comedy waged over the king's throne was so epic it ended up being turned into a best-selling book (Bill Carter's The Late Shift) and an HBO movie. In the end, of course, Leno won the battle, but it was hardly a rich victory, since the kingdom he inherited shrank considerably soon after Carson left the castle. The Tonight Show remains No. 1 in the late-night ratings, although with only a fraction of Carson's largest audience.
But it was how he retired that was perhaps most impressive. In today's celebrity-crazed, fame-milking culture (which, incidentally, his show helped pioneer), he made an all-but-unprecedented exit. He stopped doing press, halted his public appearances, and ensconced himself in his Malibu estate (with fourth wife Alexis), where he spent his remaining days socializing with friends, sailing on his yacht, and playing tennis. It was almost freakish — but also predictably classy — how he completely disappeared after leaving The Tonight Show, as if he had flipped a switch on the way out the door, forever shutting off the lights to his fame. ''He went out on top and then went on to live his private life,'' sums up Carson's old friend and veteran Tonight Show guest Don Rickles. ''He wasn't looking for afterglow.''
Maybe not, but we're still basking in it.
(Additional reporting by Mandi Bierly, Bob Cannon, Daniel Fierman, Whitney Pastorek, Lynette Rice, and Dan Snierson)
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