By It’s surprising that Johnny Carson hasn’t had a biopic yet. It’s probably due to his private nature during his life, and perhaps his estate’s attempt to maintain that. Closest we got we got, if memory serves, is Carson as a side character in the HBO movie The Late Shift. He was played by Rich Little.
Now the Carson estate is allowing a film about the man’s public and private life to be made. Hitchcock producer Tom Thayer and screenwriter John J. McLaughlin are attached to the project. The screenplay will be based on the book Carson the Magnificent: An Intimate Portrait by Bill Zehme. As the Film Stage notes, Zehme was “the only journalist Carson spoke to after his retirement.” No word on potential directors or actors yet.
I’m old enough to remember staying up late to watch Carson on TV (and ditto staying up extra late for David Letterman) so I’m interested to see how this turns out. And no, I’m not old enough to remember watching Steve Allen or Jack Parr on The Tonight Show. Now you youngins are probably wondering who those two people were. Get off my lawn.
[Via The Film Stage]