While the world knew famed late-night host Johnny Carson as the funny man who America welcomed into their homes for 30 seasons, Howard Smith knew him as a kind, down to earth neighbor in Malibu.
The pals first met when talent agent Jerry Weintraub and his wife, singer Jane Morgan, invited Smith and his wife Jane over for a star-studded dinner party.
Morgan, now 101, asked the tech mogul if he could sit next to Carson — since despite him being an extrovert on air, he was more of an introvert at these functions.
“We talked,” Smith recounted in an exclusive interview with The Post. “He had just moved four houses down and I have a tennis court and the reason Jane put us together was because he was shy.”
“[Carson’s wife], Alex [Maas], was with him that night,” explained the Malibu resident. “I had never met John before but he was my hero. And at that dinner, we started talking about different things and he had just sold his beach house to John McEnroe and he said to me that one of the things he got John McEnroe to do in the sale was play tennis at Pepperdine.”
But Smith knew that despite hitting balls with a pro, playing on the college campus wasn’t necessary.
“I said, well, I’ve got a tennis court anytime you want to,” the author recalled. “I gave him my number and the next morning John called. I thought it was a prank. I couldn’t believe he called me and he said, ‘Can I come over and play tennis with you today?’”
From there, a friendship quickly formed and they went on to play the sport together weekly.
“We only played maybe three weeks when he said to me one day after a game, ‘You know, next week I’m going to be 60 years old. I’m going to have dinner at Spago in Beverly Hills. I would love to have you and Jane come.’”
Despite Smith thinking he was walking into a star-studded birthday bash, Carson invited the couple to an intimate dinner with only two other guests — proving how deep their bond became.
“I was anticipating this is a big party because I only knew him three or four weeks,” Smith said. “So I get to the restaurant and it’s Henry Bushkin, Joyce Dewitt, John, Alex, myself and Jane. I pinch myself going, ‘Holy cow.’ We played tennis and talked a little bit, but I didn’t know him very well. I was so moved by being invited to his 60th birthday and being part of that little group.”
That night one thing was clear: Smith became an intricate part of Carson’s inner circle.
While this year marks the 20-year anniversary of Carson’s death at age 79 from emphysema, the retired businessman is now publishing his book — “My Friend Johnny.”
“Knowing John for 25 years, when I used to go over to his house and we’d sit around and talk about different things and life, the wonderful thing that I’ve found while writing this book to me is I’ve reminisced and gone back to these memories,” Smith told The Post.
The publication explores the “neighbor turned close companion” and highlights many behind the scenes moments with Carson.
In an excerpt from the book, exclusively obtained by The Post, Smith detailed a one-of-a-kind encounter that involved some booze and the Malibu sheriff.
One night when Smith and Carson were out to dinner at La Scala, another table asked if they could buy the comic a drink. Well, one drink turned into another and another. The two realized they weren’t in any shape to drive.
“The sheriff arrived and entered the restaurant,” Smith penned in his memoir. “He seemed startled to see Johnny Carson and another gentleman waiting for him. ‘Mr. Sheriff,’ I said, as clearly as possible without slurring, ‘We’ve both had too much to drink, and it would be a terrible tragedy if one of us tried to drive home. Would you do us the favor of driving us home?’”
“The sheriff looked at us, mainly at me, and said, ‘This is highly irregular. I’m not supposed to do that.’ He glanced at John and then back at me. ‘For anyone.’”
With Carson’s casual charm, he persuaded the sheriff to give them both a lift — a story that ended in flashing red and blue lights, lots of laughter and one confused wife.
Smith also reflected on the bittersweet moment he and Carson had to put down the rackets for good.
Carson was an avid smoker, but had quit shortly after tying the knot with Maas in 1987. Still, in his later years, his smoking had caused irrevocable damage.
“During an otherwise normal conversation at John’s house after our regular match, he paused. With a wistful look in his eye, he said, ‘Howard, we sure have had a lot of fun on many tennis courts, haven’t we?’”
“Too much fun to count,” he replied.
“’Well, I’m so sad to say this, but … I’m afraid our tennis-playing days are over,’” Smith wrote. “I wanted to push back. I wanted to tell him that we could play slower or set up rules so we wouldn’t have to run as much. In reality, my (unfounded) fear was that no tennis would mean no friendship. Thankfully, our friendship blossomed into something much more than two guys playing tennis.”
Over the course of their 25-year friendship, many of Smith and Carson’s memories included their spouses, Jane and Alex. Carson and Alex were wildly private — despite the tabloids trying to create explosive stories about the duo.
“With John being such a big star, the gossipers had to write something, so they wrote that their marriage was unusual and often troublesome. I think their marriage upset some of the media because Alex never played their game,” Smith recalled in his book. “On the night of what would be his last birthday, John and Alex discussed that very topic. They knew the cost associated with being a Hollywood celebrity—mainly the invasion of their personal life—so they weren’t angry with a particular writer or magazine. I’d seen him rant about so-called journalists before, but he didn’t that night.”
“Rather, John said, ‘We never cared what people said about our marriage. They get it wrong all the time. One day, they report on two people who are madly in love, and the next week, those same people file for divorce. As long as we’—he motioned to Alex, whose hand he held—’are happy, that’s all that matters.’”
And that they were, up until Carson’s passing on January 23, 2005. In the book, Smith recounted what he called “the last supper” — an outing with the star just weeks before his heartbreaking death.
“Of the many dinners we had with him over 20 years, that was the longest time we ever sat at a dinner table together,” he shared. “His memory was pin-sharp. It was as if he didn’t want us to leave without telling us stories he had probably never told anyone. Jane and I had a blast. We were the last to leave the restaurant that night!”
He wrote elsewhere, “It made sense for John to behave that way. He knew he was dying, and he wanted to make sure he gave us the best of himself before he went.”
May 22 marks the 33-year anniversary of Carson’s final show, where 60 million people tuned in to watch “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
Smith, of course, was in the audience.
“Jane and I were honored that he invited us to his final show, along with his wife, sons, and close family members,” Smith penned about the show, which aired from 1962 to 1992. “He’d even ensured reserved private parking for us to make it easier. He’d decided not to bring in any guests that day. Rather, he shed the spotlight on Ed McMahon, his longtime sidekick, and his bandleader, Doc Severinsen.”
Afterwards, the group celebrated when Carson “threw an exclusive party at his home for his staff of many years.”
The episode included a five-minute standing ovation, but Smith noted that Carson wasn’t looking for an applause.
“In the end, John didn’t want recognition,” his dear friend wrote. “He wanted to recognize those who had helped him achieve so much. In fact, he even thanked the audience with a surprise gift from Tiffany’s, a perpetual calendar inside a sterling silver frame made especially for those who attended his final show. John signed off for his last time by saying, ‘And so it has come to this. I am one of the lucky people in the world. I’ve found something I’ve always wanted to do, and I have enjoyed every single minute of it.’”
Decades later, audiences are still as enamored by Carson and his late-night show. But now, Smith aims to pull back the curtain on the host’s life without the cameras.
“I would say that John, looking down, would say, ‘Howard, thank you buddy. I appreciate you doing this,’” Howard smiled, reflecting on how Carson may react to his book.
After all, Smith simply wants the world to know his friend Johnny.
