Carson had three sons — Christopher Carson, Cory Carson, and Richard Carson — and for decades, he kept them firmly offstage, protected from the spotlight he commanded every night. But on his final broadcast in 1992, the wall cracked. In a brief, understated moment, Carson offered thanks not to Hollywood, not to NBC, but to his family. No jokes. No rimshot. Just a father, a voice steady with emotion, and a rare glimpse at the life he guarded so carefully. It wasn’t flashy — and that’s exactly why it landed so hard.

Johnny Carson’s 3 Children: All About the Late TV Host’s Sons — and the Rare Shout-out He Gave Them During His Final Tonight Show Broadcast

Johnny Carson’s kids have different childhood memories of the TV personality

Johnny Carson and his wife Jody Wolcott pose with their three sons, Chris, Rick and Cory at their home in Encino, California.Credit : Hulton Archive/Getty

Longtime host of The Tonight Show Johnny Carson was in millions of homes every night as a funny and affable talk show host — but off-camera, his relationships were strained, especially with his children: Chris, Rick and Cory.

“Work was easy for him, family was not,” Cory was quoted as saying in Carson the Magnificent, a biography of the entertainer published in November 2024.

“Professionally he was without a doubt most suited for the career he sought. The right man for the job and … at the right time in history,” he explained. “On the personal side of the coin, he left his kids and family as a consequence to [pursue] that professional end and, as a result, made life most difficult for those left to watch the ‘magic’ unfold without the benefit of experiencing it with him.”

Carson met his first wife, Joan “Jody” Morrill Wolcott, while they were students at the University of Nebraska. They married in 1949 and had three sons: Chris, born in 1950; Rick, born in 1951; and Cory, born in 1953.

While the late-night host thrived on-screen and shared glimpses of his family off-screen, he was famously reticent and private about his home life. Behind closed doors, Carson and Wolcott had a tumultuous marriage fueled by his alcoholism, and they eventually divorced on May 25, 1963.

Afterward, the TV personality’s sons lived primarily with him and his subsequent wives, eventually becoming estranged from Wolcott. “We’ve sort of lost touch,” she told PEOPLE in May 1990 of her relationship with her sons. “Boys often treat their mothers the way their fathers treat their wives.”

Like their father, all three sons have shied away from the limelight. Rick died in 1991, and both Chris and Cory live private lives. “We must have inherited the privacy gene,” Cory told PEOPLE in February 2005 after Carson’s death.

Here’s everything to know about Johnny Carson’s children: sons Chris, Rick and Cory.

Christopher “Chris” Carson, 75
Johnny Carson reads a book to his children Chris, Rick and Cory.Hulton Archive/Getty

Christopher Carson, better known as just Chris, was born on Nov. 7, 1950.

Carson’s marriage to Walcott ended when their kids were young, and in the show host’s mind, dissolving an unhappy marriage was better than staying in it.

“They’re far better off if there’s an honest, clean divorce,” Carson said about his sons in a December 1967 Playboy interview. “I’m happy to notice that my boys don’t seem to be negatively affected by mine. I think they’re getting along fine. I’ve got a very good marriage now.”

In the 1980s, Chris was in a long-term relationship with Tanena Love Green, and they lived in Florida. After they welcomed a daughter together in 1986, Chris and Green split. The two eventually ended up in court over child support.

The trial revealed that though Chris worked as a golf instructor, his primary financial support came from Carson, who gave him $35,000 annually and bought him cars and a home.

Rick Carson
Johnny Carson and wife Jody Wolcott with their sons Chris, Rick and Cory at their home in Encino, California, circa 1955.Archive Photos/Getty

Kim Arthur Carson was born on June 16, 1952, but his parents always called him Ricky or Rick.

After serving in the U.S. Navy, he followed his passion for art and became a photographer. Tragically, Rick suddenly died at age 39 in a car accident on June 21, 1991.

According to authorities, he was shooting photos on California’s Central Coast when he accidentally fell from an embankment by the road.

“It appears as though he was taking photographs,” California Highway Patrol Officer Russ Johnson told the Associated Press. “There was camera equipment alongside the road. It appears his attention was just diverted. He wasn’t traveling at a high rate of speed or carelessly.”

To avoid a media scene, Carson didn’t go to the memorial service. “I don’t want to turn it into a circus,” he reportedly said at the time.

Johnny Carson and wife Jody Wolcott with their sons Chris, Rick Aand Cory at their home in Harrison, New York.NY Daily News Archive via Getty

Still, the loss affected him deeply. “Johnny lamented the fact that he was not much closer to his sons,” Carson the Magnificent co-author Mike Thomas told Fox News in November 2024. “He was married to ‘The Tonight Show.’ That was his life.”

He continued, “I don’t think he knew how to be a father the way he wanted to be a father or the way he thought he should be a father. But when Ricky died … he was never the same. He would grieve for Ricky to the end of his life.”

The day Carson returned to The Tonight Show, three weeks after Rick’s death, he dedicated the last few minutes of the show to a remembrance of his son — a rare public look into the host’s private life. On air, he described his son as “an exuberant young man, fun to be around. When Rick was around, you wanted to smile,” per Carson the Magnificent.

“He tried so darn hard to please,” Carson continued. “He had a laugh that was contagious as could be. Luckily, he left some marvelous memories for the whole family, and that’s what you kind of hang on to.”

He also aired a series of Rick’s photographs while Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble played a song.

Carson’s youngest son, Barry William Carson, was born on Nov. 2, 1953, but he was called Cory. (Carson and Walcott later changed Cory and Rick’s names legally in 1957, according to Carson the Magnificent.)

In Cory’s memory, he and his brothers struggled with having a famous father with an engaging public persona but a more reserved nature with his family. Watching him interact with kids on The Tonight Show was a particular pain point.

“I understand my dad’s foibles better than any, been a lifetime study,” he said in Carson the Magnificent. “I am free of feeling unworthy though, that was a biggie many years ago.”

Cory continued, ‘Imagine witnessing the little guests that would frequent the show and having my Dad absolutely enthralled with their every word. What did they have that we didn’t? Ten minutes of material!”

During the last broadcast of The Tonight Show in 1992, Carson brought out his fourth wife, Alexis Maas, and sons, Chris and Cory.

“I realize that being the offspring of somebody who is constantly in the public eye is not easy,” Carson said to them on air, according to Carson the Magnificent. “So guys, I want you to know I love you, and I hope your old man hasn’t caused you too much discomfort.”

“It would have been a perfect evening if their brother, Rick, had been here with us. But I guess life does what it’s supposed to do, and you accept it and go on,” he added.

Today, Cory is a classical guitarist and recording artist.