Johnny Carson, 1925-2005

Take a look back inside the life of one of America's most beloved television personalities. By Beth Lipton

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STAR POWER

Time on Carson's couch was basically required for any celebrity (including Ronald Reagan in 1975, whom Carson also imitated as one of his characters), and countless got their start on Tonight. "During my routine, Johnny had to grab his desk to keep from falling over, he was laughing so hard," Drew Carey said of his first Tonight Show appearance, in 1991. "And then he called me over to the couch. At the (commercial) break, I started to get up, but he said, 'Now, Drew, this is the part where you just move down the couch.' I keep telling everybody it was like having the hand of God on me."