Dick Carson shares highlights from his 35-plus year career directing talk and game shows, including The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffith Show, and Wheel of Fortune.
Dick Carson began his entertainment career at a young age, acting as a magician’s assistant to his older brother Johnny. Following in his brother’s footsteps, he majored in Speech and Radio at the University of Nebraska, where he directed radio programs and participated in Summer Stock Theater. With the Korean War raging, he joined the Naval Reserve after graduation, and went on to attend Officers’ Candidate School. After serving in the Navy Reserve, Carson found employment as a copywriter, writing television commercials for KFSD-TV, San Diego’s NBC affiliate. He made the transition from copywriter to floor manager at KFSD-TV in 1957, and after three years there, he was hired by KABC, Los Angeles’ ABC affiliate, as a summer relief stage manager. At KABC, Carson worked on the iconic children’s program Chucko the Birthday Clown before becoming The Soupy Sales Show’s assistant director then director. After a two-year stint at KABC, his brother, Johnny, asked Carson to direct The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Carson served as The Tonight Show director from 1962 to 1966, subsequently working on The Don Rickles Show, The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show, Your All-American College Show, and Get Smart, among other projects, as a freelance director. In 1972, he returned to talk show programs, working as a director on The Merv Griffin Show from 1972 to 1986, and capped his career directing Wheel of Fortune for 19 years.
Carson has been a DGA member since 1961.