INT: My name is Dency Nelson. Today is Monday, November 23rd, 2015. I'm conducting an interview with Dick Carson for the Directors Guild of America's Visual History Program. We are at the DGA in Los Angeles, California.

INT: Go right ahead, please introduce yourself.

DC: Richard Charles Carson. My nickname is Dick. I was born June 4th, 1929 in a town of Clarinda, Iowa, USA.

INT: Good morning, Dick. Thanks so much for allowing me to do this. This is--and I just learned something. I just assumed you were born in Nebraska but obviously not. It was Clarinda, Iowa.

DC: We moved several towns in Iowa before we went to Nebraska, three or four. Johnny [Johnny Carson] was in another Iowa town. My sister was born in another Iowa town. My father was transferred all the time, I guess. He was in the light and power business, companies. [INT: Well that was gonna be a question, I said, what did your parents do? I mean what, you know...] Well my dad, the story goes, was, I have pictures. And he started as a lineman up on the pole learning the business. And then he got into management. Now these were small towns, you know, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Avoca; we lived in all those towns. And then we left Avoca when I was about five years old. And went to Northeast Nebraska to a town called Norfolk, Nebraska. And we pronounced it Norfork. [INT: Norfork.] But not people in Virginia. They say, Nofolk. Anyway, yeah. And so I was five and Johnny would have been about eight or nine. And...

INT: The reason I would have asked about your parents anyway, but you mentioned your brother, Johnny [Johnny Carson], and are here you. I saw that you went to University of Nebraska and wound up majoring in speech was it? [DC: Speech and radio.] What led you there? Now see and that's why I asked about your dad, what he did. What inspired the two of you to go after what seemed to be a performance kind of…?

DC: Well, I have to kind of back up there because John was my hero, you know. He'd, I'd get on the bike and he'd ride around. I mean he was my hero. And he got into magic very early, very early. And got into it and started doing magic shows for different places. I would go along and carry the luggage or bring in the props and things like that. So we had that great relationship going. [INT: Where were the performances? What kind of places? Where would Johnny perform?] Well we laugh about it. They were… We think our town was small, we went to really… This is an agricultural town in northeast Nebraska. And I remember one time we went in and it was an egg hatchery. There were thousands of cages of chickens going [MAKES NOISE]. And they said, we said, "Well where do we put all our stuff?" "Oh, you go in the back," and they took us in the back. I didn't mean to get into this but more chickens. And there's this trunk and we're pulling out all this stuff. And there's maybe about 60, 50, 60 people out in another room. And he does his little magic show. Well, he did a lot of these and he became known about all this. So he got a lot of invitations to go to Rotary Clubs and that type of thing.

INT; What about you? So let's... When did you then [get inspired to be a performer]…

DC: Well, you know, my best buddy, who lived across the street, we did things like carnivals in my garage. We would do carnivals. We would have things for people to do, throw darts at that. And then we, I remember one time we would have a parade, or get three or four people, "Come to the carnival at the Carsons." We did a lot of crazy things. My parents were very, my mother, especially, was, let us do a lot of things. We had all kinds of events going in our basement. Used to have boxing matches. All kinds of things like that. [INT: How great.] We were, I don't mean to go too long on this but-- [INT: No, that's terrific.] --we even had a shooting range with 22s in the basement, brought logs in and put a target. So my parents were pretty... [INT: Supportive of that too.] Yeah. [INT: They enjoyed your... Well that explains a lot.] Yeah. It was fun.

INT: High school, did you participate in high school drama?

DC: Mostly sports. [INT: Sports. Okay.] Freshman year I was playing a little trumpet and I was in band, marching band. But by the next three years I was in basketball, football, track and that kind of thing. I graduated in 1947 and entered the university.

INT: But you were speech and radio, a major [at University of Nebraska]--

DC: Yes. I had started in business administration and they told me very quickly I was in the wrong college. I was not very good. So Johnny [Johnny Carson] was already over there in the... We didn't--first of all, there was no television. Let me say it that way. It was radio and stage. I got involved in some stage productions with the university, two or three productions, and it was all radio. We got our entertainment in those days, radio. When we grew up families would listen to the radio, especially on Sunday night: Charlie McCarthy, Edgar Bergen, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, comedy, comedy. And this is where Johnny got his timing, you know. [INT: But you, best Actor?] Anyway, I got involved in radio and I started doing more plays. There was a building there called the Temple Building, which we were just back there. And that was where the theater people were and the radio people. Television was something like, wasn't even discussed. And, am I going on too long about this? [INT: No. I'm loving this.] Are you sure? [INT: This is, all of this...] Well anyway, radio was very important and I got to direct. Anyway, you know, you're doing the thing, you're trying to cue up the records, and you're cueing people, and you're cueing that person and, you know, it's exciting. That's, that was radio. So it didn't lead to a job or anything, but... [INT: But were you thinking this is what I want to do in life. This is gonna be my career?] Yeah. Yeah. It, but that was radio. That was the thing. And it was fun. And upstairs was the, we'd rehearse plays up there and things like that.

INT: But I did read that you were given the Best Actor award. Is that true?

DC: Well that is true, but not by the university. This was by a Greek Alpha Epsilon Rho. It was a, it was just a Greek thing. And we had a big banquet and... Yeah. It was a lot of fun. And I did some acting in a summer stock at our, in Lincoln. They had a wonderful converted, just like the old movies, used to see a barn converted. [INT: Mickey Rooney.] Dressing rooms were in a stall, literally. It was that bad. Very small, but the Producer and Director of it was a graduate fellow and they would use some of us, some of the students to fill in the small parts, you know. But it was basically four or five equity people coming from New York. You had the summer off and, you know, some would go to upper New England and, you know, those were famous for summer stock. [INT: Yeah.]

INT: So you graduate and what's next?

DC: Well I graduate, I had to… We were… The Korean War was gonna take us. We, in those days, if you didn't go to college, you were draftable. But that isn't why we went to college. In fact I didn't even know that rule existed. And some of my friends and I joined also the Naval Reserve, where you went to meetings and learned about the Navy. And I was kind of drawn to it 'cause big brother was in the Navy. And so, that'd be nice. My first assignment was in Coronado at the amphibious base. And I was assigned to a cryptography… I was on an admiral's staff and learning to create, learning to work the machines, the crypto machines we called 'em. Did that for almost 18 months to two years, and then I was assigned to a ship. And then, you're out, four years later I'm out. What am I gonna do now?

DC: So it's time to get a job. Had no idea what I wanted to do. You know, I had four years to think about it, but then that day came and I said, "Well," and believe it or not, I saw an ad in the paper, an employment agency, remember those? [INT: Yeah.] And walked in and it's for a copywriter. And I said, "Well, that's interesting. Writing commercials." "Well," he says, "if you think you could do it go across the street. Their office is right up in that building." I go over, I interview and they say, "Yeah. All we'd like is you to go home and make out a couple ideas for the San Diego Chamber of Commerce, the tourists. Come in with some ideas and we'll talk," which I did. I spent all weekend drawing, and writing, and they liked it. So now I'm a copywriter. And had a nice office and not, you know, it was decent. And a nice view out the window. Said, "Okay." Well I, you know, I was, I thought, pretty good at it. I was a kind of creative guy. And I submitted some more stuff. And then you had to write accounts. Anyway, I started writing these commercials for, that went to the local ABC station. [INT: Is this television at this point or it would still be...] Yeah. This is the local TV station. [INT: Local TV station.] And I said, “This goes to the people over there, at the radio, at the TV station, and they read your copy.” And I said, "Well, has anyone ever gone over there?" "Oh no. We just send it over by mail." And I said, "Well I think I want to go over" 'cause you were writing for a specific person. She actually had a afternoon movie, which was very common in those days, and a very nice lady, good looking gal. She used to be in films herself as a child Actor. And her name was Lynn Taylor. And I walked in with this and I said, "Hi Lynn. I'm Dick Carson." I said, "You know, I write this commercial you've been reading." She said, "Are you from the ad agency?" I said, "Yes." "I've been reading this stuff for years and no one's ever showed up." And that hit a note with her. And now I'm in the middle of, they're get...They're work...I'm in a TV--never been in a TV station before in my life. And, 'cause this all came along after, you know, four or five years after college. And anyway, she was very gracious. She said, "I want you to meet a fellow,” Jim Wade was his name. And we talked and he said, "Well we have a position here if you'd like to come in and learn television." And I said, "I would love it." And that's how I got into local television as a, what they called a Floor Manager.

DC: We [TV Floor Manager], it was not a Guild [DGA] job at that point. And I just thought it was more darn fun in.... And it could be heavy-duty work because you were a combination grip if they needed scenery. You and another guy might go out and get a three fold, and you would haul it in, and you'd set it up, and if it's a living room set, you'd haul in the furniture. And then when you wanted to shoot it, you'd have the headset, and you would hear the Director direct. And that's how I learned what was going on in a television station. And you're working with a Talent on the floor. They were all great people. And it was family after awhile, it really was. There were three or four of the floor men and we'd work together. You know, “I'll take this car out. I'll reset this if you... I'll hang that picture. Get that City Motor Ford sign up.” Sign's were… you'd get on a ladder and it was all just curtains at this point. We'd just have hooks and hook 'em in. Say, "Is that straight?" "Yeah. Okay." Anyway, it was really basic. But it was exciting, 'cause it was, you know, television, live. [INT: Live. These are live commercials you're specifically talking about?] Oh yeah. [INT: I mean you did everything. Not just...] Videotape didn't come in for several years. We were an NBC affiliate, but we did not, we were still doing live commercials and, you know, really, we'd have two, there were two studios. Over here you'd have the news coming on. You'd have a floor man over there. Over here I'd be doing maybe a children's show with lots of commercials, lots of… but I gotta tell you, I look back on those days now, and I think, that's where you learn it. You learn the panic. You learn the, it was so basic that the newsman would come in, at say, five o'clock and hand you five or six cards with black and white photos on it, which they would take off the wire photo and they would come and they would Scotch tape them. Then you would, this is how we did the pictures in: Camera with light would come on, and you'd hear the announcer, and you'd pull. The Director would say, "Pull." Now if you had another floor man, and you didn't always have two, but you would have half the pictures on another easel and he would actually cut back and you would learn when you can pull safely. And then the red light would come on, and then you... So it was pretty basic, you know?

DC: And all kinds of crazy things would happen [while working on live television stage as a Floor Manager]. I won't go into 'em, but... [INT: Oh, let's hear. Let's hear. Do any come to mind?] Huh? Well, you always had booth announcers sitting in a nice booth. Nice job, you know, “ABC in Omaha, KOIL.” I did that in Omaha once when I interned over there for one summer. Anyway, I start to laugh… As a floor man, we had, not cue cards, the Talent was responsible for, we had these hand rollers, you'd hold above the lens. And they would, the announcer would be, take the copy and he'd make his own chart. And I mean you really had to… Anyway, lot of times things would happen. We would have network on baseball games, and we never at the--usually we knew it when the three outs, they were gonna cut to the local station. So we would rehearse and do things like that, knowing that any minute we have to do this. Anyway… I could write a book, but it's funny. Anyway, Jeff is his name; nice guy. And one of the announcers had slipped around and said, "Let me have that thing." I don't know why. He'd written on there, "Hi. I'm Bugs Bunny." Okay. I'm like, [LAUGH] and I had… we had set up a riser for a newsman right here. We were gonna go right into a five, 10 second news. And I had brought that out and put the desk there. And Bill, his name, was sitting there. Big fellow. He started laughing so hard. And I had warned Bill, "Don't get up, because I didn't have time to put a little box of strip back there. Don't slide your thing back.” Well he started laughing so hard on the Bugs Bunny, he slipped through the chair, and he went over backwards, landed on his back. We all started laughing--I'm laughing, all the… But nobody saw it. That was the thing about live. You'd say, "Anybody, any phone calls?" "No." "Okay." A lot of things like that happened. You'd say, "Boy, I hope nobody saw that." [INT: Oh, I wish I could see it. The only tape is in your head, right?] Yeah. I know. Anyway, I went way too long on that. [INT: No. I love it.] Those were the crazy things. And then…

DC: But, you know, after about a year [as TV Floor Manager], I guess, it was my turn to get in the booth. I would go in and watch, when I didn't, you know, I'd go and stand behind the Director and watch and get the idea how it works. But as you know, hearing all the Directors in there, you get the idea of where it's going. And so I got an opportunity to do that, and it went very well. There's a lot of stories I could tell, you know. [INT: Clearly you wanted, you saw that that's where you wanted to be?] Oh absolutely. Oh I knew from, I couldn't wait to get in there. You know, absolutely. As a matter of fact, after about a year or so, the recession hit big and the car commercials stopped. It was like, it was really scary for awhile. And I being a, or is it me, my being a last hire, I was going back to Floor Manager. Which is fine. You know, there wasn't that much difference in the money. So I went back on the floor and, 'til things picked up and then they brought me back in. So, you know, I was crushed when that happened, but I thought hey, you know, that's it. But...

INT: Do you remember your very first opportunity to direct? What was it? What was your very first time actually directing?

DC: You know, I really can't honestly say. I can remember a lot of things in the directing--[INT: There was so much you were doing.] Yeah. We did a lot of fun shows, you know. We did, we had the San Diego Zoo bring animals up, and cooking shows, and that kind of thing. And just one quick story. We're doing a San Diego Zoo thing, and she says, "Well then we have some wonderful animals," and she reaches in and she pulls out this big rattler about five feet long. The cameraman behind me threw his headset down and ran, 'cause this thing was like, you know, these zoo people, they don't, it doesn't bother them. They're…, and crazy things like that. One morning I had the Saturday shift directing and I was told, "Oh, we're going to have a singer come in." "A singer? What for?" Well it turns out, this happened occasionally, someone would have a record, a local record, and they would come on the local show. I wasn't prepared for this at all. I said, "Well, he's gonna sing live?" "Yes." "Okay." Didn't have playbacks then anyway. So we set up a little thing and we put a chair on. And he came in, and he kind of a, really kind of a rough looking guy, kind of, "Hi. My name's Johnny Cash, and I'd like to sing my new song, Ring of Fire," and he sang it. [INT: Wow.] I didn't know, was nobody I, it was, he was unknown really at that time. [INT: Wow.] Yeah. Anyway, I have other Johnny Cash stories because we ran the other things, but isn't that, that kind of thing, that really got me hot to go, you know, this is good. And we had other, happened a lot.