Mighty Carson's art

Host shined in Oscar duties through difficult times

By NICK MADIGAN

Johnny Carson was accustomed to addressing current events every day on "The Tonight Show," but the assassination attempt on President Reagan in 1981 was no ordinary story.

Carson was scheduled to host the Academy Awards on the very day Reagan was shot, March 30, 1981. The show's 24-hour postponement gave Carson a chance to do a fast rewrite on his monologue.

Good spirits

"Because of the incredible events of yesterday, that old adage, 'The show must go on,' seemed relatively unimportant," Carson said when he finally took the stage at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. "But the news today is very good, as you know. The president is in excellent condition, at last reports. He has been conducting business and he happens to be in very good spirits. After all, you must remember, this is a man who yesterday, while he was in the hospital, unable to speak, wrote on a sheet of paper, 'All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia.' "

But later in the show, Carson couldn't resist taking a gentle jab at the president's plans to cut back federal funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities. "It's Reagan's greatest attack on the arts since he signed with Warner Bros.," Carson said.

Then, aware that Reagan was watching from his hospital bed, the host added, "I'll bet he's up and around now."