He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in After the war he started a career in radio, then moved to television and took over as host of the late-night talk show Tonight from Jack Paar in Carson remained an American cultural icon even after his retirement in He adopted a casual, conversational approach with extensive interaction with guests, an approach pioneered by Arthur Godfrey and previous Tonight Show hosts Paar and Steve Allen but enhanced by Carson's lightning-quick wit.
Former late-night host and friend David Letterman , as well as many others, has cited Carson's influence. There, Carson grew up and began developing his talent for entertaining. At age 12 he found a book on magic at a friend's house and immediately purchased a mail-order magician's kit.
After purchasing the kit, Carson practiced his entertainment skills on family members with card tricks. He was known for following his family members around saying, "Pick a card, any card. After graduating from high school, Carson hitchhiked to Hollywood , California.
While in the Navy, Carson posted a 15β amateur boxing record, with most of his bouts fought on board Pennsylvania. Carson later said that the high point of his military career was performing a magic trick for U. Secretary of the Navy James V. In a conversation with Forrestal, the Secretary asked Carson if he planned to stay in the Navy after the war.
Forrestal asked him to perform, and Carson responded with a card trick. One of his routines involved interviewing pigeons on the roof of the local courthouse that would report on the political corruption they had seen.
