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Joanna Carson cause of death: How did Johnny Carson's third wife die? Look at her health issues

Joanna Carson, Johnny Carson's third wife's death was announced in July, and the funeral was last week. 

Published on: Aug 5, 2025, 11:25:03 IST
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Joanna Carson, Johnny Carson's third wife, has passed away. The model, not to be confused with Joanne – Carson's second wife who passed away in 2015 – met the famous talk show host in 1971.

Johnny Carson and Joanna got married in 1972 (Facebook/Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation)
Johnny Carson and Joanna got married in 1972 (Facebook/Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation)

This was at the 21 Club in New York, when Joanna was one of Manhattan's highest-paid fashion models. Carson would later tell People that he ‘flirted like a sophomore’ the first time he met Joanna.

Their first date was celebrating Johnny Carson's 46th birthday together.

The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation acknowledged Joanna's death online on Wednesday, July 30.

“Remembering ETAF's dear friends and supporters, Joanna Carson and Wallis Annenberg, who embodied our Founder, Elizabeth Taylor's spirit of love and support,” the post said.

Joanna Carson cause of death

News of her demise was announced privately in July, and the funeral took place last week, Extra reported. How Joanna died is not known, and there are no reports of her suffering from any ailment either.

Carson's second wife, Joanne, battled hypoglycemia, and had lung issues later in life.

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Johnny Carson and Joanna got married in 1972, the same year he divorced Joanne. Johnny reportedly made the announcement while celebrating his 10th anniversary at the Tonight Show.

Ruta Lee, an actor-turned-socialite spoke of Joanna's influence on Johnny, telling People “Joanna’s very accomplished at being a woman. I admire her femininity—her accommodation to men. It’s as if she made a study of how Josephine handled Napoleon. I don’t mean she’s manipulative. She just has a wonderfully sensitive approach to men.”

Joanna and Johnny ended up divorcing in 1985. Before her marriage with Johnny, Joanna was married to backgammon player Tim Holland, from 1960 to 1966 and the two had a son together.

Joanna's son, unfortunately, died before her, in 1994.

Johnny Carson would go on to marry for a fourth time. Alexis Maas and Carson remained together till his death in 2005. He has three children with his first wife Joan "Jody" Morrill Wolcott.

  • Shuvrajit Das Biswas
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Shuvrajit Das Biswas

    Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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