Carson was born on October 27, 1910, in Carman, Manitoba, to Elmer[2][a] and Elsa Carson (née Brunke).[3] He was the younger brother of actorRobert Carson (1909–1979). His father was an executive with an insurance company.[2] In 1914, the family moved toMilwaukee, Wisconsin, which he reportedly regarded as his hometown. He attended high school at Hartford School (Milwaukee) andSt. John's Military Academy (Delafield, Wisconsin). AtCarleton College (Northfield, Minnesota) he acquired a taste for acting. Carson became a U.S. citizen on June 6, 1949.[4]
Because of his size—6 ft 2 in (1.9 m) and 220 lb (100 kg)—Carson's first stage appearance (in a collegiate production) was asHercules. During a performance, he tripped and took half the set with him.Dave Willock, a college friend, thought it was so funny he persuaded Carson to team with him in avaudeville act—Willock and Carson—and a new career was born with "a very successful comedy team that played large and small vaudeville theatres everywhere in North America".[2]
After the act with Willock broke up, Carson teamed with dancer Betty Alice Lindy for appearances in theaters on theOrpheum Circuit.[5]
Radio was another source of employment for the team, starting with a 1938 appearance on theKraft Music Hall whenBing Crosby hosted the show. In 1942–1943, he was host ofThe Camel Comedy Caravan,[6] and in the next season he starred inThe New Jack Carson Show, which debuted on June 2, 1943.[7] Charles Foster wrote about the show inOnce Upon a Time in Paradise: Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood: "It broke audience records regularly during the four years it was on the air. Hollywood's biggest stars ... lined up to do guest spots on the show."[2]
His success in radio led to the start of a lucrative film career. During the 1930s, as vaudeville declined from increased competition from radio and the movies, Willock and Carson sought work in Hollywood. Carson initially landed bit roles atRKO Radio Pictures in films such asBringing Up Baby (1938), starringCary Grant andKatharine Hepburn.
Most of his work at Warner Brothers was limited to light comedy work with Morgan, and laterDoris Day (who in her autobiography gave credit to Carson as one of her early Hollywood mentors). He also did work forColumbia Pictures, starring in a slapstick comedy,The Good Humor Man in 1950, co-starring his future wife,Lola Albright.
Critics generally agree that Carson's best work was inMildred Pierce (1945), where he played the perpetually scheming Wally Fay oppositeJoan Crawford in the title role.[12] Also in 1945, he played the role of Harold Pierson, the second husband of Louise Randall, played byRosalind Russell, inRoughly Speaking. Another role which won accolades for him was as publicist Matt Libby inA Star is Born (1954). One of his later film roles was as Cooper "Gooper" Pollitt inCat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958).
From 1950 to 1951, Carson was one of four alternating weekly hosts of the comedy-variety showFour Star Revue. (The others were veteransJimmy Durante andEd Wynn, and up-and-coming youngDanny Thomas.) The second season was his last with the show, when it was renamedAll Star Revue.
Carson had his own variety program,The Jack Carson Show, from 1954 to 1955,[13] and was the announcer on the television version ofStrike It Rich.[13]: 1028
His TV pilot,Kentucky Kid, was under consideration as a potential series for NBC, but was shelved when Carson became ill with stomach cancer. Carson would have played a veterinarian who raises horses and who has an adopted Chinese child. The series was revived by NBC asKentucky Jones starringDennis Weaver in the Carson role.[14]
On February 8, 1960, Carson received two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television and radio industry. The television star is located at 1560 Vine Street, the radio star at 6361 Hollywood Boulevard.[15][16]
In 1983, after his death, Carson was inducted into the Wisconsin Performing Artists Hall of Fame along withDennis Morgan.[17]
Carson and Elizabeth Lindy married in 1938 and divorced in 1939. He was married to Kay St. Germain from 1941 to 1950. He andLola Albright were married from 1952 to 1958. Carson was married from 1961 until his death to Sandra Jolley, former wife of actorForrest Tucker and daughter of actorI. Stanford Jolley. Carson had a romantic relationship withDoris Day in 1950–51, but she left him forMarty Melcher, who became her third husband.[18]
On August 26, 1962, while rehearsing the playCritic's Choice inAndover, New Jersey, Carson collapsed on stage. An early diagnosis deemed it a stomach disorder, but two months later, stomach cancer was discovered while he was undergoing an unrelated operation. He died inEncino, California, on January 2, 1963, at the age of 52.Dick Powell, whom Carson had known for years, died (aged 58) on the same date, also from cancer.[19] Carson was entombed inForest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California.
Carson's elder brother,Robert Carson, was also a character actor.
^The "Jack Carson" section in the bookOnce Upon a Time in Paradise: Canadians in the Golden Age of Hollywood gives the father's name as "Edward L. Carson".
^abTerrace, Vincent (2011).Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 520.ISBN978-0-7864-6477-7.
Alistair, Rupert (2018). "Jack Carson".The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age (softcover) (First ed.). Great Britain: Independently published. pp. 65–67.ISBN978-1-7200-3837-5.
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