Joanne Carson, Johnny Carson’s Second Wife, Dies at 83

Johnny Carson and Joanne Copeland | Photo Credits: Corbis

Joanne Carson, who was the second wife of Tonight Show host Johnny Carson, died at her home in Los Angeles on Friday, The Associated Press reports. She was 83 and had been in hospice care.

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Born Joanne Copeland, she worked as a model and Pan Am stewardess and began dating Johnny Carson in 1960. They were married in 1963 and divorced in 1972. After their divorce, Joanne moved back to her native California and worked in television. Her second marriage was to Richard Rever, whom she also divorced.

Johnny Carson died in 2005.

Joanne Carson was also close friends with writer Truman Capote, who kept a writing room at her house and died there in 1984, according to the AP. Carson will be interred next to Capote's grave at Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles.