Actress, Model and Television Host. Born Joanne Copeland, she went on to become Johnny Carson’s second wife. In the mid-1950s, she was a Pan Am stewardess and helped calm a passenger in first class, who turned out to be Howard Hughes. A few weeks later, she got a call from Hughes’ RKO studio offering her a screen test. She worked at the studio briefly, but turned down a long-term contract and moved to New York where she took up modeling. In 1960, she met Carson, the host of a TV game show, who shyly asked her out on a date to watch some film clips of his comedy. It was the beginning of a romance and marriage that extended through the years when he vaulted to fame in New York as the host of ‘The Tonight Show’. Their marriage, which was turbulent at times, lasted from 1963 to 1972. After her divorce from Carson, she returned to Los Angeles where she worked as a television talk-show host, earned a doctorate and worked as a metabolic therapist. Later in life, she became a close confidant of Truman Capote, who died in her home on Aug. 25, 1984. Carson, who also devoted time and money to helping animals, particularly dogs with epilepsy, died in hospice care of a lung ailment. (bio by: Louis M.)  Family links:  Spouse:  Johnny Carson (1925 – 2005)