John David Carson (born John Franklin Carson; March 6, 1952 â€"
October 27, 2009) was an American actor. He was born in Los Angeles,
California.Carson began his career at a young age, acting in
television advertisements, and later doing cartoon voice-acting for
Hanna-Barbera. His first job was the voice of "Dino Boy/Todd" in 18
episodes of "Space Ghost" from 1966-1968, billed as Johnny Carson. He
attended Los Angeles Valley College where he played a lead role in its
1969 production of The Taming Of The Shrew. Upon beginning his
Hollywood career he was immediately engaged in a dispute with Johnny
Carson over the use of their shared name - he subsequently went by the
name John David Carson.Carson's first feature film was Pretty Maids
All in a Row in 1971. Carson portrayed "Ponce de Leon Harper", a nerdy
and sexually inexperienced young man who is tormented with lust at the
pretty young women around him at school and suffers from chronic
priapism. Ponce is eventually "mentored" by his guidance counselor,
played by Rock Hudson, an expert at seducing younger women, who takes
him under his wing and persuades an attractive female teacher (played
by Angie Dickinson) to sleep with him. Another notable role was in the
1976 film Stay Hungry, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Bridges
and Sally Field. Carson also appeared in a great deal of television
productions, including Hawaii Five-O and Charlie's Angels. He
portrayed "Jay Spence" on Falcon Crest, a prime-time soap opera.He
played "Larry Burns", a television repairman who is briefly framed for
a woman's murder by a corrupt sheriff on Murder She Wrote and an Irish
jockey named "Kevin Ryan" on Charlie's Angels. He appeared in various
B-movies such as Empire of the Ants (1977), an adaptation of an H. G.
Wells story about gigantic, man-eating ants, Creature from Black Lake
(1976), Charge of the Model T's (1977) and The Fifth Floor (1978), and
acted alongside George C. Scott in The Day of the Dolphin (1973). He
again appeared opposite Scott, playing his character's son, in The
Savage is Loose (1974). Carson continued acting in small parts until
1990, appearing in the Julia Roberts hit Pretty Woman, which marked
his last appearance on film. He voluntarily retired from acting after
this role.
October 27, 2009) was an American actor. He was born in Los Angeles,
California.Carson began his career at a young age, acting in
television advertisements, and later doing cartoon voice-acting for
Hanna-Barbera. His first job was the voice of "Dino Boy/Todd" in 18
episodes of "Space Ghost" from 1966-1968, billed as Johnny Carson. He
attended Los Angeles Valley College where he played a lead role in its
1969 production of The Taming Of The Shrew. Upon beginning his
Hollywood career he was immediately engaged in a dispute with Johnny
Carson over the use of their shared name - he subsequently went by the
name John David Carson.Carson's first feature film was Pretty Maids
All in a Row in 1971. Carson portrayed "Ponce de Leon Harper", a nerdy
and sexually inexperienced young man who is tormented with lust at the
pretty young women around him at school and suffers from chronic
priapism. Ponce is eventually "mentored" by his guidance counselor,
played by Rock Hudson, an expert at seducing younger women, who takes
him under his wing and persuades an attractive female teacher (played
by Angie Dickinson) to sleep with him. Another notable role was in the
1976 film Stay Hungry, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeff Bridges
and Sally Field. Carson also appeared in a great deal of television
productions, including Hawaii Five-O and Charlie's Angels. He
portrayed "Jay Spence" on Falcon Crest, a prime-time soap opera.He
played "Larry Burns", a television repairman who is briefly framed for
a woman's murder by a corrupt sheriff on Murder She Wrote and an Irish
jockey named "Kevin Ryan" on Charlie's Angels. He appeared in various
B-movies such as Empire of the Ants (1977), an adaptation of an H. G.
Wells story about gigantic, man-eating ants, Creature from Black Lake
(1976), Charge of the Model T's (1977) and The Fifth Floor (1978), and
acted alongside George C. Scott in The Day of the Dolphin (1973). He
again appeared opposite Scott, playing his character's son, in The
Savage is Loose (1974). Carson continued acting in small parts until
1990, appearing in the Julia Roberts hit Pretty Woman, which marked
his last appearance on film. He voluntarily retired from acting after
this role.
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