Jody Morrill Wolcott: What happened to Johnny Carson’s ex-wife?

Jody Morrill Wolcott is the ex-wife of Johnny Carson. Jody Morrill Wolcott’s husband was an American celebrated television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He made a name in the industry as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Throughout his decades of career, he has received six Primetime Emmy Awards, the Television Academy’s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award.

Jody Morrill Wolcott: Bio Summary

Who was Johnny Carson’s ex-wife?

Jody Morrill Wolcott was born in 1926 in the United States of America, however, the exact date and place she was born has not been made known to the public. She was the daughter of Robert Allen Wolcott and Julia Minnie Wolcott. Jody gained much of her popularity from her marriage to the popular Talk show host.

They got married on October 1, 1949, in North Platte in Nebraska, 1949. According to Cheatsheet, Johnny Carson and Jody were College Sweethearts. Both in their early ’20s, they had a seemingly idyllic life at first.

Johnny Carson and Jody Morrill Wolcott’s marriage

The couple’s marriage started on a good note when they increased their family year after year and eventually had three children Chris, Rick, and Cory — and appeared alongside Carson at a few of his early Hollywood events. However, along the line, things got sour. The two love birds couldn’t stay together for long due to some reasons they broke up and each of them went their separate ways. They called their marriage a quit in 1963. They were married for 14 years before divorcing.

The lovebirds separated in 1959 and eventually were divorced on May 25, 1963, in Chihuahua, Mexico. The two came to some sort of legal agreement over alimony and child support in 1959. As reported by UPI, Carson agreed to pay his first wife Jody Morrill Wolcott $7,500 in child support and $15,000 in alimony a year in 1959.

Cheatsheet reported Carson fell behind on his payments and in 1970 — when his youngest son, Cory Carson was 17 — the Host paid her $765,000 and agreed to $13,500 annually, even if she remarried. According to an inflation calculator, $13,500 in 1970 had the same value as $109,924.64 in 2023.

ALSO, READ; Cory Carson: Who Is Johnny Carson’s Son?

In 1990, Jody Morrill Wolcott took the host to court for an increase in her alimony payments. Per Cheatsheet‘s report, the Host called the move a “bald-faced holdup,” but Jody also told reporters, “With men like this, wives are interchangeable.”  She argued for an increase to save her from destitution in 1990. In court documents, Carson said, “Simply put, this petition is a bald-faced holdup — a vehicle to generate unfavorable (and misleading) publicity in an attempt to extort money.”

 Jody also accused her famous ex-husband of being neglectful of her and their children during their marriage and went on to trade her and her children in for another woman. “With men like this, wives are interchangeable,” Johnny Carson’s ex-wife told reporters. “If you have a problem, you just trade it in for a new one, like a car.”

After her break up with the Television talk show star, Jody remarried in 1970, to Donald Buckley. However, that marriage also didn’t last long and it ended in another divorce.

 Joan Morrill Carson’s petition for more alimony was denied.

Per the Associated Press report, the judge handling their case decided Wolcott Carson’s case had “a little glitch” in it because she’d remarried. The Judge said Jody hadn’t spoken to her Carson in more than 30 years by then but had seen his “other wives” in dresses worth more than she “earn[ed] in five years.”

Per Cheatsheet’s report, Johnny Carson’s ex-wife revealed she was pushed to make the move before she found herself more in need, though she had $400,000 in her bank account at the time. Jody Morrill Wolcott’s petition for more alimony was denied by the court.

Jody Morrill Wolcott’s children

As said earlier, Jody Morrill Wolcott and Johnny Carson gave birth to three sons- Cory Carson, Richard Carson, and Christopher Carson from their fourteen years of marriage. Christopher Carson is the firstborn of the couple as he was born in 1950. He was followed closely by Richard Carson while Cory Carson is the lastborn of the three children. 

ALSO, READ: Christopher Carson: Where Is Johnny Carson’s Son Now?

At his adult age, Jody Morrill Wolcott’s second son Richard was into drugs and also was arrested for the intake of marijuana but he was bailed after paying $1,000. Sadly, on June 21, 1991, Richard Carson died in a car accident. 

Jody Wolcott and Johnny Carson’s youngest son- Cory Carson is a guitarist as well as a musician and has released several songs throughout his journey. Although he did not become as well-known as his television presenter father Carson, he did appear as a guitarist on his father’s late-night program, and the father-son pair had a great time that night.

How Did Her Ex-Husband Die

‘The Johnny Carson Show’ host is regrettably no longer with us. At the age of 74, he suffered a massive heart attack while sleeping at his California home in 1999. Following the assault, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery. However, that was not the cause of his death; Jody Morrill’s Ex-husband died of emphysema, a clinical term for respiratory failure, at the age of 79 in 2005.

ALSO, READ; Alexis Maas: Where Is Johnny Carson’s Wife Now?

Is Jody Morrill Wolcott still alive?

Johnny Carson’s ex-wife Jody Morrill Wolcott has been living a very private life away from the cameras of Hollywood. It is unclear if Jody Morrill Wolcott is still alive as of 2023. She has not been granted any interview or made any headlines in recent years. There is also no Obituary of Jody Morrill Wolcott anywhere online.