How Frank Sinatra Once Saved Johnny Carson from a Mob Hit: ‘Johnny Carson Breathes ‘Cause He Knows Frank Sinatra’

According to comedian Tom Dreesen, who knew Johnny Carson and Frank Sinatra, the iconic entertainer once talked a murderous mobster out of a hit he’d ordered on the beloved host of The Tonight Show.

As the story goes, Carson was still relatively young and not long into his 30-year run. While he was out on the town with his sidekick Ed McMahon, and in a drunken state, he allegedly touched a young woman in a way she didn’t consent. Chaos ensued, and McMahon swept Carson from the scene before her infamous boyfriend appeared to investigate the commotion.

Once the boyfriend heard what happened, he supposedly placed a standing order for grave harm to find the late-night host. And according to sources close to the situation, Sinatra was the only person who could have saved Carson’s life.

Johnny Carson once said, ‘3 drinks of anything and I’m off to the races,’ according to Ed McMahon

In McMahon’s memoir, Here’s Johnny, he reflected on the beginning of his friendship with Carson in the late ’50s. He recalled how they would often hit the town “the moment the show ended” each day.

McMahon remembered Carson saying, “Three drinks of anything, and I’m off to the races.”

And he offered, “I wouldn’t have minded his going to the races, but sometimes he seemed headed for the ring.”

McMahon explained that they “were smart enough to decrease” their drinking as the years passed. However, there was a time their antics were said to have landed Carson on the murderous radar of a notorious criminal.

It started when he allegedly inappropriately touched a young woman at a famed hotspot called Jilly’s. As his luck would have it, she was there accompanying “Crazy Joe” Gallo. The establishment’s owner told McMahon to get him away from the scene in the uproar. But once the furious mobster knew what happened, he reportedly wanted him found and taken care of, as they say.

On a recent episode of the Friars Club Podcast, Sinatra’s comedian friend Tom Dreesen told host Joe Sibilia that he heard the story of the hit on Carson from two people: “Jilly” Rizzo, founder of Jilly’s, who was present during the initial insult, and Sinatra himself. Notably, he heard it “verbatim” from both and concluded, “Only Frank Sinatra could have saved Johnny Carson’s life.”

How Frank Sinatra was said to have saved Johnny Carson from a mob hit ordered by ‘Crazy Joe’ Gallo

As Dreesen was told, Gallo allegedly sent two men out looking for Carson then and there. He recalled their orders were to “find him, beat him to the ground, cut his d*** off, and stick it in his mouth.”

However, after an exhaustive search, they didn’t find Carson, fortunately for him. But the word was out around the city by the next day that Gallo wanted him to pay. The “socially uncomfortable” television star kept a low profile to avoid being spotted by the wrong eyes.

Still, Carson couldn’t hide forever, and other people began to worry for him. Eventually, Rizzo and Sinatra had a conversation, and Sinatra somewhat hopelessly agreed he would try to talk to Gallo on Carson’s behalf.

The opportunity soon presented itself after a performance when the mobster came backstage. Since Sinatra was hospitable to Gallo’s family, he gave him an “anything you need” offer.

Dreesen heard from both sources that Gallo seemingly didn’t expect the entertainer would call in a favor for Carson in response. They said he grabbed Sinatra by the mouth, holding his face so tight that the white imprints of his fingers remained afterward.

Sinatra told him Carson was a “good kid” and offered, “He’d come to you right now on his hands and knees, but he knows you’re angry …”

After hearing his plea, Gallo paced around the room, or so the story goes. Just before he walked out, he announced, “You go tell Johnny Carson he breathes ’cause he knows Frank Sinatra.”

According to Dreesen, who heard it from Rizzo, Carson developed a “strange relationship” with Sinatra, always knowing he’d saved his life.

‘Crazy Joe’ Gallo defied ‘the five dons’ of New York, who allegedly had him killed

Dreesen mentioned on the Friars Club Podcast that Gallo was notorious for not following orders from “the five dons” of New York. Due to that, he said that Sinatra initially felt hopeless about talking to him regarding Carson.

However, Dreesen also pointed out that Gallo supposedly met his end for his flagrant defiance. According to Esquire, he was “reportedly unpopular among his crime lord peers for bringing too much attention to the mob through publicity seeking and friendships with celebrities.”

As depicted in The Irishman starring Robert DeNiro, Gallo was gunned down while his family watched in 1972. Multiple people confessed to the crime, but all said their orders were retaliation from one mob boss or another (Esquire).